DVD Review: Piranhas

Piranhas is an exciting film about a group of teenage boys who join a mob family, and spend their days in the streets of Naples, taking money from people they’d at one time hoped to protect. The film sticks closely with the boys, particularly Nicola (Francesco Di Napoli), and we see the world mainly through their eyes. It is almost like a documentary crew followed them in order to show us this world without outside commentary or interference. And, as a result, the film really immerses us in their story, in their lives.

The film opens with a static shot of a tall Christmas tree with lights. After a few moments, two boys enter the frame, with the idea of claiming the tree before a rival gang of boys is able to. And from then on, the camera seems move with them. Is this a game they’re engaged in? Something more serious? Soon they have a bonfire going and are chanting “Quartieri, enemy number one!” It seems mostly like a bit of fun, boys letting off some steam and enjoying each other’s company. But you get a sense there is something much darker in the background of this sort of play. And you can’t help but wonder where the parents and authorities are. Then when Nicola goes to his mother’s shop to get a jacket, he witnesses two thugs shaking her down for a weekly payment. Nicola is clearly bothered by this scene, but can do nothing to stop it. Not yet.

When Nicola and his friends are kept from entering a club, and not because they are underage, which they are, but because they don’t have 500 euros to pay the doorman, they vow to get the money next time. They befriend Agostino, a member of a crime family that is no longer in power, and get a taste for what money can bring them. For some reason, this kids are particularly excited about wristwatches, and end up robbing a jewelry store with a fake gun in order to get their hands on some. But that ends up getting them into trouble with the ruling crime family. Relatively undaunted by their encounter, the kids ask to work for them, and begin by dealing drugs. They take their jobs quite seriously, even scaring off another guy who tries to sell in what they call their territory. And they use their money to get into that club. It’s hard to keep from thinking these kids are kind of pathetic. How important is it to get into clubs and to wear expensive sneakers? But that is their world, a world without positive role models, a world without much compassion, a world without school or structure, a world without bigger dreams. And soon these boys are acting tough, with Nicola doing it in part to impress a pretty girl named Letizia (Viviana Aprea), and then collecting payments from shop owners, and wanting to take over the neighborhood themselves. Yet, they are still children, and we see it when they act goofy, taking photos of themselves with their cell phones while posing with guns and so on.

The film moves at a fast pace, just as their lives seem to do, and we get caught up in this world, just as these kids do. A world than can be beautiful and enticing at moments, but also overwhelming, dangerous and ugly, and always interesting.

Special Features

The DVD contains a featurette on the making of the film, which includes interviews with director Claudio Giovanessi and cast member Francesco Di Napoli, as well as some footage shot during production. The special features also include a short interview with writer Roberto Saviano, who talks about the background of the story. And there is footage from a question and answer session at Berlinale, featuring the film’s director, writer, producers and some cast members. who talk about the reality behind the story of the film. The film’s trailer is also included.

Piranhas was directed by Claudio Glovannesi, and was released on DVD on January 14, 2020 through Music Box Films. It is presented in its original Italian, with English subtitles.