Martin Eden by Pietro Marcello

Pietro Marcello made an imperfect, tortured and boring but altogether wonderful movie by a literal--to the degree I can judge from the synopsis of the book I had never bothered to read--rendering of early 20  century novel and transmitting its imagery in Italy, which has historical references to pre-WWI and pre-WWII world but  with late 1940s or 1960-1970s car makes. Even the itinerant worker dressed as if he comes from the posh ready-to-wear stores in Milano is endearing. Nobody during, probably, a few decades of the movie story (several novels by the protagonist come in the interim) ages. How the story so anchored in the literary and social world of the late 19-early 20 century--socialism vs. anarchism, publishing houses as the towering pinnacles of public opinion, capitalists on the forefront of liberal reformism, war as "hygiene of society" borrowing Marinetti's expression, etc.--can touch us in the firth quarter of 21 century is a complete mystery but Marcello succeeded in pulling it off. The novel is semi-autobiographical and the actor playing protagonist has a definite likeness with Jack London but not so much as making it disturbing. No main character is played very well. Martin Eden and Elena Orsini are more of schematic cutouts than real people. Real depth of character belongs to Carlo Cecchi (Russ Brissenden) and barely touched Denise Sardisco (Margherita), Elisabetta Valgoi (Matilde Orsini), Autilia Ranieri (Guilia Eden) and Carmel Pomella (Maria Silvia). Acting predominance of the supporting cast is against all cinematic conventions but it adds to the movie's charm. 

Shanghai Triad.

 First, there are no "Shanghai Triads". Triads is the name specific for the Hong Kong mobsters. An original name for the movie was the beginning of the Chinese lullaby "Row and row, past the mother-in-law bridge", which, if my Western perception is correct, can mean either "Escape from the clutches of the family" or "You soon will be adult, girl". 

Roger Ebert with his characteristic dissing of good movies, which earned him a status of a sublime intellectual among Los Angeles crowd, noticed very uneven tempo of the movie. It has lengthy expositions of nature in the absence of screen action--though there are Chinese songs he cannot understand in the background--and the breakneck speed of the last 20 minutes. He is, of course, right. But this does not subtract from its powerful emotional message. 

This is one of the few movies, for which I wished if not the American-style happy end, but at list happier end, or at least the ending with more ambivalence. In the masterpiece of Coppola's "Godfather" there is a deliberate juxtaposition between Don Vito and Mickey Corleone. The first is a person of principles and honor, who can be generous without reciprocity, for woman who has to be evicted because of her dog, or for mob-loving artist modeled on Frank Sinatra. Mickey is a psychopath, who cares for nobody and nothing except power. Even his son, whom he adores, has to grow without his mother and without anything except material wealth and comfort--the only things Mike Corleone understands. 

The Boss Tang of the "Shanghai Triad" seem to begin like Vito--cruel, but following his own code of fairness and honor--but suddenly turns into psychopath who cold bloodedly executes his mistress, his hostess on his "safe house" island (and, earlier, her boyfriend) and makes her underage daughter into his sex slave. This can be very true--the world of organized crime is a magnet for violent psychopaths--though some, like Cheney and Stalin graduate into high politics, and useful in the sense that the movie does not romanticize the mob. However, because psychopaths are inscrutable--there is nothing to explain except that there are people who receive pleasure from hurting other people--no psychologic complication can transpire.