Rating: B
Dir: Vincenzo Ricchiuto
Star: Giuseppe Pambieri, Tania Bambaci, Stefania Casini, Gianluca Vannucci
a.k a. L’Orafo
Sometimes, it’s nice just to watch a movie about which you know not very much. Going in, all my knowledge about this was the Tubi synopsis: “By breaking into the country house of an elderly goldsmith, three desperate criminals set themselves up for the most terrifying night of their lives.” That summary is fairly accurate. While you could argue there’s some hyperbole involved towards the end, it hits the key points and doesn’t embellish things excessively. Indeed, the reality is, if anything, more interesting than the synopsis. It’s likely best left vague, so you too can reach the end credits and wonder, how the hell did we get here, from where we began?
The trio in question are career criminals, Arianna (Bambaci), Stefano and Roberto (Vannucci), who have been a trio of thieves since they were kids. Their latest target is the country house belonging to goldsmith Antonio (Pambieri) and his wife, Giovanna (Casini), who has a hidden workshop there, with a load of expensive jewellery. They burst in, force Antonio to reveal the location of his lab, and tie the couple up so they can ransack the place. Except, the door is on a timer, and suddenly swings shut, trapping them inside. Antonio frees himself and his wife, and speaks to the thieves through the intercom. They’re disturbed when Antonio reveals he knows who they are, and considerably more than disturbed, when it becomes clear that’s just the start of his knowledge.
I’m not going to say any more, because things go dark. Way dark. There’s good reason why Antonio hasn’t bothered to do anything like, oh, notify the authorities. Initially, he’s just playing with his food (so to speak, and no – that is not a spoiler!), revealing information that will cause dissension in the ranks of the captives. Such as Stefano having pulled a job for himself, originally intended as a group effort. He continues to deny it, but in a nice touch, the audience sees a flashback of what actually happened, while he’s lying his face off. Then there’s Arianna’s mysterious absence: not quite the “family visit” claimed. These help show the trio have no loyalty except to themselves, despite mouthing platitudes about only stealing to survive.
That said, do they deserve what eventually happens to them? I’d be hard-pushed to say anybody would. The first likely gets off easiest, even if it’s somewhat self-inflicted. After that, it’s a staircase, descending first into, “That’s creepy”, followed by a quick game of “Who’s more insane?”, and ending up at “WTF?” It may be a little implausible: put it this way, Antonio’s talents are apparently not limited to the manipulation of precious metals. I’ll tolerate that, given the gonzo willingness to go into the Grand Guignol, with an almost operatic flair. By the time you reach the final shot, it’s no longer about “three desperate criminals” in any especially meaningful way, and is all the better for it.