L'orafo, The Goldsmith (2022)
Directed by: Vincenzo Ricchiuto
Written by: Germano Tarricone, Vincenzo Ricchiuto
Starring: Gianluca Vannucci, Giuseppe Pambieri, Mike Cimini, Stefania Casini, Tania Bambaci
THE GOLDSMITH (2022)
aka L’ORAFO
Directed by Vincenzo Ricchiuto
Italian Language with English Subtitles
Screened at Grimmfest 2022
Childhood friends and career criminals Stefano, Roberto and Arianna plan to rob a goldsmith and his wife but all doesn’t go quite as planned when they realise the elderly couple aren’t the victims they first appear.
L’ORAFO, known in English territories as THE GOLDSMITH, is a home invasion horror thriller with a difference!
Home invasions are never easy things to witness and in this particular film, we see the three culprits looking to rob their victims knowing that the husband is a goldsmith and has jewellery and rings stashed in his lab. Unable to find the lab, they resort to confronting the sleeping couple in order to extract information from them before tying the couple up. However, the fact that this particular heist wasn’t going smoothly to start with should have rang warning bells for the trio as they discover it’s going to get a whole lot worse for them.
Seeing criminals get their comeuppance is always a fist-pumping moment to witness but what exactly have the elderly couple got in mind for their new house guests? This is what keeps us glued to the screen as the robbers’ plan starts to fall apart and they begin to turn on each other. What’s the end goal and will the thieves manage to escape and evade justice?
THE GOLDSMITH likes to keep its viewers on their toes, and thanks to the two fantastic leads of Giuseppe Fregni and Stefania Casini (Suspiria) as goldsmith Antonio and Giovanna, it’s captivating to watch. These two look like butter wouldn’t melt in their mouth so when we see the strength in these two emerge as they turn the tables on their uninvited guests, it’s hard to turn your eyes away from the screen.
A directorial debut from Vincenzo Ricchiuto, THE GOLDSMITH beautifully exhibits a cat-and-mouse scenario in the first two thirds of the movie before taking a darker tone. What starts off as a criminal caper, sprinkled with some black comedy, morphs into a twisted horror. For me, this blend of the two doesn’t quite work, with the crime element much more effective than the culmination of the movie. Despite my thoughts on this, it does have some nice surprises up its sleeve…
A refreshing change on the home invasion thrillers we’re used to seeing, THE GOLDSMITH plays with its viewer much like it does its hapless bunch of robbers.
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