could find nothing likable about it.

Excellent neorealist film about the MIS, Sicilian separatists stirring up civil conflict after WWII, and the bandit Salvatore Giuliano who was its Emiliano Zapata. I sensed traces of Pepe le Moko here as well as Wajda, but it is most closely akin to the later, better-known and slightly inferior The Battle of Algiers. Probably an inspiration, Salvatore is also a highly polyphonous civil uprising movie. Daringly and cunningly, it avoids featuring its namesake. The main character is only spoken of.

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An interesting story, told with some exceptional camerawork. Some of it is really exciting. However, much of it is quite confusing. Surprisingly, the disjointed timeline didn't pose much of a problem, but there are too many characters to keep track of, episodes happening too quickly, and fuzzy, convoluted political elements. I was frequently unclear about what was happening or why. I couldn't find an emotional center, and usually felt somewhat distant from the events unfolding onscreen.

Franceso Rosi unravels the mistery surrounding the death of Salvatore Giuliano the way a historian would. It works almost perfectly, with some minor exceptions towards the end (could have just been the copy I was watching, I'm not clear on that). Also, I was very impressed by the cinematography.

Really well shot and the underlying story seemed interesting to me, but I couldn't understand enough of it to really be satisfied. The timeline switching was bearable, but the confusion caused by trying to piece together exactly who was who and did what took its toll. While it does seem to be intentional, given the mystery regarding the actual events surrounding Giuliano's death, there's a difference between not knowing which version is true and not knowing what the versions are.

I dug the fresh, realistic style, and the camerawork and composition were usually pretty exciting. But the story itself is muddled and obscure, and as a result it never never really delivers the sharp political punch that the similar film Battle of Algiers does.

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