Bronx Film

Salvo was five when his father Vincenzo was arrested, practically before his eyes. Seven years later Salvo lives with his uncles and his cousin a controlled and peaceful existence in the Turin area, but his father returns and claims his son for four days. Vincenzo has to carry an important load to Bari and brings Salvo (nomen est omen) with him as insurance: a child is better than a gun, he says, because his presence in the event of a possible police detention can have a distracting effect . This however is not the only reason why Vincenzo wants Salvo with him, and the "Salv-atore" child will prove to be a potential vehicle of redemption for that messed up father, but not entirely devoid of feelings and attentions.

A black-and-white debut usually falls into one of two categories: the “I’m broke, and you can tell” kind, and the “I’m going for artsy, and I nail it” kind. Edgardo Pistone’s first film falls by far in the second category. Being a triumph of stylish photography and camera work, it is a pleasure to watch. But this is more than just a pretty film. It’s a tale of passions and unsolvable conflicts that haunt Attilio, a young man from a working-class neighbourhood in Naples, tasked with protecting a beautiful prostitute.

Naples told, through the centuries, in an anthology: Dadapolis by Fabrizia Ramondino and Andreas Friedrich Müller. A city always full of ferment, culture but also contradictions. In the film, however, today's city is told through the eyes of about sixty artists who live and work between Naples and abroad. A kaleidoscopic story made up of performances, songs, works of art and dialogues that narrate the transformations of a city, which never before has turned out to be so topical.

An entrepreneur from Caserta becomes entangled with the underworld and ends up exposing himself because of his relationship with Alba, the youngest daughter of a gangster. The subsequent situation gets worse and worse, and he is forced to hide in a bunker built especially for him, where he survives for a long time alone, in the company of hallucinations and ghosts.

Carmela is thirty, beautiful and as untamed as an horsewoman. She is jobless and struggles to get by on her own, doing small day-to-day tasks. She makes ends meet by making use of the immigrants who populate the maze of alleyways of Naples' old historic centre. A circle of hell where, even to get a residence permit, you have to pay to work

Bruno, 13, is in a panic: he has discovered that his love is reciprocated by Flavia, but he has no idea how to start a relationship. He needs someone to teach him and, coincidentally Luca, whom he despises, is the only man who has managed to make his stonehearted mother Claudia fall in love. Bruno will be forced to put aside any contrast and follow the advice of his worst enemy. What Bruno doesn’t know is that Luca and his mother live a very fragile, undermined, not at all exemplary relationship.