PIRANHAS – Review

This week’s new release (well, new to most of us, since it played several film festivals, including St. Louis, last year) should satisfy a couple of interests to those still in “self-isolation”. First, it’s set in another country, so it’s a trip overseas, at least vicariously. The backdrop is Italy, specifically Naples which is one of the big tourist destinations (perhaps Steve and Rob had a nice bowl of pasta there during one of their movie “trips”). And second, for those not big on the scenery, it’s a crime profile. But it’s not a big sprawling epic like THE IRISHMAN and last February’s THE TRAITOR. The story’s spread out over a few months in the last couple of years. Oh, and the other big, big difference: the mobsters at the center of the tale are younger, by several decades. Teenagers really, several of them couldn’t drive here legally. Oh but their crimes are much bigger than any traffic violations. These “kids’ are quite deadly despite their age and size, hence the movie’s title: PIRANHAS.

The big ‘fish’ of this fable is fifteen-year-old Nicola (Francesco Di Napoli) who’s in the midst of a crime in the opening minutes. Along with best pal Tyson (Ar Tem), he’s taking the big mall Christmas tree (and defying another gang by invading their “turf”). The two, along with several pals from the Rione Sanita neighborhood (call it a “club” or a “gang”), torch the tree as part of a big bonfire set in a vacant lot. From there it’s off to the local disco, but first Nicola needs a couple of bucks from his young single mother. While in the back of her dry cleaning shop, two older men come in to collect the “protection fee”. As they leave, Nicola hops on his scooter and joins the “convoy” to the club. Along the way, the fellas’ help out two young women who’ve run out of gas. One of them, Leitzla (Viviana Aprea) catches Nicola’s eye. When the young men are turned away from the disco (the ladies are let in, of course), they converge at an all-night eatery. The meal is interrupted when the two “enforcers” Nicola saw at his mama’s force two other young men to leave. Tyson recognizes one of them as Agostino (Pasquale Marotta). part of the disgraced Striano family. They “ran” the neighborhood until their father worked with the feds. The gang is invited back to the plush, fancy Striano home, which inspires Nicola to plan the robbery of a local jewelry shop. But they’re “sloppy” and are caught and reprimanded (basically getting their “ears boxed”) by the local mob (those two “goons’ again). But Nicola sees this as an opportunity and asks for work. Surprisingly the “boss’ takes them on as “weed runner’ at a park near the college. Later, when the police raid a “family” wedding, Nicola jumps on another scheme. With so many of his former bosses in jail, he has Agostino introduce him to another “don” under house arrest. In exchange for the drug money, he’ll provide lots of “firepower”. With the armory, Nicola and his guys take over their home “turf”. And he pursues a romance with Leitzla. But when will greed and ambition spoil the big plans of the young mob “up and comers”?

This powerful tale is anchored by the enigmatic performance of Di Napoli as the young man swayed by big dreams of being a “big man’ in his little neighborhood. He deftly balances the naivety of someone barely out of his teens, especially as his eyes widen at the opulence of the Striano “palace”, giddy at that the things he could never afford. And he has much that same look (with a bit more of the “Christmas morning” joyful gaze) as he and his pals open up the big bag of lethal goodies from the house-bound Don, passing around handguns and assault rifles as though they were baseball cards. Then he’ll show us Nicola’s tender side as he confides in his little brother Cristan (Luca Nacarlo), who idolizes him. This is cemented later as Nicola gifts his “back alley” soccer squad with custom shirts. And then there’s the halting, sweet romance with his adored Leitzla. While he must be tough and decisive with his boys and any who cross him, Nicola lets his guard down when near her, even escorting her to the fancy opera house (and sneaking kisses between arias). Aprea captures her as a teen on the cusp of spreading her wings into full womanhood. Yet somehow amid all the drama, we get to see a bit of Di Napoli’s comic skills as he clumsily dons a disguise in order to facilitate a “hit”. And luckily he’s got a great rapport with all of his boys, especially the brutish Tyson played with a commanding glower by Tem.

Director Claudio Giovannesi brings a raw modern energy to a story nearly as old as cinema (recalling James Cagney scaling the heights of the mob kingdom nearly 90 years ago in THE PUBLIC ENEMY). He operates almost like a “fly on the wall” filming like a documentarian just stumbling upon the story of these lethal lads. There’s a poignant intimacy to the quiet scenes of Nicola’s family. Rather than a matronly “mama” mixing tears into her ‘gravy” Nicola’s mother seems barely in her mid-thirties as she watches her son suddenly change his demeanor (as their lifestyle radically changes). This brings even more power to the random bursts of sudden violence (the wrong word is said and guns appear everywhere). The teens of Rione Sanita believe that they’re invincible, which is something the established gangster bosses use to their gain. But as they engage in numbing all-night parties filled with drug-fueled orgies, their youth slowly drains away. Eventually, it’s a rags-to-riches-to Hell cautionary tale, given an “old world” gloss by the gorgeous Naples locales. All these diverse elements help to give PIRANHAS real “bite”.

3 out of 4

PIRANHAS is streaming on Digital Download via several platforms including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play