If you haven’t heard of Gabriele Mainetti, then you should because his last feature, Freaks Out (now titled Freaks vs the Reich) is a masterpiece of Nazi killing and stopping proportions, while his new feature is drastically different it is also an intense, action fueled, chaotic journey that is exemplified by his story writing prowess, directional style, and performances that makes The Forbidden City a top tier film that unless you search out for it may unfortunately never see.
The Forbidden City focuses on Marcello (Enrico Borello) who works at his family’s restaurant after his father Alfredo (Luca Zingaretti) has abandoned the family and run away with a Chinese woman. However, he seems rather unbothered (mostly) by this situation and assumes his father is going to return, while his mother Lorella (Sabrina Ferilli) and pseudo uncle, Annibale (Marco Giallini) are more interested in keeping the restaurant afloat and moreover Annibale keeping his grip on the underworld he has himself deeply rooted in. Moreover though, we have Mei (Yaxi Liu) who is Alfredo’s new partner’s sister who is convinced Alfredo ‘bought’ her sister and is holding her against her will, so she starts out a mission to find her sister and takes down anyone who dares get in her way.
Without spoiling anything, somehow Mei and Marcello team up to find out what happen to their respective loved ones. This team up is unusual, and neither of them understand each other at all so they communicate through food, some translator app on their phone, and the mutual understanding that something or someone larger than they thought is at the forefront of all of this, and they’re going to do whatever it takes to get answers and seek vengeance for the wrong doings.
What works in The Forbidden City are the performances, everyone involved is giving one hundred and ten percent, no one is phoning it in or giving an uninspired or uninteresting performance. For a movie that is relatively straight forward (in concept) in its story, the execution takes so many twists and turns, it feels like driving on the Italian country side – and everyone handles what is being thrown at them with brute force. Enrico and Yaxi being front and centre are exceptional in their roles – captivating and understanding throughout the performances making their collaboration and co-existence not only believable but relatable. Marco Giallini and Shanshan Chunyu who plays Mr. Wang the Chinese gangster in Rome are also terrifying in their roles making the juxtaposition between evil and good truly captivating and intriguing.
Alongside Mainetti, he joins Stefano Bises and Davide Serino in writing The Forbidden City is usually a case of too many cooks in the kitchen – but these three who wrote the story and screenplay together hit it right out of the park. Together these three created a story that excellently flows together, blends genres and two different types of fighting and explodes on the screen in an action packed blockbuster filled with heart and soul that is surefire to please the audience almost as much as Mainetti’s previous Freaks Out.
The Forbidden City may be the title of one of the most enjoyable movies of the year, but there is nothing forbidden about this action packed thrill ride. While finding this in a theatre or even a physical release may be a hard to accomplish task, whenever you can get your eyes on this magnificent blend of action, romance, and sheer chaos you best carve out two and a half hours and enjoy the mad ride that is The Forbidden City.
