The films of director Franco Maresco (“Belluscone: A Sicilian Story”) are an acquired taste, rarely developed by non-Italian palates, and “The Mafia Is Not What It Used to Be” is a prime example. P…
” is a prime example. Playing in the nether regions separating documentary and fiction, Maresco is a humorist who expresses his frustration at Italian politics with absurdism — a legitimate response given how surreal some of the situations can be. His style, however, is abrasive and pandering, while his voice acts as a near constant accompaniment as he “interviews” characters whose benighted pro-Berlusconi attitudes or complacency about the Mafia, as here, are played as farce.
While Battaglia comes away depressed by the banality of the commemorations, Maresco goes to speak with Francesco “Ciccio” Mira, the erstwhile Z-grade showman who’s also an important part of “Belluscone.” Mira puts together shows for local street fairs and low-budget TV featuring a motley assortment of talentless entertainers like Cristian Miscel, a wannabe singer incapable of enunciating or carrying a tune.
It’s highly unlikely anyone outside Italy will find much amusement in the repetitive situations or Maresco’s headache-inducing voiceover . No one can accuse the director of subtlety, though he’d likely counter that the subject doesn’t warrant pussyfooting about. While that may be true, there have been intelligent satires, like those of Sabina Guzzanti, that use surreal humor to attack Mafia apologists and Cosa Nostra collaborators in the highest ranks of government.
Whenever Mira appears, the screen shifts from color to black and white in a reference to a 1990s TV show Maresco made with Daniele Ciprì, but that’s the sort of information to tickle hardcore fans rather than a broader public.
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