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Plot
Summary4 Though the recent corruption
scandals in Italy have thrown powerful men out of office,
"La Scorta" ("The Bodyguards") considers
the impact of anti-Mafia action on lowlier and nobler figures.
The film, a smart political thriller, focuses on the bodyguards
protecting an honest, imperiled judge trying to clean up
a Sicilian town. The story is based loosely on the life
of an actual judge, Francesco Taurisano. But the director,
Ricky Tognazzi, is looking at broader issues: the pervasiveness
of government corruption and the way the bodyguards try
to maintain a shadow of their normal lives.
As the
film starts, a judge and his bodyguard are murdered in the
Sicilian town Trapani. A replacement, Judge De Francesco,
is sent from Rome to take over the investigation into the
town's Mafia ties, and is assigned four bodyguards, all
of them young locals. The captain among them is Andrea,
a calm family man with three small children. Angelo is hotheadedly
eager for the assignment because the murdered guard was
his friend. Another guard is secretly engaged to a local
woman but can't reveal this because it might be cause for
a transfer, and the fourth is trying to be reassigned to
guarding doors or pouring coffee at some relatively safe
government building. He would seem to be the smart one,
but this film values heroism.
"La
Scorta," which opens today at Film Forum, has an understated
style and a deliberate pace that emphasize how commonplace
its explosive subject is in Italy. Throughout the film,
Mr. Tognazzi interweaves details of the investigation with
richly textured scenes of daily lives, effectively photographed
on narrow streets and in cramped apartment buildings. It
is too dangerous for Judge De Francesco to socialize with
anyone except his guards, so on one evening he is seen trying
to cook a simple dinner of pasta and broccoli for himself,
and on others he is invited to big family dinners at Andrea's
house along with the other men.
Meanwhile,
the judge learns that the local water supply is being controlled
by the Mafia and a corrupt Senator. Important documents
vanish from De Francesco's office. His own superior seems
suspect; it becomes difficult not to suspect everyone. As
the film goes on, the action picks up and the danger is
inescapable. Even Andrea's children and the judge's young
daughter, who has come for a birthday visit, are threatened.
Though
the film takes a cynical view of how difficult it is to
overcome corruption, it has a simplistic view of honest
and evil characters. The good guys and the bad guys are
as easy to spot as if they were wearing signs, and the viewer
is never wrong about a first impression. That avoids confusion,
but adds a note of naivete. Still, "La Scorta"
is absorbing and unlike any other film on screen at the
moment, offering a fresh perspective on another country's
scandals.
La Scorta
Directed
by Ricky Tognazzi; written by Graziano Diana and Simona
Izzo (in Italian with English subtitles); director of photography,
Alessandro Gelsini; edited by Carla Simoncelli; music by
Ennio Morricone; production designer, Mariangela Capuano;
produced by Claudio Bonivento; released by First Look Pictures.
Film Forum 1, 209 West Houston Street, South Village. Running
time: 92 minutes. This film is not rated. Angelo Mandolesi
. . . Claudio Amendola Andrea Corsale . . . Enrico Lo Verso
Raffaele Frasca . . . Tony Sperandeo Fabio Muzzi . . . Ricky
Memphis Judge De Francesco . . . Carlo Cecchi.(here)
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