A Man on His Knees

There’s nothing more enjoyable than falling down the rabbit hole of a director’s previous work, especially one as accomplished as Damiano Damiani.  Labeled the most “American” of Italian directors, his films were ironically steeped in political and social commentary hidden under a façade of genre trappings.  1979’s A Man on His Knees again delivers the best of both, telling the story of a mafia miscarriage of justice that sets its sights on the wrong man.   

 

Nino Peralta (Giuliano Gemma) is a former car thief turned café owner still ashamed of his past.  So, when a kidnapping goes bad and one of his cups are found in the hideout, he’s blindsided to find out his name is one of eight on a mafia hit list.  Desperate to prove his innocence, Peralta reaches out to the man assigned to kill him, Antonio Platamonte (Michele Placido), hoping they can make a deal.  But the further up the chain of command they go, the more tangled the web becomes, forcing these two enemies to become unlikely allies.

 

The most impressive aspect of A Man on His Knees – and there’s a lot of them – is how unpredictable it is.  None of the characters ever make the move you expect, volleying the plot back and forth as the stakes become higher and higher for them all.  Better known for his genre tough guy roles, Gemma turns in a sympathetic performance thanks to Damiani’s clever editing. But Placido doesn’t need the assist; his turn as a hitman playing both sides is what keeps the film so beautifully off-balance.  Alternately a villain, a coward and a potential savior, it’s a brilliant piece of acting that Damiani milks for all it’s worth.

 

The film uses a mafia headline to disguise its less obvious blue-collar subtext, focusing on the impact on the “little guy” lost amongst the major players and big fish. Using a familiar ticking-clock structure Damiani sneaks in a more personal approach.  It’s a talent that goes unappreciated on both sides of the pond: the ability to give audiences what they think they want, while charting a new course right in front of their eyes.

 

Radiance has the honor of giving A Man on His Knees its world Blu-ray premiere with a pleasantly tactile new transfer from a 4K restoration, a new interview with Damiani expert Alberto Pezzotta, archival interviews with Gemma, Tano Cimarosa and AD Mino Giarda plus a collector’s booklet.

 

 

 

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