After Ciro Di Marzio (Marco D’Amore) finds himself slowly sinking into the waters of Naples, he is miraculously found alive and taken to land by several apprehensive fishermen, before memories start to emerge of his time as a youngster and prominent rise in the crime world. A highly anticipated and much talked about movie that is based on an Italian hit television show – a thoroughly enjoyable watch.

Director: Marco D’Amore
Writers: Leonardo Fasoli, Maddalena Ravagli, Francesco Ghiaccio, Giulia Forgione
Starring: Marco D’Amore, Giuseppe Aiello, Salvatore D’Onofrio, Martina Attanasio

It’s worth noting that to truly appreciate L’Immortale as a feature film then realistically you should be aware of the Italian television show, Gomorrah. With that being said however, this flick can be watched and comprehended as a standalone film, but there will be parts of it that may cause confusion and need further explanation.

As with most Italian productions, the cinematography in L’Immortale was outstanding, not only did it remind you of Gomorrah, but it also had the look and feel of an authentic feature film made for cinematic viewing. Set in the gritty backdrop of Latvia, this really showed a different side of Europe that many won’t have seen, nor will they be aware of. The soundtrack too was extremely fitting and just like the cinematography, it seemed like another episode of the television show that this movie was based around – the filmmakers did a terrific job in showcasing the striking similarities between the two.

In terms of the story in general, there is an argument to say that it could have been slightly improved upon and more polished in general, but in truth, it seemed to do the job correctly when it came to explaining the main characters current whereabouts and path taken, to end up in the situation he found himself in. This meant that a large majority of the movie was actually just dedicated to Ciro’s current whereabouts and his eventual rise to becoming one of the most dangerous men in Italy. The filmmakers used frequent flashbacks too, which gave the viewer a far greater understanding and backstory, while introducing new personalities also. Bruno (Salvatore D’Onofrio) and Stella (Martina Attanasio), were just two that graced our screens.

Something worthy of note however, is the fact that this flick wasn’t as action packed as some would have hoped and possibly expected. As mentioned, large parts of L’Immortale contained flashbacks while the other parts were somewhat slow in nature, to many people’s disappointment.

In terms of the acting, Marco D’Amore adopted the role of Ciro Di Marzio and provided a convincing and solid performance – as he always does in the same role, while the younger Ciro was played by Giuseppe Aiello. Some argued that the younger version of Ciro was given too much screen time, but in a movie of this nature, I think the filmmakers got the balance just about right.

All in all, this was a great insight into Ciro as a character and somewhat of an emotional roller coaster too, with a dramatic and fitting ending. Definitely worth the watch for any Gomorrah fan and possibly even any Italian cinema fan too.

“Death’s been with me my whole life. I’m not afraid of dying.”

Ciro Di Marzio – L’Immortale