My favorite film from the course was I cento passi. Peppino was an inspiring character to watch come into his own and fight against the Mafia. I cento passi was a nice change of pace compared to the other films we watched when no one was brave enough to stand up against the Mafia. Peppino quickly became one of my favorite characters to watch because of how he decided to not only to fight against the Mafia but also against his father. This film showed how a young man decided to stand up for what was right instead of listening to his family. This showed great courage in a society that has such strong family bonds. While I cento passi was my favorite film from this semester, I really enjoyed all of the films that were shown in the anti-Mafia unit. All of those films were inspiring in their own way but I enjoyed the storyline in I cento passi the most.
The film that I thought was the most creative in representing organized crime was Placido Rizzotto. Placido Rizzotto did not tell the story of Placido in a normal chronological order. The film was edited to have many different flashbacks so the viewer would understand why something happened. The kidnapping of Placido happened in the middle of the film but he was seen multiple times after that in flashbacks. I felt that those flashbacks were key to keeping the viewer invested in his fate. The more the viewer learns about what Placido did to help the commoners in Corleone. I thought that the most creative part of Placido Rizzotto was how the story was told. Having the story told on a storyboard gives the story a folklore feel although the true story happened in the 1940s. The storyboard also emphasizes Italian culture of orally passing stories down from generation to generation. The narrator’s true identity was never revealed but there is speculation that he was Placido’s father. It that were true, then he did not age like a normal human which could bring the story back to the folklore feel. Placido Rizzotto’s story is interesting and if Placido Rizzotto was filmed in chronological order it would have been a good film but the way the director played with flashbacks and the narrator made the film great.
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