Receiving a Us release in August 2014, Salvo arrives with an equally subdued DVD release this month. An experimentally inclined gangster piece, any brooding tension established by an immersive theatrical experience tends to be compromised in a smaller format. Traction due to the film’s generous critical reception doesn’t explain the underwhelming DVD presentation, but perhaps it will reach the audience that neglected it during a limited theatrical run.
Though its initial setup holds considerable promise, due mostly to subdued visual cues that take on greater meaning as the plot unfolds, Fabio Grassianda and Antonio Piazza’s directorial debut, ends up casting a rather empty spell. Its brooding ambience traipsing into a shallow narrative coma, there’s much to be desired as concerns this mafia tinged love story of unexplained events and feelings. Obscurity is certainly not a cause for automatic dismissal, but there’s a failure to maintain any...
Though its initial setup holds considerable promise, due mostly to subdued visual cues that take on greater meaning as the plot unfolds, Fabio Grassianda and Antonio Piazza’s directorial debut, ends up casting a rather empty spell. Its brooding ambience traipsing into a shallow narrative coma, there’s much to be desired as concerns this mafia tinged love story of unexplained events and feelings. Obscurity is certainly not a cause for automatic dismissal, but there’s a failure to maintain any...
- 1/20/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Miracle Worker: Italian Duo’s Debut a Cold Rumination on Tenuous Connection
Though its initial setup holds considerable promise, due mostly to subdued visual cues that take on greater meaning as the plot unfolds, Fabio Grassianda and Antonio Piazza’s directorial debut, Salvo, ends up casting a rather empty spell. Its brooding ambience traipsing into a shallow narrative coma, there’s much to be desired as concerns this mafia tinged love story of unexplained events and feelings. Obscurity is certainly not a cause for automatic dismissal, but there’s a failure to maintain any sort of lasting significance to proceedings that are neither amusing nor arresting enough to warrant the pleasure of befuddlement. However, it’s important to note the film took home the top prize at the 2013 Cannes Critics’ Week.
After a deal ends badly, resulting in a double-cross, Mafia hit man Salvo (Saleh Bakri) seeks retribution. Approaching the residence of the perpetrator,...
Though its initial setup holds considerable promise, due mostly to subdued visual cues that take on greater meaning as the plot unfolds, Fabio Grassianda and Antonio Piazza’s directorial debut, Salvo, ends up casting a rather empty spell. Its brooding ambience traipsing into a shallow narrative coma, there’s much to be desired as concerns this mafia tinged love story of unexplained events and feelings. Obscurity is certainly not a cause for automatic dismissal, but there’s a failure to maintain any sort of lasting significance to proceedings that are neither amusing nor arresting enough to warrant the pleasure of befuddlement. However, it’s important to note the film took home the top prize at the 2013 Cannes Critics’ Week.
After a deal ends badly, resulting in a double-cross, Mafia hit man Salvo (Saleh Bakri) seeks retribution. Approaching the residence of the perpetrator,...
- 8/21/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
At first glance, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza's Salvo looks like just another entry into the Sensitive Hit-man genre: During a sticky Palermo summer heat wave, Mafia hit-man Salvo (Saleh Bakri) has a change of heart and decides not to kill Rita (Sara Serraiocco), the blind sister of his prey.
Salvo instead kidnaps and imprisons her in an abandoned warehouse, unaware that at the moment he spared Rita's life, her vision began to return. The opening scenes suggest the possibility that this may be a John Woo homage, complete with symbolic white birds and anonymous bad guys wearing black motorcycle helmets; indeed, a hit man with a heart of gold finding his life is changed by a blind girl is reminiscent of Woo's masterpiece The Killer.
But Salvo has mo...
Salvo instead kidnaps and imprisons her in an abandoned warehouse, unaware that at the moment he spared Rita's life, her vision began to return. The opening scenes suggest the possibility that this may be a John Woo homage, complete with symbolic white birds and anonymous bad guys wearing black motorcycle helmets; indeed, a hit man with a heart of gold finding his life is changed by a blind girl is reminiscent of Woo's masterpiece The Killer.
But Salvo has mo...
- 8/20/2014
- Village Voice
HeyUGuys recently had the opportunity to catch up with first time writer-directors Antonio Piazza and Fabio Grassadonia, to get under the skin of their silent and haunting debut feature Salvo.
Antonio and Fabio spoke with us about confronting the expectations of Sicilian narratives, the current challenges facing Italian filmmakers, contending with one blind and one silent protagonist, slowly constructing empathy, before taking a moment to look ahead to following up a Sicilian mafia character drama with a Sicilian ghost story.
