Fortapàsc (2009)

The story of Giancarlo Siani, a journalist killed by the Neapolitan Mafia in 1985.

Director:

Marco Risi

Writers:

Marco Risi (story), James Carrington (story) (as Jim Carrington)

Stars:

Libero De Rienzo, Valentina Lodovini, Michele Riondino

8 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Libero De Rienzo	...	Giancarlo Siani
Valentina Lodovini	...	Daniela
Michele Riondino	...	Rico
Massimiliano Gallo	...	Valentino Gionta
Ernesto Mahieux	...	Sasà
Salvatore Cantalupo	...	Ferrara
Gigio Morra	...	Carmine Alfieri
Gianfranco Gallo	...	Gabriele Donnarumma
Antonio Buonomo	...	Lorenzo Nuvoletta
Roberto Calabrese	...	Killer
Raffaele Vassallo	...	Ciro
Kyung Mi Lee	...	Yu
Mimmo Mignemi	...	Cifù
Nadia Carlomagno
Salvatore Striano	...	Killer dei Gionta

Storyline

The story of Giancarlo Siani, a journalist killed by the Neapolitan Mafia in 1985.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | murder of a journalist | journalist | mafia | based on real events | 

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Italy]

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

27 March 2009 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Fortapàsc

Filming Locations:

Campania, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€4,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

BiBi Film,Gruppo Minerva International,Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was one of the five Italian films pre-selected as the Best Foreign Film submission for the 82nd Academy Awards, along with Baarìa (2009), Il grande sogno (2009), Si può fare (2008) and Vincere (2009).

User Reviews

No more Gomorrah or Italian organized crime movies please!

Fort Apache made his way to this year's Rabat Auteur cinema Festival and received wide acclaim even standing ovation from the critics attending the screening, it didn't take me long to realize the reason : none of the audience watched the remarkable "Gomorrah" released in 2008! The movie tells one more time the struggle of Italian society to suppress and eradicate a very strong powerful organized mafia called "the Gomorrah" , this time through the struggle of a brave journalist called Giancarlo Siani (played by a relatively new comer Libero De Rienzo) who got himself tangled in a clash against organized crime in his hometown and had to pay in blood for his journalistic efforts to uncover the truth.

The case here is that this form of Italian organized crime has been treated countless times by a myriad of filmmakers and in different styles for the last five decades, and the fact that " Gomorrah" is the new form of the old mafia doesn't really cast a new light on the matter.

The only innovative treatment to visit this genre was already done in 2008 "Gomorrah" that ,through episodic storytelling, filmed the whole thing as a war reportage and showed very efficient techniques to catch modern audience' interest.

The writer and director of Fort apache both seemed to ignore all these facts, and still managed to come with this tedious effort that never shows key elements of the Siani war against crime, tries to force sympathy for the journalist's personal life through unexplained scenes of love and friendship that never establish a bond to the main narrative. Add to this a very ineffective way of using the voice over technique, the use of humor to lighten the story in some passages but unsteady it spoils the effect,non-convincing supporting performances,the name of a Siani article 'fort apache' ( a reference to the john ford's movie)is not cleverly revealed,over-the-edge depiction of the mob meetings and arrest scenes that delves unintentionally into caricaturization of the crime genre.etc.

Overall, if you're interested in a genuine Italian modern crime movie, pass this one in favor of "Gomorrah" and let's hope we don't get any more of these flicks filled with blood, south-Italian accents and gun-blazing machos in underpants!