Martin Donovan directs his first Italian language film with mix but mostly positive results. He creates a world, geographically is Venice, filled with a powerful energy, a contagious compassion for his characters and a ravishing dark beauty. The title character played with zest and conviction by newcomer Pier Luigi Coppola, drifts along the 70's without ever going anywhere. In an out of jail, wanting, dreaming, hoping but incapable to grasp his own destiny. Marked by the apparent detachment of his mother, a Neapolitan prostitute, played by the exquisite Lina Sastri, he creates around himself a circle of loyalty. His childhood friends will always be that and it is perhaps that element that makes the film so different from others of its ilk. His friends exist as a reflection of him, that's their life. The conflict comes when Clara, played by Martina Stella, appears in his life. Love and marriage. But Clara brings a light of her own and she fights to save her love. Her disintegration is told in beautiful snippets with a Martina Stella that reminded me of some of the great actresses of yesteryear. Other major pluses: characters with extraordinarily beautiful, expressive faces, a haunting score, and a sight of Venice I had never seen before. "K. The Bandit" is one of the most refreshing and rewarding films I've seen in a long time. 9/10
Review of K. Il bandito
