Baarìa (2009)

Cautiously Recommended

Italy/France

Feature Film

Writer/Director: Giuseppe Tornatore

Cinematographer: Enrico Lucidi

Composer: Ennio Morricone

Cast: Francesco Scianna, Margareth Madè, Nicole Grimaudo, Ángela Molina, Lina Sastri, Salvatore Ficarra, Valentino Picone, Enrico Lo Verso, Michele Placido

Though generally well-made and reasonably diverting, Tornatore’s epic account of a Sicilian boy’s life, from his impoverished childhood in Mussolini’s fascist Italy through his rise through the ranks of the local branch of the Communist party to his raising of his own family, is a rather sketchy, sentimental, and rushed-feeling film, which may have worked better as a several part mini-series, as there is enough incident and history to fill ten hours of screen time. Iain.Stott