A.C.A.B.: All Cops Are Bastards (2012)

In A.C.A.B. Cobra's (Pierfrancesco Favino) body is decorated with a Celtic cross
and his room wall with Mussolini paraphernalia.

Eradis Josende Oberto
plays a Cuban wife.

At a glance:

The onset of the general elections beckons in my troubled homeland Malaysia, so how better to get into the mood than with a nice spot of anti-police literature - and who better to get it from than the world's most passionate police haters - the Italians. I write from experience, so bugger off, you haters. Stefano Sollima's feature debut is an adaptation of Carlo Bonini's 2009 book, to which I haven't had the literary pleasure since it isn't translated. The film however is a slick cop drama with wide international appeal, though its stance on police vigilantism and use of excessive force is somewhat ambiguous, if not apologetic. We follow five riot police officers in Rome – white pride hardman Cobra (Pierfrancesco Favino), hothead wife-beater Negro (Filippo Nigro), string-along Carletto (Andrea Sartoretti), idealistic rookie Adriano (Domenico Diele) and their dogged leader Mazinga (Marco Giallini). A taste of authentic ultra is added no doubt by the fact that most of these actors are Roman-born.

Bad news on the doorstep:

A.C.A.B. = Roma Victor!

Shaft at Cool Awesome Movies points out that the riot scenes look a little underpopulated, possibly due to budget constraints, but this isn't fatal to the movie. If you've ever been arrested and beaten up by the cops for football hooliganism like I was, you'd know it only takes two people to make mayhem (Aha! And there you were thinkin the writer behind this blog is some middle-class fuckwit). The movie hits a few high notes, accentuated by an energetic rock soundtrack (Italian band Mokadelic) - but I think somethin more subdued would've suited some of the emotional downtime and given it a more dirty and desperate Children Of Men (2006) or Pusher (1996) feel.

Reminds me of:

All the English people I knew with those four dotted tatts on their knuckles. Half of them are just lowlifes who don't really stand for anythin, though. For the uninitiated, just give the movie title a Google and you'd learn a little about the significance of such a tattoo.

I can't remember if I cried:

The balcony scene with Filippo Nigro's anti-establishment monologue has been singled out as the film's most powerful play but I feel the most for Favino's Cobra. His body is decorated with a Celtic cross and room wall with Mussolini paraphernalia, but finds himself alone in hummin the tune that was supposed to drum up the camaraderie that once held his brethren together. This quiet scene, in a police van en route to yet another bust-up, defines the movie for me.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

"I don't really believe in anything. I'm just here for the violence". I think you'll like A.C.A.B. Check out the movie's official website (in Italian) and it's very decorated Facebook page for more details.★★★

Bonus material:

Lots of movie stills and behind-the-scenes shots for you. Photo credit Emanuela Scarpa.

Gomorrah (2008)

At a glance:

It's not every day you watch a movie that turned one author's exposé into an international blockbuster and got him permanent police escort by the Italian government, effectively walkin around with a fat price tag on his head. That's Roberto Saviano, the man who wrote the tell-all 2006 book with the same name, about the Naples-based criminal organisation most know as the Camorra. You can see why these mobsters want him shot - the book sold more than two million copies in Italy alone reportedly and got translated and published in more than 40 countries. That's not somethin you want the world to know if you're an organisation with a worse reputation than those other gun-totin folks in Sicily who got more Hollywood screen time. The frightenin details in Matteo Garrone's unglamourous direction and Maurizio Braucci's unflinchin screen treatment are already evident in an openin scene set in a tannin shop - you never know when they come at you, you just know that they will. This pretty much sets the tone for the documentary-like feature. We follow a few characters around and have a privileged inside look at how the Camorra affects their lives.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Stayin as far away as possible from the lionisation and glorification of gangsters, Gomorra (in Italian) isn't The Godfather (1972) or Scarface (1983) which is ironically referenced in a scene where two young wannabe mobsters mimic Al Pacino in the de Palma classic) but more like an even gritter Eastern Promises (2007) without the stylish dialogue and A-list stars. Gomorrah distinguishes itself by focusin on gang activity instead of gangsters. Highlights include the illegal toxic waste industry (Carmine Paternoster as a young grad who unassumingly works for a ruthless contractor played by Toni Servillo) and the illegal immigrant issue (Salvatore Cantalupo as a skilled tailor who accepts a job trainin Chinese workers). The best developed story is that of Don Ciro (Gianfelice Imparato) a reluctant go-between who visits families of jailed or dead gangsters to distribute cash. This one exceptionally brings forward themes of desperation but generally all the stories convey the inescapability of normal people from the long arms of the Camorra and their criminal network.

Perennial wonderment:

If my Neapolitan friend Marina will ever quit her pharmaceutical career and enter into an international cocaine-in-mozzarella drug ring with me.

Reminds me of:

Marina's cousin, who told me that they love Chinese people in Napoli because we're easy target for anythin.

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Four stars. Gomorrah is Italy's submission to the 2008 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Pic and was a Palme d'Or nominee at Cannes. It's dead serious and ought to be appreciated as such, especially when you know the man who brought this story out into the open is unlikely to ever lead a normal life. A true thinkin man's gangster flick, it will end as suddenly as it started and get you wishin there was more to see, despite already clockin in two hours and 17 minutes.