Genres
Comedy, Drama, Romance, War
Director
Pif
Country
Italy
Cast
Pif, Andrea Di Stefano, Sergio Vespertino, Maurizio Bologna, Miriam Leone, Stella Egitto, Vincent Riotta, Maurizio Marchetti, Antonello Puglisi, Samuele Segreto, Mario Pupella, Orazio Stracuzzi, Lorenzo Patané, Aurora Quattrocchi, David Mitchum Brown, Forest Baker, Rosario Minardi, Salvatore Ragusa
Storyline
New York, 1943. Arturo (Pif) loves Flora (Miriam Leone) and Flora loves Arturo but she has been promised in marriage to Carmelo (Lorenzo Patané), the son of a Mafia boss. Their only hope lies in Flora's father, who still lives in Sicily, so Arturo joins the US Army to return to Sicily and ask for Flora's hand.
Once again using a love story between Arturo and Flora (because those were the names in his first feature as well) as a conducting wire, Pif brings to the screen another part of the Italian history that is very hard to digest, this time being the agreement between the US Army and the Mafia to occupy Sicily without resistance from the locals, which resulted in Mafia literally taking control of the island.
And the result is a strong criticism and denunciation of the rotten system behind Italy's liberation from Nazis that leave us to wonder which one really was the real dictatorship, the Nazis's or the Mafia's which still holds up today.
Despite the matter, In guerra per amore is not a heavy film. It still has its dramatic and touching moments and it will stick with you for a while, but the light, sarcastic, self-ironic and never-out-of-place humour will make for a very easy watch.
The credits obviously go to Pif. His direction is smooth and the writing is great, but what I liked the most is the narration. His voiceover is, in my opinion, what makes the story more interesting and engaging, and make you feel more invested in it. It makes you feel like you're a player, not a watched.
Opinion
I loved Pif's first feature, The Mafia Kills Only in Summer. That movie was such a unique approach to Mafia, and Pif brilliantly paired the drama of the matter with some great humour. And that's exactly what he did (again) with In guerra per amore.Once again using a love story between Arturo and Flora (because those were the names in his first feature as well) as a conducting wire, Pif brings to the screen another part of the Italian history that is very hard to digest, this time being the agreement between the US Army and the Mafia to occupy Sicily without resistance from the locals, which resulted in Mafia literally taking control of the island.
And the result is a strong criticism and denunciation of the rotten system behind Italy's liberation from Nazis that leave us to wonder which one really was the real dictatorship, the Nazis's or the Mafia's which still holds up today.Despite the matter, In guerra per amore is not a heavy film. It still has its dramatic and touching moments and it will stick with you for a while, but the light, sarcastic, self-ironic and never-out-of-place humour will make for a very easy watch.
The credits obviously go to Pif. His direction is smooth and the writing is great, but what I liked the most is the narration. His voiceover is, in my opinion, what makes the story more interesting and engaging, and make you feel more invested in it. It makes you feel like you're a player, not a watched.
i have not even heard of this film but it sounds really quite good and your review makes me want to see it
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