An excellent movie in two parts that was made for Italian TV. A fantastic production for a TV movie. After I watched part one, which is about 90 minutes, I could hardly wait to see the second part but I had to wait a week b/c it was being shown at the Italian Cultural Institute. It was worth it. Great acting by a talented cast, in particular the two main actors, Kim Rossi Stuart and Dino Abbrescia gave memorable performances. Also Valeria Melillo is perfectly understated in her role as Rossi Stuart's wife. Say what you will about Italian TV in general, this movie and all the episodes of Commissario Montalbano (if you haven't seen this series, check it out, it's fantastic) prove that Italian TV can surpass even big budget American TV productions in terms of quality of acting, editing, and direction. Soavi must be a great director to generate and sustain the edge of this movie for 3 hours. Worth seeing!
4 Reviews
A solid modern day made-for-TV Italian crime thriller
bensonmum213 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Back in the late-80s/early-90s, Michele Soavi appeared to be the one of the few bright spots in Italy's struggling film community. But after making Cemetery Man in 1994, he seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth. While Uno bianca is the only thing from Soavi that I've seen since his return, he doesn't appear to have lost anything that made him such a promising director. The direction and other technical aspects of the film are nicely done. Soavi obviously knows how to put together a long film and keep it flowing. At 200 minutes in length, Uno bianca is a long film. But not once during the entire runtime did I ever get bored. In fact, I was so entertained that I actually wanted more. While not necessarily groundbreaking, the cinematography and editing provide a lot of interest. There's a definite touch of style running throughout the film that adds much to the enjoyment.
Uno bianca is the story of the police's attempt to put a stop to a group of murderous robbers known as the "Uno Bianca Gang". Tired of the ineffective police bureaucracy, Officer Valerio (Kim Rossi Stuart) and his partner, Rocco (Dino Abbrescia), decide to take a different approach to put a stop to the gang. By re-interviewing witnesses, wiretapping phones, and setting up video surveillance, Valerio is convinced that he and his partner can discover who is behind the gang and stop their reign of terror. While the plot may sound similar to some the poliziotteschi made in the 70s, Uno bianca is more akin to a police procedural and lacks the over-the-top violence and outrageous plot points often found in those films. The film has more in common with the television show Law & Order than it does some of its Italian predecessors like Almost Human or Syndicate Sadists. Uno bianca is based in reality with real people carrying out a real investigation. That's not to say there aren't scenes of violence and bloodshed, but these moments remain firmly grounding in the real world.
A film as long as Uno bianca will only work if the acting is good and believable. Stuart is excellent in the lead role. He has a quiet confidence about him that works. Stuart's Valerio is the kind of character that's easy to believe in and root for. In contrast, Abbrescia plays Rocco a little more laid back and fun-loving. Still, he's no less committed to his job. He's the kind of guy you would like to have for a friend. And finally, Pietro Bontempo is perfect in the role of Michele, the leader of the "Uno Bianca Gang". Botempo gives Michele the intelligence and ruthlessness necessary to head-up a criminal enterprise. Similar to the point I made when discussing the plot, it's the realism these actors give to their characters that helps to make Uno bianca work. Good job, guys!
Uno bianca is the story of the police's attempt to put a stop to a group of murderous robbers known as the "Uno Bianca Gang". Tired of the ineffective police bureaucracy, Officer Valerio (Kim Rossi Stuart) and his partner, Rocco (Dino Abbrescia), decide to take a different approach to put a stop to the gang. By re-interviewing witnesses, wiretapping phones, and setting up video surveillance, Valerio is convinced that he and his partner can discover who is behind the gang and stop their reign of terror. While the plot may sound similar to some the poliziotteschi made in the 70s, Uno bianca is more akin to a police procedural and lacks the over-the-top violence and outrageous plot points often found in those films. The film has more in common with the television show Law & Order than it does some of its Italian predecessors like Almost Human or Syndicate Sadists. Uno bianca is based in reality with real people carrying out a real investigation. That's not to say there aren't scenes of violence and bloodshed, but these moments remain firmly grounding in the real world.
A film as long as Uno bianca will only work if the acting is good and believable. Stuart is excellent in the lead role. He has a quiet confidence about him that works. Stuart's Valerio is the kind of character that's easy to believe in and root for. In contrast, Abbrescia plays Rocco a little more laid back and fun-loving. Still, he's no less committed to his job. He's the kind of guy you would like to have for a friend. And finally, Pietro Bontempo is perfect in the role of Michele, the leader of the "Uno Bianca Gang". Botempo gives Michele the intelligence and ruthlessness necessary to head-up a criminal enterprise. Similar to the point I made when discussing the plot, it's the realism these actors give to their characters that helps to make Uno bianca work. Good job, guys!