Why a career in filmmaking? Was there that one inspirational moment?
Antonio Piazza: Fabio and I worked together for a number of years as writers and script consultants for other people, as well as a couple of Italian production companies. A few years ago we decided we wanted to write and direct own story, and so the first thing we did was to go back to Sicily where we come from.
Antonio and Fabio spoke with us about confronting the expectations of Sicilian narratives, the current challenges facing Italian filmmakers, contending with one blind and one silent protagonist, slowly constructing empathy, before taking a moment to look ahead to following up a Sicilian mafia character drama with a Sicilian ghost story.
Why a career in filmmaking? Was there that one inspirational moment?
Antonio Piazza: Fabio and I worked together for a number of years as writers and script consultants for other people, as well as a couple of Italian production companies. A few years ago we decided we wanted to write and direct own story, and so the first thing we did was to go back to Sicily where we come from.
- 3/27/2014
- by Paul Risker
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
White-knuckle action coupled with eerie, atmospheric pacing makes this film about the Sicilian mafia an intriguing watch
Salvo is a strange, involving, if flawed movie about the Sicilian mafia; a stylised drama with elements of the supernatural and the sentimental amid the tension. It announces Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza as film-makers who might be mentioned alongside Matteo Garrone, the director of Gomorrah. Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri plays Salvo, a mafia "soldier" who finds himself on the receiving end of a horrendous assassination attempt, grippingly and stylishly filmed, which is then followed by an extraordinary, almost real-time sequence as he arrives at the house of the man who schemed his death – then makes a discovery about the person the man lives with, Rita (Sara Serraiocco). It is an event that appears to send Salvo into a kind of breakdown, but one suffered gradually and generally. The temperature in Palermo has risen to a brain-frazzling 40 degrees,...
Salvo is a strange, involving, if flawed movie about the Sicilian mafia; a stylised drama with elements of the supernatural and the sentimental amid the tension. It announces Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza as film-makers who might be mentioned alongside Matteo Garrone, the director of Gomorrah. Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri plays Salvo, a mafia "soldier" who finds himself on the receiving end of a horrendous assassination attempt, grippingly and stylishly filmed, which is then followed by an extraordinary, almost real-time sequence as he arrives at the house of the man who schemed his death – then makes a discovery about the person the man lives with, Rita (Sara Serraiocco). It is an event that appears to send Salvo into a kind of breakdown, but one suffered gradually and generally. The temperature in Palermo has risen to a brain-frazzling 40 degrees,...
- 3/25/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
There’s nothing quite like an Italian Mafia movie. They are cinematic by their very nature, oozing style, sex and masculinity. They are made for the big screen, and Salvo, the latest offering from Italian duo Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, is certainly no exception. It has all the hallmarks of an exciting, modern thriller, yet has a certain nostalgia that makes it feel somewhat timeless.
Our enigmatic protagonist is lone assassin Salvo, (Saleh Bakri), a silent, brooding character, able to snuff out a life without so much as a backward glance. That is, until he meets the beautiful Rita (Sara Serraiocco). Her blindness makes her vulnerable, a trait that Salvo is not accustomed to in his line of work, and he can’t quite get her out of his head. She is a witness to her brother’s death at Salvo’s cruel hands, and he feels a responsibility...
Our enigmatic protagonist is lone assassin Salvo, (Saleh Bakri), a silent, brooding character, able to snuff out a life without so much as a backward glance. That is, until he meets the beautiful Rita (Sara Serraiocco). Her blindness makes her vulnerable, a trait that Salvo is not accustomed to in his line of work, and he can’t quite get her out of his head. She is a witness to her brother’s death at Salvo’s cruel hands, and he feels a responsibility...
- 3/21/2014
- by Nia Childs
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Chicago – The 2013 Chicago International Film Festival is almost here and the programmers have unveiled their first slate of titles, including hits from other festivals like “Blue is the Warmest Color,” “Heli,” “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete.” The 49th annual fest runs from October 10-24, 2013. Official, Ciff-provided descriptions below of what we know will play there so far:
Big Bad Wolves (Directors: Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado • Israel): When the lead suspect in a brutal child murder is released due to a police blunder, a vigilante police detective and a grieving father take the law into their own hands in this fantastically intense, darkly funny revenge thriller from one of the pioneers of Israeli horror cinema.
