Don’t Be Bad bursts off the screen with the tale of best friends Cesare (Luca Marinelli) and Vittorio (Alessandro Borghi), two volatile young men from Ostia—a place where narrow employment opportunities lie between the building trades and dealing drugs. The late cult director Claudio Caligari (
Toxic Love,
The Scent of Night) creates a searing portrait of friendship between men who consider themselves brothers. Set in the very town where Paolo Pasolini gave life to his characters in all their suffering, this Pasolini-esque drama follows Cesare and Vittorio as they snort, drink, and rut their days away. They are jealous of their girlfriends and trust no one but each other. After a drug trip, Vittorio confronts the depth of his self-loathing; he then tries to leave behind his career as a petty criminal and picks up a trowel instead of a gun. In Cesare eyes, Vittorio’s efforts at self-improvement are a betrayal, but Vittorio's attempt to improve his lot is a matter of survival. Against all odds, Vittorio strives to leave behind the hedonistic, drug-fueled life of the street, and desperately tries to bring Cesare with him—away from a macho-infused bravado that is sure to give way, with the years, to death or despair. Winner of eight awards at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival, including the Francesco Pasinetti Award for Best Actor (Luca Marinelli) and the NuovoImaie Talent Award for Best Italian Actor (Alessandro Borghi).
Copresented by the California Film Institute