IL BRIGANTE DI TACCA DEL LUPO
THE BANDIT OF TACCA DEL LUPO
Pietro Germi / Italy / 1952 / 93 min / Black and white
In 1863, Captain Giordani was called upon to suppress the banditry in the mountains of Melfi, in Basilicata. The commander of the gang of bandits, who remained loyal to the Bourbons, is a certain Raffa Raffa. The brisk, decisive manner of the captain is contrasted by the unctuous figure of Commissioner Siceli, who prefers to use cunning rather than force to resolve the problem of the bandits, who are often aided by the local population, distrustful as they are of constituted authority. In the final clash, Raffa Raffa will die, not at the hand of the bersaglieri, but rather by that of Carmine, who came up to the mountains to avenge the shame of the sexual violence suffered by his wife.
Pietro Germi
He was among the most autonomous Italian directors. His work was devoted to a lucid, cynical interpretation of reality, and rejected the canons of Italian Neo-Realism. With Divorzio all’italiana (1961, Oscar for the screenplay), and Sedotta e abbandonata (1964), he described the bigotry and hypocrisy of Italian society, but he also addressed other, equally engaging topics, as in Il brigante di Tacca del Lupo (1952).
Credits
Subject Riccardo BacchelliScreenplay Pietro Germi, Tullio Pinelli, Fausto TozziCinematography Leonida BarboniEditing Rolando BenedettiMusic Carlo RustichelliProducer Luigi RovereProduction company Lux Film