The Great Forgery is undoubtedly the reason I came across the name Antonio Chichiarelli, and the more I read about him, the more interested I became in his life story. And the more absorbed I became in everything that had happened in Antonio's life, the more I disliked the Netflix adaptation of his adventures. Most biopics fall into the cliché of starting the protagonist's story from birth, then moving on to their childhood, their rebellious teenage phase, and after much meandering, finally getting to the heart of the narrative.
By then, you're either bored of focusing on what's about to happen in the rest of the film, or perhaps the film has already entered its third act, which doesn't leave much room for a nuanced exploration of the subject. And then a huge wall of text appears, forcing you to read what happened to the person in question, whether alive or dead, and then the credits roll. Now, to be fair, the film we're discussing today avoids all these clichés by getting straight to the point, as the fictionalized version of Antonio enters the most tumultuous phase of his life.
Director: Stefano Lodovichi
Writers: Sandro Petraglia, Lorenzo Bagnatori
Stars: Pietro Castellitto, Giulia Michelini, Andrea Arcangeli
Stefano Lodovichi's The Great Forgery, adapted from Nicola Biondo and Massimo Veneziani's Il Falsario Di Stato by Sandro Petraglia and Lorenzo Bagnatori, tells the story of Toni, Vittorio, and Fabione, who leave their hometown near Lake Duchessa to go to Rome and make a name for themselves. Vittorio wants to serve God on a more accessible platform, Fabione joins a steel mill, and Toni seeks to break into the art world. This quest leads Toni to the door of an art dealer named Donata.
They fall in love, and during their passionate romance, Donata introduces Toni to a gangster named Balbo and his associates, Crocca, Stutty, and the Driver. Balbo and his gang commit petty crimes, but every now and then, they are contacted by a representative of the State, who is only known as the Tailor. Since this tailor wants to bring down the Red Brigades, he hires Toni (through Balbo) to forge various documents in order to discredit the far-left group, and since the pay is good, Toni agrees to work for him. However, when Fabione joins the Red Brigades and plays a significant role in the kidnapping of Prime Minister Aldo Moro, Toni's loyalty is put to the test, and he is forced to wonder if he has gotten himself into too much trouble.
I'm sure you're wondering how such an interesting story could turn into such a boring mess. If all of this happened in real life, how difficult could it be to adapt it into fiction? Well, it turns out that adapting one of the most outlandish stories from the darkest chapters of Italian history can be difficult if you don't have a clear idea of the tone you want to adopt. Petraglia and Bagnatori tried to be too serious throughout, and instead of developing the characters through dialogue or situations, they constantly resorted to tedious exposition and created an inconsistent sense of paranoia.
The characters sometimes acknowledge the absurdity of their situation, but this self-awareness isn't maintained consistently, resulting in a very confusing viewing experience. Furthermore, the screenwriters don't seem to know quite how to approach the politics of the time. They try to turn the whole affair into a kind of conspiracy thriller after the tailor's appearance, but they never fully commit, which makes the political plot of "The Great Forgery" very convoluted. Amidst all this nonsense, any commentary on art and forgery is completely lost. I think this is one of those rare cases where a story would have benefited from a serialized format.
If the script is a tonal mishmash of many things, then of course, that will be reflected in the direction as well. There are some moments where you can glimpse what The Big Fake could have been in terms of its visuals, pacing, and, at the risk of sounding repetitive, tone. There are beautiful wide shots showcasing the Italian landscape and architecture, thus immersing you in the story. There's that heist at the end of the film, which is very dynamic and fun. And there are detailed recreations of popular or not-so-popular works of art. But all of this is treated as punctuation marks between almost endless, dialogue-heavy scenes where people talk non-stop. If you're a big fan of people sitting in rooms talking, then you'll love this movie. If you're a big fan of people sitting in rooms talking, as long as those conversations are filmed, lit, and edited in a way that stimulates your brain, then this movie is not for you. I understand that period films are not profitable and that many interior scenes are needed to avoid having to set-dress entire streets and buildings to reflect the era in which the film is set. However, interior scenes are no excuse to abandon all the rules of visual storytelling.
The entire cast of The Big Fake does the bare minimum. Pietro Castellitto is tasked with carrying most of the film's weight, and he falters almost immediately, never recovering. Giulia Michelini is okay, I guess; she doesn't have enough screen time to be relevant. The same can be said of Andrea Arcangeli and Pierluigi Gigante. That is, they are crucial to the plot and the main character's development, and they simply wander aimlessly. I don't even know what motivated Aurora Giovinazzo to participate in this film; she completely wastes her talent.
Fabrizio Ferracane, Mattia Carrano, Edoardo Pesce, Claudio Santamaria, and the rest of the supporting cast are simply there. I don't know what else to say. I hope the process of making this film was worthwhile for them and that they were paid properly. In short, yes, I was extremely disappointed by this film. It had the potential to become one of the most impactful cautionary tales of all time. Now, it will be devoured and discarded by the Netflix algorithm, falling into the platform's ever-growing abyss of forgettable films. That said, feel free to research Antonio Chichiarelli and the political landscape in which he operated, even if only briefly. You'll likely find it more entertaining than watching this movie.
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