Blue is the Warmest Color (Director: Abdellatif Kechiche • France): Teenager Adèle’s life is turned upside down the night she meets blue-haired Emma in this scandalous winner of the top prize at Cannes.
Big Bad Wolves (Directors: Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado • Israel): When the lead suspect in a brutal child murder is released due to a police blunder, a vigilante police detective and a grieving father take the law into their own hands in this fantastically intense, darkly funny revenge thriller from one of the pioneers of Israeli horror cinema.
Blue is the Warmest Color (Director: Abdellatif Kechiche • France): Teenager Adèle’s life is turned upside down the night she meets blue-haired Emma in this scandalous winner of the top prize at Cannes.
- 8/19/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Salvo – Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza
Section: Critics’ Week
Buzz: A first feature film from Sicilian directors, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, selected for Critics’ Week, it is a crime noir with a touch of the surreal. Shot by director & cinematographer Daniele Cipri, the images are haunting and promising. The producer Fabrizio Mosca defined the film as “an extreme, stylized, researched and rigorous film, in the style of Le Samourai by J.P. Melville.” A statement that produces anticipatory excitement. One hopes it is precisely as promised.
The Gist: Salvo is a mafia killer in Palermo. Rita is twenty and blind from birth. Salvo sneaks into Rita’s house, to kill her brother. There is a fight, a ferocious, hand to hand struggle. Rita’s blind eyes, trembling with rage and distress, staring at him yet unseeing, seem to disturb Salvo and he closes them with his hands covered in blood.
Section: Critics’ Week
Buzz: A first feature film from Sicilian directors, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, selected for Critics’ Week, it is a crime noir with a touch of the surreal. Shot by director & cinematographer Daniele Cipri, the images are haunting and promising. The producer Fabrizio Mosca defined the film as “an extreme, stylized, researched and rigorous film, in the style of Le Samourai by J.P. Melville.” A statement that produces anticipatory excitement. One hopes it is precisely as promised.
The Gist: Salvo is a mafia killer in Palermo. Rita is twenty and blind from birth. Salvo sneaks into Rita’s house, to kill her brother. There is a fight, a ferocious, hand to hand struggle. Rita’s blind eyes, trembling with rage and distress, staring at him yet unseeing, seem to disturb Salvo and he closes them with his hands covered in blood.
- 5/15/2013
- by Moen Mohamed
- IONCINEMA.com
#53. Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza’s Salvo
Gist: Salvo is a mafia killer in Palermo. Rita is twenty and blind from birth. Salvo sneaks into Rita’s house, to kill her brother. There is a fight, a ferocious, hand to hand struggle. Salvo finally kills him, then he goes up to Rita. Those blind eyes, trembling with rage and distress, staring at him yet unseeing, seem to disturb Salvo and he closes them with his hands covered in blood. When he removes the hands, Rita’s eyes see for the first time. Heir to Bruno Dumont? We’ll see.
Prediction: Part of TorinoFlimLab, starting shooting in Summer 2010, seems to be ready to go, and has some very strong advanced buzz from those who’ve seen the (near?-) finished product. This is Grassadonia and Piazza’s first feature, meaning it’ll most likely land in the Semaine de la Critique – unless...
Gist: Salvo is a mafia killer in Palermo. Rita is twenty and blind from birth. Salvo sneaks into Rita’s house, to kill her brother. There is a fight, a ferocious, hand to hand struggle. Salvo finally kills him, then he goes up to Rita. Those blind eyes, trembling with rage and distress, staring at him yet unseeing, seem to disturb Salvo and he closes them with his hands covered in blood. When he removes the hands, Rita’s eyes see for the first time. Heir to Bruno Dumont? We’ll see.
Prediction: Part of TorinoFlimLab, starting shooting in Summer 2010, seems to be ready to go, and has some very strong advanced buzz from those who’ve seen the (near?-) finished product. This is Grassadonia and Piazza’s first feature, meaning it’ll most likely land in the Semaine de la Critique – unless...
- 4/5/2013
- by Blake Williams
- IONCINEMA.com
If the list of awardees below is long, it’s because the Newport Beach Film Festival screens over 400 films from more than 45 countries. With 50,000 visitors to the festival each year, part of the success of the program is its ability to draw full houses of appreciative audiences.
Opening with Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu and Peter Fonda in “East Fifth Bliss,” the festival closes with “A Beginner’s Guide to Endings.” “Beginner’s Guide” stars Harvey Keitel as a gambling man at the end of his tether, and his three sons (Scott Caan, Paulo Costanzo and Jason Jones) who soon learn that their father signed them up for unsafe drug tests when they were kids.
