Customer Reviews

The Orange Thief

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I love the Orange Thief! It takes a bit to get into, but is well worth it. It's as beautiful, funny, sad and human as Sicily itself. And could it be that with all its fruit, almonds, olives and "batches" (beaches), Sicily is still so poor because, like Rosalba, it shoots itself in the hand? If you have Southern Italian or Sicilian roots, you may see your relatives in some of these characters, or, as I did, in myself.

If you came to this movie for the Italian language, you may be disappointed. There is much Sicilian dialect, so the only recognizable Italian you hear may be that spoken by the prison guard and the tourist - disgraziati!

What ties all together is the music - great Sicilian folk music. I hope this group produces more music, and many, many more movies!

Saw this at the 2006 Milwaukee Film Festival where it received a standing ovation. The audience LOVED it, and so did I. Charming, funny, at times philosophical and ultimately emotionally moving, with some great music to boot. Why no film distributors snapped this one up really baffles me. I couldn't wait to see it again and I'm happy it's now available on DVD.

The Orange Thief is a must-see movie for anyone who loves thoughtful foreign-language films, great music, a simple tale told masterfully and/or Sicily. I too saw this at the Milwaukee Film Festival and fell in love with it. In fact, I had some of the soundtrack in my head (in a good way) for a good while. I bought it the day it came out and have already watched it twice!

Not since Cinema Pardiso have I loved Italian Cinema SO much. Growing up watching movies like Divorce and Marriage Italian Style, you cannot help but fall in love with Italian filmes. Ironically, this is an Italian Film written by Americans and their love of Italian Cinema is present in every shot and line. I came across this film by "accident" while searching Amazon for new Italian films that I might have missed like The Wedding Director. And, with the latest Giuseppe Tornatore Baaria a HUGE disappointment, perhaps Giuseppe Tornatore should take note of The Orange Thief. This film has love, heart, song, and romance in ways that we picture Italian cinema to be. This film a such a treasure and I am deeply sorry that I never got a chance to experience it in a theater. Do yourself a favor... fall in love with this movie.... it is a film that you won't soon forget.

Guerrilla film making at its best.
With a rough story outline and a free-wheeling production approach where everyone was a director, Artie Walinksi, Vinnie Angel, Boogie Dean created an engaging glimpse at life in central Sicily.
The characters are developed and you actually care about them as they all look for and eventually find redemption from their own personal travails.
Watch for Micaela Helvetica Saxer to be the next breakout star.
The camera loves her.

I can't believe this got so many good reviews. To each his own I guess. Neither my husband nor I liked this movie. I didn't even watch the end as I couldn't stand to waste any more time. The 'thief' is constantly getting beaten up and seeing his bloody face again and again was too much. The character seems to have no common sense. Poetic? Are you kidding? A bunch of 'thieves' sitting around a fire saying f--- the government, f--- Italy, etc. etc. I've seen quite a few Italian movies and this one is at the bottom of my list. Best Italian movie I've seen recently was "Ex" at an Italian Film Festival - Superb. This one doesn't come close.

A great comedic film by three guys with an extremely limited budget who had a love to make a film in an ancestral land of two of them.

This film was a delight! I don't know the story behind the film or the actors but there is a "homemade" feel to the film that enhances the story. I just sent Bread and Tulips to my Italian born and raised mother and this DVD is going into the mailbox next.
P.S. Never try to learn Italian from Orange Thieves! They are not to be trusted. Even my very own cousins, (who, to the best of my knowledge, paid for all of their citrus)taught me to say horrible things. It was ok though, I actually did use some of it later in life.
Perhaps someone was looking for "Rosetta", not Rosalba?

In the age of fancy, big budget Hollywood movies it is easy to forget about the beauty of simplicity. Part of what makes this movie so amazing is the circumstances surrounding its production. For example, it cost only around $15k to make, had a crew of non-professional actors, and was shot in a month. Moreover the 3 directors independently filmed a part of the movie, which they then stitched together after determining which scenes to use in the final cut. And they used a SONY HDV video camera to film the entire movie.

The other part of why this movie is good is that it revolves around a simple but compelling plot line. An orphan who becomes an orange thief has a dream to own some land of his own. But the story is not dramatic as one might think; in fact, it's largely comical. There is a raw savage quality to the movie that makes it sweet, beautiful, and satisfying.

It's not often that a super-low budget film is picked by two major newspapers to be the BEST FILM OF THE YEAR! Hats off to these guys. This film is one of my favorites all time, great acting, beautiful story, and great jail scenes. What more could you ask for? For me it shows Italy, especially Sicily, like no film before.