The Consequences of Love | Little White Lies

The Con­se­quences of Love

25 May 2005 / Released: 27 May 2005

Headshot of a person wearing glasses, with their face partially obscured by a stone wall.
Headshot of a person wearing glasses, with their face partially obscured by a stone wall.
1

Anticipation.

Flew well under the radar.

3

Enjoyment.

The fine acting, beautiful camera work and a series of clues to work through are consistently engaging.

3

In Retrospect.

Persevere with the slow bits and you’ll reap the reward of a cracking finale. An unusual and memorable take on the Mafia.

At times frus­trat­ing­ly slow, The Con­se­quences of Love could be crit­i­cised for its mean­der­ing lack of action.

Estranged from his fam­i­ly, and with only a pack­et of cig­a­rettes for com­pa­ny, Tit­ta di Giralano’s life in an anony­mous Swiss hotel is lone­ly and emo­tion­less. But for the seduc­tive cin­e­matog­ra­phy that maps out his exis­tence it’d be pret­ty damn unex­cit­ing too.

Sub­tly and steadi­ly, how­ev­er, Pao­lo Sor­renti­no reveals clues about the secret of Titta’s past, teas­ing us until the arrival of a cash-filled suit­case brings dis­turb­ing details and the Mafia con­nec­tions that under­pin them.

At times frus­trat­ing­ly slow, The Con­se­quences of Love could be crit­i­cised for its mean­der­ing lack of action. But by shy­ing away from the famil­iar vio­lence that usu­al­ly defines the mob movie genre, Sor­renti­no lights a slow-burn­ing fuse that promis­es to det­o­nate at any moment.

Its chill­ing pow­er is evoked by Toni Servillo’s beau­ti­ful­ly under­played per­for­mance, the hotel’s prison-like impas­siv­i­ty and the painful mun­dan­i­ty of Titta’s existence.

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