As a huge fan of "Apartment Zero" I went to "K.Il Bandito" with a certain amount of trepidation. Martin Donovan, the director, hasn't directed a film in a decade. It took the opening image to drag me into this passionate tale of "K" a fictional venetian bandit that, in a way, represents them all. The strange romantic view of an outlaw told in strong emotional terms. The hypnotic nature of this film remains vividly in my mind. I saw it 48 hours ago and I'm still in it with those fabulous faces that populate the film travelling around my brain. Pierluigi Coppola, plays Karlo with a "K" and he's not just impossibly beautiful but soulful and as far away from the bandits we're used to see that in a way his creation is kind of unique. His wife is played by Martina Stella with shattering honesty. She is truly exceptional. Her slow collapse into depression and drug addiction is told in riveting passages, so beautiful! The great Neapolitan singer, Lina Sastri, is a powerful standout as "K"'s mother. She doesn't shy away from her guilt. She's so aware and her pain is visceral and cinematic. The time transitions have a poetic flair very present in Martin Donovan's "Mad At The Moon" although Donovan visits here a very different universe. The score by Savio Riccardi and the photography by the great Ennio Guarnieri ("The Garden Of The Finzi Contini") are the icing on the cake of this emotional work of art.
