Rose e Pistole (1998)

With the industrial wastelands of the Metropolitan area west of Naples as background, this film is a Mediterranean style Bonnie and Clyde with a clever collage of film noir elements. The Chinese ideograms in the main credits set the tone, representing three I Ching hexagrams -- Adversity, Biting and the Family. Rosa is pregnant, but her partner Angelo does not know it. They are on the run from her ex-husband, the wealthy butcher Pappalardo, who has hired a killer to get rid of Angelo. To get the money to leave town, Angelo becomes involved in a strange hold-up while Rosa goes back to the erotic chat line she had worked in the past after an unsuccessful attempt at drug pushing. Subplots involve two dudes, a dentist who smokes, a role player, a couple who manage the erotic hot-line, a maniac, a transsexual, an ex-burglar who is mad about electronics, a serial killer, a veteran actress, and more. All this leads to an almost happy ending. The film supports the idea that classical feminism is at odds with the younger generation who find security in the ideals of family traditions and Catholicism, all of which results in hybridization. The structure is not a linear narrative, but rather a series of special links -- internal rhymes, reversals of themes and timing -- coming together as in a jigsaw puzzle. In a way, the form serves as the content. Talented Italian jazz musician Eugenio Colombo's score is emotionally gripping. Rose e Pistole was screened as part of the International Forum of New Cinema section of the 49th Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi