Popular reviews

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  Review by Lencho of the Apes ★★★½ 2

  One of those splendid movies that falls through the cracks because it's not by a pantheon director; this is a postwar guilt movie that digs rather deeper than even Der Verlorene, heavy stuff.

  What we're up to is interrogating war, politics, concepts of justice, from a theological framework and finding that all of them violate Christ's contract with mankind -- any hope for eliminating suffering from the structure of human society will come from embracing sacrifice and forgiveness as the only values that don't cause and perpetuate pain.

  Taking the "imitation of Christ" concept as literally as this film does almost guarantees that it won't actually change anyone's behavior, but "it's lovely to think so."

  Luckily, the strident Bergmanesque qualities are mitigated by a Mediterranean, Rossellinian warmth in the mise en scene that makes everything a bit more palatable.

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  Review by PUNQ ★★★½

  Fascinating aftermath film by a fascist-nating man. Curzio Malaparte, an original fascist, who was kicked out, but transformed himself. Always a searching person, it seems. This film presenting the guilt of what happened during the war. Heavy presentation, with often simple and very effective shots. The acting feels stiff, but it fits the way this whole thing is delivered. It's not a film for everybody, but it's a unique one at a time or reflection.

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  Review by Leavingfilmstrk ★★★★

  A remarkable film. A simple story told in a studied way that takes some getting used to. Raf Vallone returns to his hometown from a Russian prison camp. His brother has been killed by the Germans during the war and no one in town will tell him who betrayed his brother because they all fear he'll murder the person. Nearly everyone is a ghost, the walking dead, after being ravaged by the war.

  A story about innocence and guilt, and forgiveness, and the insanity of war. Really remarkable.

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  Review by Scott Kelly ★★★½ 1

  Revenge, sacrifice, and forgiveness are in the air in this post-WW2 healing film that takes a New Testament allegory route. Raf Vallone (Bitter Rice) plays Bruno a soldier released from a POW camp that has returned to his walled Tuscan village with one thing on his mind – find and kill the one time Partisan turned Judas who betrayed his brother to the occupying Nazis. His greatest obstacle is the townsfolk’s conspiracy of silence (including his own Mother) motivated by a need to move on from past bloodshed. Novelist Curzio Malaparte in his sole effort as a film director, despite the effective location shooting, takes a more literary approach than a neo-realist one, reminding me a little of De Santis’…

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  Review by Gabriel Carvalho ★★★★★ 3

  !!!

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  Review by zabby ★★★★ 2

  Bruno (Raf Vallone) returns to his small Italian village after being released from a Russian prisoner of war camp. He returns to find out his brother, a member of the Partisans, was betrayed and executed by the Germans. Bruno seeks revenge, but everyone is sick of the killing and won't tell him the name of the guilty party. His friend, the saintly carpenter, Mastro Antonio (Alain Cuny) tries to persuade Bruno to give up the search, but blood must be shed before the killings can stop.

  Directed, written, and score composed by Curzio Malaparte. This was his first and only film. Curzio Malaparte was the pen name for Kurt Erich Suckert who seems to have lived an interesting life. He…

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  Review by Michel Gutwilen ★★★½

  Um filme sobre um fantasma do passado que busca um fantasma no tempo presente: Bruno é este vagante solitário em dessintonia com personagens e ambientes. A ideia de paranoia do filme funciona menos enquanto um exercício de gênero e mais como evidência psicológica da impossibilidade de Bruno em seguir em frente. Os símbolos católicos são pesadíssimos inseridos na mise-en-scène por Malaparte, como uma onipresença da culpa cristã, e há por parte do diretor um bom senso dramático para encenar os diálogos entre Bruno e os locais, que no contexto do filme são muito mais debates filosóficos e políticos sobre a guerra inseridos na boca dos personagens do que de fato conversas reais (para o bem e para o mal do…

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  Review by Benji ★★

  Some rlly cool moments of cinematography wasted on a deeply boring (and rather fascist) movie

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  Review by Bacillus Anthracis ★★★½

  La guerra è finita, che abbia inizio l'ultima guerra.

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  Review by Bruce Rogers ★★★★

  Malaparte helped to kick start the fascists in Italy but by the time of the Second World War he was already estranged from the party and under numerous house arrests. He worked extensively with the Allies afterwards, but seemed incapable of fully ingratiating  himself with anyone; he was very keen on recognizing foibles. His two major works of fiction, Kaput and The Skin are both very intense responses to the war and it’s aftermath but not for the faint of heart. 
  I never expected to find a copy of this but am happy to find that he’s as interesting and only a tad less disturbing as a filmmaker. A lot of his work deals with degradation as atonement, and this movie is a prime example of his art. An angry rage against despair while fully aware a boot is close behind.

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  Review by Totó Mangano ★★★½

  Raf Vallone es el actor mas bello del cine italiano de la Posguerra. Su figura encapsula una fortaleza y virilidad tremenda, por lo que sus interpretaciones siempre son magnificas. En esta historia su personaje está guiado por la venganza, que es llevada de manera interior. Raf Vallone se mueve como un alma silenciosa en su pueblo en la búsqueda del asesino de su hermano, gracias a esto podemos observar las relaciones sociales de un pequeño pueblo italiano. Esta necesidad de venganza y sobre su necesidad de cumplirla a través de la muerte del criminal para lograr la paz espiritual es la idea controladora que inicia la travesía de nuestro héroe interpretado por Raf Vallone.