tlavideo.com

Review

This wonderful, heartfelt gem of a movie resulted from a singular origin: a dozen friends (from Philadelphia, New York and Milwaukee) went to the hills of Italy to make a film together. They had no actors, no script, no budget, no shot list...not even a director (well, in fact, the crew took turns). But the result is a film that will steal your heart. And possibly your oranges. Its anti-hero is a dreamer and a wandering career thief. Deeply in love with his native Italy, he refuses to be stopped by the oppressive forces against him. But when one fruit-driven raid goes very wrong, he lands in jail with the notorious murderer, Turrido. Soon after, he finds himself riding into destiny with the woman who loves Turrido — Rosalba. The Italian countryside is beautifully filmed by Philly’s own Jim Reed, and it’s remarkable that none of the uniformly excellent cast had any prior professional acting experience.

 -- Scott Johnston