A successful Italian man living in Paris returns to Italy to exact financial revenge upon his cruel half-brothers in this Italian-French drama. Gabriele now runs a successful antique appraisal company in Paris. He lives in a fine, automated apartment which his lover Claire compares to an impenetrable box. Gabriele is haunted by his troubled youth, which is presented through flashbacks. He and his baby brother Martino were bastards. Their father was the wealthy Giancarlo Giannini who already had a family. After Gabriele's feisty and independent mother died, he and his brother were taken into their father's home. Though living in luxury's lap, the now adolescent Gabriele was mistreated by his two hateful half-brothers. He eventually ran away from that house. This is the motive behind his revenge. But to get it he must return home and therefore, must face his past.
Acting
Bentivoglio's stillness—every blink calculates damage.
Cinematography
Parisian glass vs. Italian stone: two prisons, beautifully shot.
Direction
Campiotti lets silence do the screaming.
Director
Giacomo Campiotti
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title references a Sardinian proverb: crocodiles weep while eating—perfect for Gabriele's performative grief.
Giannini plays the father who rejects his bastard son; in real life, he campaigned for Italian laws protecting unmarried fathers' rights. Campiotti called this 'delicious tension.'
FR
IT
