The Goldsmith
It’s a simple job, an elderly couple in an even older house out beyond the city limits, Roberto’s friend having information that the husband, Antonio, has a hidden workshop where he creates expensive items of jewellery, the goldsmith and his wife Giovanna in their beds by nine o’clock every night leaving the coast clear for Roberto, Stefano and Arianna to enter, access the concealed room and make off with the valuables.
The trouble starts when, unable to locate the workshop entrance, Roberto loses his temper, dragging the frail couple from their bed and forcing them to reveal the access; the trouble continues when, the three thieves inside, the door slides shut and locks behind them and Antonio begins addressing his assailants by name, recounting details of their personal lives and the misdeeds which have brought them to his house.
A single location thriller marking the directorial debut of Vincenzo Ricchiuto from a script co-written with Germano Tarricone, The Goldsmith (L’orafo) is a simple premise well executed, starring Suspiria’s Stefania Casinia as Giovanna, sympathetic towards the criminals her husband is holding hostage, and The Sea Wolf’s Giuseppe Pambieri as Antonio, a perfectionist who gives absolute focus to whatever task is at hand.
The trio down below comprising Mike Cimini, Tania Bambaci and Gianluca Vannucci as Stefano, Arianna and Roberto, the latter is the liability, snorting cocaine before and during the job and leaving fingerprints everywhere, though his shortcomings hardly seem to matter as the trap is sprung, Antonio driving a wedge between the three who declared themselves an unbreakable unit with his inside knowledge, but what family doesn’t bicker sometimes?
Opening with a prelude where thieving children are pursued through a derelict building, the lo-fi camera work is at odds with the glittering perfection of the main titles as metal and jewels are wrought and cut and polished and brought together, the first juxtaposition of a film where differences of class, approach and expectation recur, Antonio and Giovanni strangely calm and patient while their captives are impulsive and ready to unleash their anger on the closest target.
Echoing aspects of The Owners and Little Bone Lodge but with a flavour of genuine Italian home cooking, The Goldsmith goes through phases as it descends deeper into the house and the tangled history of the characters, perhaps becoming less convincing as it progresses from Antonio’s workshop to his laboratory, the transition from character drama to body horror not fully justified, but the ensemble remain committed with Casinia’s quirks particularly endearing as she offers coffee and cake to houseguests she knows will never leave.
The Goldsmith will be available on digital download from Thursday 12th October
