A Man on His Knees (Limited Edition) – Inside Pulse

Damiano Damiani has captured the realities of mafia life in Italy in countless films. While other directors might have made crime films, they often kept to the safety of a studio backyard. Damiani went to the heart of the mafia by filming in Sicily, the home of the Cosa Nostra. This is a harsh and dangerous island where people who displease the local crime bosses disappear or are simply gunned down in the streets. Radiance had already given us Cosa Nostra – Franco Nero in three mafia stories with three stories about the criminal network led by Damiani. A man on his knees Damiani returns to Palermo, Sicily, with a man who chooses the right path, but who finds himself in the sights of a mafia hitman.

Nino Peralta (A Gun for Ringo‘s Giuliano Gemma) tries his best to avoid a life of crime after being released from prison. He was one of the best car thieves in Sicily. When he was caught by the police, they didn’t find his stolen loot. His wife and children suffered for a while, but after his release he used the hidden money to buy a coffee stand next to a busy street. He is able to provide a better life for his family. But all this comes crashing down one morning when his buddy Colicchia (Cinema Paradiso‘s Tano Cimarosa) swears that a mafia hitman is looking for Nino. What could he have done to anger one of the crime families? He tracks down a few low-level connections to see if his past crimes aren’t coming back to haunt him. When the police visit his neighborhood, they check a warehouse across the street. Nino is brought in to identify a murdered body. He also spots a storage room where a kidnapped person was being held. Nino had no idea about the kidnapping when he brought coffee to the warehouse last month. Colicchia tells him that the hitmen were hired as revenge for the kidnapping. Nino is one of the people with contracts on their heads. He uses the potential hitman (The pyjama girls shop‘s Michele Placido) as a way to communicate with those who want him dead. He is willing to go to any lengths to never again disappear from his family’s sight. But is there any hope in this violent city for Nino to survive?

A man on his knees is an exceptional mafia film for so many reasons. The first is that it avoids the cliché of Nino as a criminal who is sucked back into a life of crime by a “Godfather” for one last heist. The mafiosi don’t want him back. They just want him dead. The hits on the other people on the list show how efficient the hitmen are at completing the contracts. The clock is ticking for Nino as he stalks his way through Palermo. Seeing this mysterious and dangerous city is another reason to watch. Eleonora Giorgi (Dario Argento’s Hell) becomes emotionally invested in the woman who suffered while her husband was behind bars and now fears becoming a widow. Michele Placido complicates his hitman so that he is not just a cold-blooded man with a gun. Tano Cimarosa is perfectly cast as Nino’s friend. This is my favorite Giuliano Gemma performance. Whether he is being a caring father or descending into Palermo’s underworld, Gemma is magnetic on screen as he races to stay alive. We get an overwhelming sense of how dangerous Palermo can be, as no one seems safe on the streets. A man on his knees is the best introduction to the work of Damiano Damiani.

The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer comes from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative. You get the details of life in Palermo. The audio is Italian LPCM mono. The mix lets you hear what lurks in the dangerous neighborhoods. The film is subtitled in English.

Alberto Pezzotta (23:44) is an interview with the author of Directed by Damiano Damiani. He ends up in the time when the director A man on his knees. He discusses how the rise of television in the 1980s caused Italian cinema to shrink as audiences stayed home. This led to genre directors having trouble getting budgets. This was one of Damaini’s last major films in Italy, along with The warningThe director did get an American film when he Amityville II: The Possession for Dino De Laurentiis.

Giuliano Gemma (8:45) recalls how happy he was to make a third mafia film with Damiani. He actually learned how to make drinks at the stand and has a great story about an unsuspecting customer. There’s another great story about how a garbage man who watched the footage found himself in a major role. Gemma passed away in 2013.

Tan Cimarosa (8:59) has the actor getting a drink in a cafe and talking about his life. His father was a puppeteer. While he had other jobs, he always acted and directed. Tano gets involved in his relationship with Damiani, which led to him appearing in seven films. The director had him improvise and change the script. He says he has worked all over the world, but never in America. He did make it to Canada.

Mino Giarada (20:41) has the assistant director talk about his collaboration with Damiani. He was a lawyer when he got into cinema. He later returned to the legal profession. When he met Damiani in Rome, the director wanted him to work on his films. He taught him a lot about filmmaking during their 10-year collaboration. We get a sense of the dangers of filming in Sicily.

Trailer (3:15) lets us know that this is about a man who is willing to do anything to protect his family from the mafia.

Booklet contains an essay by Roberto Curti.

Radiance Films presents A man on his knees. Director: Damiano Damiani. Screenplay by Nicola Badalucco and Damiano Damiani. With Giuliano Gemma, Eleonora Giorgi, Michele Placido, Tano Cimarosa, Ettore Manni, Luciano Catenacci, Nello Pazzafini, Fabrizio Forte and Nazzareno Zamperla. Running time: 110 minutes. Rating: No rating. Release date: September 24, 2024.