NAPOLI, NAPOLI, NAPOLI

Italy, 2009, 106 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Abel Ferrara.

This is an unusual film by writer-director Abel Ferrara. Ferrara, American but of Italian origin, often has Italianate flavour to his films. Starting with small budget, he made films which were violent, moving into explorations of the underside of New York City. King of New York and, especially, The Bad Lieutenant were the best examples of this kind of film. Sometimes he moved more into the mainstream with The Funeral, at other times on the edge with films like The Addiction. He also did his Jesus film, an intriguing look at a director, an actress, a television interviewer and their reactions to a Jesus film.

Napoli, Napoli, Napoli is a combination of three short stories in one, illustrating aspects of the life of the city of Naples. Naples itself becomes a character. There are echoes, of course, of the Mafia. There are family stories, with family pride and moral expectations. There is also a key story when Ferrara visits a women’s prison, interviews the prisoners – and finally performs a concert, he himself singing and playing the guitar as a finale to the prison story.
1.The work of Abel Ferrara, his fictions, harsh, religious themes, social observations, violence? His approach to documentary film-making?

2.Audience interest in Naples, Italians, the world? The history of Naples in World War Two, occupation, starvation, the Italian troops, the Germans, the liberation by the Americans? The history after the war? The focus of mainland Italian Mafia? The landscapes, the hills, Vesuvius? The detail of people and their life?

3.Ferrara and his choices, his personal interests, the personal interviews with the women prisoners, directing them, the inclusion of two fictional stories? The end, the band, his singing?

4.The vistas of the city, the neighbourhoods, the streets and hills, the interiors, the prison? The overall impact of Naples as a city?

5.The history of Naples, the war footage and the effect of starvation, the Allies and their gifts? The documentary of Napoli 66, the building, the hopes? Later disillusionment? The 21st century view?

6.The portrait of the people, suffering, relying on themselves, religion, not relying too much on the church, the political corruption, crime? Murders?

7.The social help, the visit to the centre, the director, the tour, the theatre, the people rehearsing, the range of activities? The problems with the poor, the addicts…?

8.The fictions and their based on fact?

9.The women in prison, the range of personalities, interviews, their crimes, robberies, drug dealing, prostitution, the Nigerian and her being trapped? The spirit of the women? The end and their joy and participation in the concert?

10.The story of the father, his brutality, the mother and her tolerance, the young girl, modern, going out, sexual relationships?

11.The son, the Mafia connections, their following him, the party, eventually killing him?

12.The overall picture of Naples – and the insights that it offered intellectually and emotionally?