Zeros and Ones first published by Little White Lies, as entry 151 in my Cinema Psychotronicum column Masked, armed and uniformed American soldier J.J. (Ethan Hawke) is in the middle of a nocturnal, locked-down Rome under explicit threat of explosive terrorist attack. For purposes that are never entirely clear, he shoots – with his camera…
Enzo Ceccotti (Claudio Santamaria) is a thief, a porn addict and a loner. Pursued by police, he dives into the Tiber, accidentally breaking open a submerged barrel of industrial waste, and emerges an accidental, if also reluctant, hero – a sort of modern Roman version of The Toxic Avenger (1984). At first Enzo uses his powers…
First published by Real Crime Magazine “3 November, 2011 – Seven Days to the Apocalypse”. So reads text near the beginning of Stefano Sollimo’s Suburra, initiating a countdown that will punctuate and propel the rest of the film’s intersecting narratives. A prologue in which the Pope whispers to an alarmed-looking priest has already hinted at…