Salvo, written and directed by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, is a harsh, sombre drama of existential self-discovery. In its long wordless scenes and its omission of any music not sourced in the scene it's bleak, gripping, a work of atmosphere rather than articulated point. This is the artsiest Noir I can remember.
One key lies in the hero's name. Salvo (Saleh Bakri) is a round of ammunition, a tool or instrument, but he turns into a responsible human individual when he transcends his role as bodyguard and hit man. As in the Camusian ethic, the muscular enigma has no self other than what we infer from his action.
The film's first two tours de force establish the hero's potential development. The first is his defence of his boss against another gangster's attack. That violent action is followed by the long suspenseful scene in the assailant boss's house, where Salvo haunts the enemy's blind sister Rita (Sara Serraiocco). Ironically, the blind girl can still count out money to allot as payouts.
As Rita unwittingly softens Salvo he brings his howling dog in from the outside and declines his solitary formal meals to join his dry-cleaner/landlord over tins of tuna in the kitchen. He leaves his room to sleep on his paid hosts' sofa. He beats up a colleague for disdaining the radio music Salvo associates with Rita. Ultimately he dies to give her a new life.
When Rita realizes Salvo's sacrifice for her, her lost sight apparently returns. Her eyes move together and her tics are gone. Here realism gives way to theme. His new insight and broader vision than his own survival seem to spread to her. It doesn't make sense neurologically but it does as presiding metaphor. For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.
One key lies in the hero's name. Salvo (Saleh Bakri) is a round of ammunition, a tool or instrument, but he turns into a responsible human individual when he transcends his role as bodyguard and hit man. As in the Camusian ethic, the muscular enigma has no self other than what we infer from his action.
The film's first two tours de force establish the hero's potential development. The first is his defence of his boss against another gangster's attack. That violent action is followed by the long suspenseful scene in the assailant boss's house, where Salvo haunts the enemy's blind sister Rita (Sara Serraiocco). Ironically, the blind girl can still count out money to allot as payouts.
As Rita unwittingly softens Salvo he brings his howling dog in from the outside and declines his solitary formal meals to join his dry-cleaner/landlord over tins of tuna in the kitchen. He leaves his room to sleep on his paid hosts' sofa. He beats up a colleague for disdaining the radio music Salvo associates with Rita. Ultimately he dies to give her a new life.
When Rita realizes Salvo's sacrifice for her, her lost sight apparently returns. Her eyes move together and her tics are gone. Here realism gives way to theme. His new insight and broader vision than his own survival seem to spread to her. It doesn't make sense neurologically but it does as presiding metaphor. For more see www.yacowar.blogspot.com.