Security

2021 - Thriller/Drammatico - 1h 58m

Regia: Peter Chelsom

Cast: Marco D'Amore, Maya Sansa, Silvio Muccino, Valeria Bilello, Ludovica Martino, Giulio Pranno, Tommaso Ragno, Beatrice Grannò, Antonio Zavatteri, Anna Della Rosa, Fabrizio Bentivoglio

The beauty and tranquility of the small town of Forte dei Marmi, is shaken when it is discovered violence on a young girl. This mysterious case, will bring to light hidden secrets of which no one had the dawn disrupting the lives of citizens.

The film is the transposition of the 2009 novel, Security, by American writer Stephen Amidon. It is not the first time that a novel by Amidon has been translated into cinema, since in 2014 Paolo Virzì directed the human capital inspired by the American writer's 2008 novel of the same name. A comedy that should have come out already a few years ago but various technical problems had made the shooting slip, and finally arrived on our screens, to my surprise that now I no longer hoped to do the opera.

After hearing about the famous American writer and former critic and his essays and novels including the aforementioned human capital (the most famous of his), I was very curious to see another of his work portrayed in the cinema. This opera is also the absolute debut of the English director Peter Chelsom on the Italian market and with a completely Italian cast and production, and I must be honest it did not disappoint me, then thinking back to his previous romantic comedies of decent success. The director of Hannah Montana: the movie among the various films, has created a film based very much on mystery and investigation, where the protagonist policeman has to make amends to himself to solve the case with various problems, let's say a kind of detective but not too Italian.

Director Peter Chelsom (the third from sx), at his first Italian film

For Chelsom be in front of a genre that before then I had never really dealt with, and an Italian production, will not be definitely was easy, and I have to say that when I saw his name credited as the director for this new work signed Sky Original, I was very surprised, I would expect that the director originally from Blackpool could direct a movie, even if according to the sources, the decision to try this new experience that took place after seeing the great work of Virzì with The human capital, and his knowledge of the Italian language. He tried in every way to highlight the world of cyber security and what's behind it, and that only a cop with great tenacity could face.

The main element of the film is computer security, where in much of the town every house has a camera that monitors the vicinity, and in turn the police control the whole village. It reminded me a lot of the Person of Interest series, where every citizen was controlled by cameras even though there civilians were controlled round the clock. A technology used in the plot that makes it clear how much computer science has made great strides, and that it is now in everyday life, not making anyone feel comfortable even going for a walk. Just on privacy wanted to work the director and really understand what people do when it is for his own business, a kind of Big Brother to understand us.

The protagonist is Marco D'Amore

The choice to put an actor like Marco D'amore as the main protagonist has found it interesting, first of all because the actor from Campania who now after the success of Gomorra - the series no longer makes news, has a talent that has yet to express itself at its best but that has already shown that he can be the protagonist of Italian cinema without The character of the mostly nocturnal policeman, who suffers from insomnia and who will try to do everything to solve the mystery of the alleged violence on the girl, was really right thanks also to his attachment to the character who may seem very serious but who has a big heart.

Just the girl, Mary, to Break (Beatrice Grannò), is the example of the young girl who, after having suffered violence tries to hide everything, or at least does not tell how things really are, only not to suffer violence, a character that we find also in the reality where violence against women is unfortunately still alive and that in spite of you fight about these things, is there anyone who still makes a joke, or continues to do violence. The director's desire to talk about this subject is an honour for him to demonstrate once again that this violence against women must end.

In the town of Lucca we find strange characters with a hidden past and that will come to light with the passage of history. Betrayals are part of the film is the marriage between Roberto (Marco D'amore) and Claudia (Maya Sansa) is right in the middle of the film with Claudia, ready to become the mayor of the city aside from the relationship with his daughter Angela (Ludovica Martino), and the husband even if the cause is also the betrayal of the latter is never forgiven. A family that is destroyed by itself, and that seems not to recover, even if it seemed to me that his wife may believe it yet, but her stubbornness led her to not reconnect, I would not like to be in the role of the daughter, that would only someone would listen and that the parents of them that is now between them no longer go to for years, and not doing the part of the happy family.

Excellent proof of Silvio Muccino

What then attracted my attention is to see Silvio Muccino again on the screen, an actor who has the qualities there but probably lacks continuity appearing and disappearing from the screens, and in fact his last film was from 2017. The part of the pseudo professor who establishes a relationship with his student, Angela, did not hurt. His way of making the character's innocent, but that hides a lot of secrets from his own, becoming an interesting character, which is intertwined in the case of the girl, and that up to the end, he was left with the question of whether or not he's the rapist or not; I believe that Silvio was too criticized in those years for the events of his personal life and has lived too much in the shadow of more famous sibling, but that would only need less critical, and only the support, even if attempts has been made and the part of you feels a lot.

If at the center of the film is the Inspector Santini (M. D'amore), the character of Fabrizio Bentivoglio is truly unique. The milanese actor fresh from vittoria ai David di Donatello, never surprises thanks to his facial mimicry and the part of the boss if you can say, even if it seems more like a pimp the intepreta to the best of his qualities that reflect the nastiness of characters who have so much money that they would like everything to then discover that they hide truths that you Same fate for the character played by Tommaso Ragno, the father ubricacone and violent of the poor girl who was raped, all you accaniscano but the man is only guilty of being an alcoholic, and for years he has been unjustly accused of violence and obscene acts in public places, not knowing that would only make the father but that the alcohol will not allow them to do that, a beautiful test of an actor that I had no knowledge, and that is the key that turns on everything even better to find the culprit.

Filming in Forte dei Marmi

Let's not get caught by seeing Forte dei Marmi in the winter period that seems a depressing and lonely city, but that being a mainly summer city attracting many tourists, you have to see it from this point of view. The director tried to show the beauty of these summer places that reflect the beauty of our country, and that many envy us. The right setting for a mysterious film like this, also because it is the example of the small town where everyone knows each other and that it takes a strange case to create confusion. As for the soundtrack composed by Andrea Farri, I must say that there is little talk even if it is the mirror of the work where every new clue also changes the melodies of the film, with music ranging from serious to mysterious, which is reminded me of the music of the various detective fiction. In a nutshell a film that intrigues you to the end and that when you think you have understood everything then snaps out the element that you care about, another great success from the books of Amidon and that I would not underestimate much.

by Giacomo Fantini rating: 2,90 of 5

1 July 2021