In between the go and the whoa were panels on directing, music composition and a master class on screenwriting given by Aaron Sorkin. Oh, and those 400 films. For a highlights list of the films at...
Opening with Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu and Peter Fonda in “East Fifth Bliss,” the festival closes with “A Beginner’s Guide to Endings.” “Beginner’s Guide” stars Harvey Keitel as a gambling man at the end of his tether, and his three sons (Scott Caan, Paulo Costanzo and Jason Jones) who soon learn that their father signed them up for unsafe drug tests when they were kids.
In between the go and the whoa were panels on directing, music composition and a master class on screenwriting given by Aaron Sorkin. Oh, and those 400 films. For a highlights list of the films at...
- 5/6/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
If the list of awardees below is long, it’s because the Newport Beach Film Festival screens over 400 films from more than 45 countries. With 50,000 visitors to the festival each year, part of the success of the program is its ability to draw full houses of appreciative audiences.
Opening with Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu and Peter Fonda in “East Fifth Bliss,” the festival closes with “A Beginner’s Guide to Endings.” “Beginner’s Guide” stars Harvey Keitel as a gambling man at the end of his tether, and his three sons (Scott Caan, Paulo Costanzo and Jason Jones) who soon learn that their father signed them up for unsafe drug tests when they were kids.
In between the go and the whoa were panels on directing, music composition and a master class on screenwriting given by Aaron Sorkin. Oh, and those 400 films. For a highlights list of the films at...
Opening with Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu and Peter Fonda in “East Fifth Bliss,” the festival closes with “A Beginner’s Guide to Endings.” “Beginner’s Guide” stars Harvey Keitel as a gambling man at the end of his tether, and his three sons (Scott Caan, Paulo Costanzo and Jason Jones) who soon learn that their father signed them up for unsafe drug tests when they were kids.
In between the go and the whoa were panels on directing, music composition and a master class on screenwriting given by Aaron Sorkin. Oh, and those 400 films. For a highlights list of the films at...
- 5/6/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
The 17th annual Slamdance Film Festival is all set to run for eight days and nights Jan. 21-27. The festival is featuring a bold theme this year of “All Is Not Lost” where — due to the current devastating economic climate — Slamdance will donate 10% of ticket proceeds back to the filmmakers.
The fest is screening 14 feature films — 10 of which are in competition — and 8 feature documentaries, all of which are in competition. In addition, there will be 56 short films screening.
Plus, there are a couple of special screenings, including the Straight 8 event where anybody can register to receive a single roll of Super-8 film that they can use to direct their own in-camera edited mini-masterpiece. Also, on the 26th, there will be a special retrospective of the works of renegade ’60s filmmaker J.X. Williams.
The full film lineup is below, but for more information on the site please visit the official Slamdance website.
The fest is screening 14 feature films — 10 of which are in competition — and 8 feature documentaries, all of which are in competition. In addition, there will be 56 short films screening.
Plus, there are a couple of special screenings, including the Straight 8 event where anybody can register to receive a single roll of Super-8 film that they can use to direct their own in-camera edited mini-masterpiece. Also, on the 26th, there will be a special retrospective of the works of renegade ’60s filmmaker J.X. Williams.
The full film lineup is below, but for more information on the site please visit the official Slamdance website.
- 12/23/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival is set to run June 17-27 in a brand new location. Oh, it’s still in L.A, but it’s moving across town, from Westwood — where it’s been held the past few years — all the way over to Downtown.
The main “hub” for the fest will be the new L.A. Live complex, but there will also be screenings at other locations, such as the Downtown Independent and Redcat theaters. The city is really trying to build downtown up into a major arts and culture hub, so the festival moving there fits in with that agenda. Film Independent, the organization that runs Laff, also runs the annual Independent Spirit Awards, an event that also moved downtown — from Santa Monica — this year.
On Bad Lit, I tend to like to put up festival lineups that include days and times of screenings. However, since I...
The main “hub” for the fest will be the new L.A. Live complex, but there will also be screenings at other locations, such as the Downtown Independent and Redcat theaters. The city is really trying to build downtown up into a major arts and culture hub, so the festival moving there fits in with that agenda. Film Independent, the organization that runs Laff, also runs the annual Independent Spirit Awards, an event that also moved downtown — from Santa Monica — this year.
On Bad Lit, I tend to like to put up festival lineups that include days and times of screenings. However, since I...
- 5/17/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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