Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Lamerica (1994)

An opportunistic Italian swindler heads to Albania and finds himself involved with the life of an impoverished local in this somber political drama. Gino (Enrico Lo Verso) and his partner in crime Fiore (Michele Placido) come to Albania with a money-making scheme designed to capitalize on the surrounding political chaos. For the con to work, however, they need an easily exploitable native Albanian, and they recruit Spiro (Carmelo Di Mazzarelli). Easily confused and utterly impoverished, this elderly former political prisoner seems the perfect choice, until he unexpectedly disappears. Gino is assigned to find him, setting out on a journey that leads him to discover Spiro's tragic personal history and become intimately acquainted with the full extent of Albanian poverty. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Running Time: 116 mins
I was confused to know whether they were headed to Italy or in the end of the film they talk about "America" without mentioning what country.

The film shows that lawlessness prevailed in many parts of the country. I would definitely be upset to pay a police officer to protect his car and then when he gets back that all the wheels are stolen. Which set the stage for all the comedies of tragedies the film was made of.

I did wonder about the boy that pretended to have a lost leg but in reality he just tucked his leg into his leg and under his butt.

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