Michele Soavi directs this made-for-TV cop thriller. Bravo!
VideoImports30 March 2001
Well, you've gotta admit--Michele Soavi certainly knows how to make a good movie. And this two-part serial is no exception. Kim Rossi Stuart plays a cop who is assigned to investigate a series of violent bank robberies and cop-killings. While on duty, his friend is shot in the head by one of the criminals linked to the gang. Stuart then goes on a personal crusade to nail down the leader of the criminal organization. This film is a colossal production running somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 hours! Although it bears many of the earmarks of American television productions, it nevertheless proves to be an extremely enjoyable, action-packed, and suspense-filled ride. Soavi is another one of those pioneering Italian directors who now find themselves doing work for television--just about the only guaranteed market in Italy these days. Anyway, he turns out this film with a mastery that keenly reflects the years spent working with Deodato, Argento, D'Amato, and others. I doubt this will ever get an American release, so any version available will probably be in Italian. However, this does not in any way detract from the enjoyability of this film. By the way, Kim Rossi Stuart is the son of veteran Italian actor Giacomo Rossi Stuart.
10 out of 10, without question
slaterspins21 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I was always a fan of Michele Soavi, from his days of being a fledgling director under the wing of Dario Argento to flying freely on his own with the beautiful and fanciful Dellamorte Dellamore with Rupert Everett that seemed to take on everything from being a horror film set in a cemetery based on a famous Italian comic strip to a contemplation on the nature and purpose of man's existence. Its somewhat 'nihilistic' ending puzzles me in a good way, I'm still not sure if it's about the repudiation of violence and death or an acceptance of it and planned return to it, but it is intriguing. Given that Soavi's career seemed to end there, I was surprised and delighted to discover he had finally returned to the screen showing an unsuspected facet of his cinematic talents - that of successfully becoming a director of long and extremely exciting TV movies that basically are police procedurals pitting man against a corrupt society, whether it be against a violent gang of rouge cops headed by three brothers (remember Argento's three mothers?), a man infiltrating the mafia (Raoul Bova L'infiltrato) or a cop hunting down a serial killer in a terrifying TV movie Ultima Pallattola, all of them based on real incidents in Italy. The first of these three (and Soavi did others with Roaul Bova) is the best, with Pallattola coming in a close second. Uno Bianca is a movie that begs for and could sustain a worldwide theatrical release and do more than hold its own. The synopsis has been covered well in other comments so no rehash here. The film is tight, suspenseful, never boring and though the plot could be described as a somewhat usual police procedural, the style the director achieves pushes it way up into another realm. The viewer really identifies with Kim Rossi Stuart who is superb as Valerio; we get to follow in his footsteps as he slowly discovers the impossible truth, that the 'Uno Bianca' gang is not a bunch of Romanian thugs but his own 'brothers' - cops - and we struggle with him as against all odds he takes on his higher-ups who'd rather keep him from making a name for himself than allow him to catch the gang and get any credit. It's one of the strongest 'identification with the lead character' movies I've ever seen. It's a film that succeeds on every level - thanks to imaginative direction, gorgeous camera-work and color, editing that is unique, even breathtaking, and a haunting, pulsating score, tight script and actors cast perfectly down to the smallest roles. Who could ask for anything more in a three hour movie? It leaves you totally satisfied. I've seen this many times now and never get tired of putting it on. I'm glad all of Soavi's three hour TV movies are available on DVD and I have them all. Also his noir theatrical release Arrivederci Amore, Ciao is worth catching and has a brilliant shock ending with some cool shots and great use of slow-mo. It's a pretty cruel and amoral movie though less cruel than the novel on which it is based, a fact criticized by many reviewers, but it has an anti-hero who really stays an anti-hero. The familiar style, camera work and editing of his TV movies is in evidence here. Michele Placido is in it and Soavi's style was a definite influence on his own remarkable Romanza Criminale film. I was thrilled to hear Soavi was going to return to horror with a film called Catacombs Club. Instead he came out with a war drama released theatrically Il Sangue dei Vinti. Haven't seen it but will when it's released on DVD - and hope he does do Catacombs Club as I'd like to see what he does with a horror film as a mature director. For those fans who liked Stagefright, The Church and The Sect and thought Dellamorte was the end - it was only the beginning. Soavi has been prominently directing incredibly suspenseful films full of his lyrical style, mostly for TV, since Uno Bianca, including an overlong TV bio-pic of St. Francis called Francesco which however is not without merit and stars the ever anxious to pair with Soavi Raoul Bova as the maligned Saint. But of all his films, Uno Bianca may lay claim to being his best. There's not a wrong, boring moment in this three hours; everything clicks like a precise watch and you realize it's no accident. Michele Soavi is behind the lens.
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