Ransom on sardines. The International Security Review for May-June 1990 reports: The story of kidnapping in Italy goes back in time. This tradition originated in Sardinia and later spread to other parts of Italy. Kidnappings were often carried out by friends or acquaintances of the victims, and they were the ones who informed the kidnappers of the actions planned by the police. Entire families and villages were drawn into it, providing the kidnappers with fairly high incomes. Conditionally, kidnappers of people can be divided into three groups: mentally unstable, “crusaders” (fighting for ideals) and criminals.
At least two of these three subspecies of Kidneppers will be introduced to us by Jianfranco Mingozzi, an honored Italian documentarian and a strong concurrent craftsman. The creator of such operational incorruptibles as "Young Don Juan" and "Flavia heretic". And the author of "Tarantula", a documentary short about the region of Puglia - the birthplace of tarantism and tarantella (religious cult and health dance, respectively).
These two parallels will intersect in this tape, which will very advantageously affect its narrative – on the one hand, fixing real events, details and faces, and creating interesting images and tense action on the other.
Previously, being an assistant to directors Federico Fellini, René Clément and Philippe de Broca, in his second feature film, Mingozzi feels extremely confident in the territory of Damiiano Damiani, offering an unexpectedly high-quality and fascinating political thriller. With a great acting tandem Rampling-Nero.
Franco Nero plays Gavino, the son of a wealthy local landowner, whose routine is disrupted by the kidnapping of Francesco’s friend and the arrival of a foreigner, Cristina. The danger in the air and the cynical impudence of crimes that invariably get away with villains, encourage him to take active actions, and he will literally kidnap himself to deal with the criminals himself.
Charlotte Rampling is incredibly hypnotic as Cristina, Francesco’s friend, who is destroyed from the inside by despair and forced inaction. She is hostile and distrustful to all the people of Sardinia who surround her, even to the relatives and relatives of the abducted. Although suspicion of Gavino soon gives way to love, the English student is still not given to understand the primitive laws and lifestyle of the islanders.
Some mystically ritualistic beginning of the film full of fatalism (the machine knocks down the sheep, from the sky hears a powerful voice and the victim as a zombie goes into voluntary captivity) as if illustrates the absolute unwillingness of local residents to resist and involve in their bitter business strangers with the police.
Remember what the International Security Review wrote in May-June 1990 about three groups of kidnappers? It is this conditional fact that will play into the hands of our hero!
8 out of 10