I cento passi

This has quite a poignant underlying message of complicity and compliance as it tells the true story of firebrand young man Peppino Impastato (Luigi Lo Cascio). He lives on a mafia-dominated Sicily in a family led by his acquiescing father Luigi (Luigi Maria Burruano). It's not that his dad is cowardly, far from it, but he has a wife (Lucia Sardo) and another son, Giovanni (Paolo Briguglia), so is constantly conscious that any resistance to the established order could prove perilous. Peppino has all the vigour and irresponsibility of his age and together with some friends sets up a local radio station that mixes a contemporary mix of classic rock music with some fairly direct rantings about the local "don" - comparing him to legendary Sioux chief Sitting Bull holding court over a tribe full of drug users and sleazy hookers. This isn't a gun-toting organisation. It doesn't need to be. It gets it's way by a combination of carrot and stick approaches. If the population co-operate then life can be good, but if they stray from the arbitrary control of "Tano" (Tony Sperandeo) then they might find themselves starring in their own personal version of a Buster Keaton film. Cascio is on strong form here offering us quite a compelling presentation of a young man who genuinely believed that his on-air protestations could elicit change for good and when his family warn him of the risks - to them and to him - that just seems to galvanise him. The conclusion is history; a sad and depressing history that rather well illustrated the extent of the collusion that existed between the authorities and the "authorities" and the disposability of an inconvenient life. Briguglia also contributes well as does Sardo as his strong-willed but increasingly wary mother whilst the writing offers us a lively bedrock for characters that mingled passion with prescience in an entertaining and engaging fashion. The production looks good and it's well worth a watch.

Somebody say that it is a classical italian movie about Mafia, but I'm sure that `I cento passi'is something more. It talks about the real story of Peppino Impastato. Peppinpo was a boy who lived in a small village in Sicily in the 70's. After his grandfather's murder he knew a printer who was communist and becoming communist and through he tried to fight the Mafia and the boss in particular, because he was the mandant of grandfather's murder. `I cento passi' means ` 100 steps' which was the distance between his home and the boss' house. He was killed by dynamite the same day of Moro's murder (a famous italian politician) but the police said that it was an accident. It is a real story and it make you thing how the pawer is dangerous but also how is important the bravery.

This movie is how mafia stories should be: real and not romanticized around the mafia concept.

The all story is accurately narrated thanks to the mother of Peppino Impastato.

Watching it will not only be entertainment, but the spectator will learn about real lives stories and discover how much disgusting mafia is.

Forget all the movie you have seen since now about mafia. Forget good people to one side and bad people to the other, forget blood and gunshots. This is the real story of a boy from Sicily who's family is actually very well connected with Mafia, so to fight Mafia he has to fight against people he loves, and make them take the same risks he takes in this fight. It is also a good portrait about Sicily's way of life and youth rebellion of seventies. I'm sorry for those have to see it in a different language from italian (I should say sicilian) because original dialogs worth it. A word about scriptwriters, Monica Zapelli and Claudio Fava. Their good job comes from their knowledge about Mafia, and their courage actually fighting it.

I saw this movie just recently and loved it. I was sort of forced into watching it (I as trying to get my friend to bring out "Alien" instead, but that didn't work), and I found it an amazing experience. The performances are sizzling, especially from the title role of Peppino played by Luigi Lo Cascio. For a mafia film I found there to be an incredibly low amount of violence. If only it hadn't been forgotten, because it is a truly underrated gem. No Godfather, or even Pulp Fiction, but still a heart-warming and powerful film.

Unmissable.

7/10