Pierfrancesco Diliberto’s The Mafia Kills Only in Summer is an unlikely comedy centred on the bloodshed perpetrated by Sicily’s ruthless Cosa Nostra.
Mafia Madness
by Laura BennettThe Mafia Kills Only in Summer
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
CAUTION: Here be spoilers
Far from losing itself in the bleakness of Palermo’s struggles against organised crime, this film from director Pierfrancesco Diliberto (nome d’arte: Pif) succeeds in conveying the resilience of the residents of the Sicilian capital. Conceived on the day of a bloody Mafia hit in the apartment beneath that of his newly-wed parents, Arturo’s life is marked by a series of coincidences that underline the Cosa Nostra’s presence in the city of his birth. Dedicated to police escorts fallen in the line of duty and officers of the Palermo Crime Squad, the film makes no apologies for its anti-Mafia stance and skilfully navigates a path between honouring the victims and setting real events in a framework that stresses their now historical nature. Fascinated by the ultimately disgraced Italian prime minister, Giulio Andreotti, the young Arturo’s journalistic concern for his home city is matched only by his love for the beautiful Flora, a girl he seems to contrive to win over, then lose again in every scene. Wonderfully colourful, The Mafia Kills Only in Summer offers a fresh take on an aspect of Italian society that has long been a celluloid favourite.
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer is showing on 7th March 2015 at Cinema Made In Italy at the Ciné Lumière
