What’s this all about?
The Italian film Time To Kill tells the story of a Lieutenant in the Italian army during the Italian colonization of Ethiopia (the mid-1930’s), who goes on an extended trip to see a dentist (yes, really), and along the way, rapes then kills a native woman, before sort of going AWOL (none of the Italians seem to care), robbing and leaving a superior for dead, living with a native man, and imagining a case of leprosy, before heading back to Italy like none of it ever happened.
Who is Nick in this one?
Nick plays Lieutenant Enrico Silvestri, a real piece of shit.
Who else is in this one?
There are a lot of Italian people in this film. You won’t recognize any of them. Not even from Spaghetti Westerns.
Did you see that?
Most of the Italian soldiers (and many of the Ethiopian rebels) carry Carcano Model 91 rifles. That’s “91” as in “1891.” This curious rifle saw service in the Italian army from 1891 to 1981 (and later in other countries), giving it a staggering 90 year service life.
This rifle was designed at the end of the 19th century, when rank and file infantry tactics (everybody line up and shoot, before engaging in a bayonet charge) were all the rage. It served in the trenches in World War I, in the Italian North African campaign in World War II, and through the Allied invasion of Italy itself. The Model 81 was also used in large numbers by the Finnish in the Winter War, and was sold to various armies throughout Africa and the Middle East, and even saw use by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Model 81 is a fairly standard bolt action rifle with an en bloc magazine that fires an arguably under powered 6.5mm projectile. The Italians were famous for the poor quality control of their ammunition, which was loaded into five-round clips for distribution to the troops. This meant that the power of individual rounds could vary greatly from bullet to bullet, even from the same clip, which probably contributed to this rifle’s poor reception amongst its actual users.
The use of the Model 81 in this film is quite accurate historically. Sadly, it’s also the most interesting thing going on in this film, and no named character ever touches one. -Michael
Not being a historical firearms enthusiast, I’m afraid all of the above was lost on me. I was a bit shocked at the amount of female nudity in the film, particularly in the rape scene. Not only did they show that poor girl in all her glory, the camera really got up in her business. -Sarah
What were Nick’s best parts?
When Nick’s character is granted furlough, he and his friend are confronted by a corrupt Italian Major, who insists on interrupting the small celebration that the two are having in favor of a night of hard drinking and wandering around Ethiopia.
Nick’s character, preoccupied with all the raping that he’s done, and the leprosy that he might be incubating, wants to be absolutely anywhere else other than hanging around with this bloviating pretentious moron, and he plays this well. While Nick never says anything about not wanting to go along for this “ride,” it’s totally apparent. -Michael
I think Nick was at his best during a scene where he is getting drunk with a friend while celebrating their upcoming returns to Italy. This scene came complete with the drunken slurring of words, singing, and some dancing. Nick really is quite good at portraying a drunken fool. -Sarah
What were Nick’s worst parts? (Michael/Sarah)
It would be easy to select the scene in which Nick rapes a defenseless woman as the worst scene, and it probably is. Instead, though, I’ll talk about a scene that came shortly thereafter, in which Nick tries to get directions from the woman that he’s just victimized. He doesn’t speak her language, and she’s having difficulty understanding him, so he does what he always does. He starts a sentence with slow, clear enunciation before rapidly shifting to all out screaming. If you’ve ever seen a Nicolas Cage movie, you’ve seen it. Probably a lot.
Whoever told Nick that this was acting (probably that hack, Francis Ford Coppola) should be slapped. -Michael
To be honest, I’m having a hard time with this one. Nick was fairly steady through this one. The movie was pretty boring and dull, but it wasn’t Nick’s acting at the root cause of it. Although, Michael is right, there was a fair amount of yelling to express anger or frustration. Very classic Nicolas Cage. -Sarah
How was the movie?
It’s really bad. The topic is unpleasant and handled badly. The characters are monstrous and unlikable, while also being uninteresting. I spent much of the film hoping an Abysinnian raid would result in the deaths of all of these jerks.
Additionally, there’s a weird voice over narration at the beginning and the end of the film that is meant to come from Nick’s bunkmate and friend. At the end, it comes across as “well, we all had a great time raping and pillaging in Ethiopia, but we had to go home so that we could join the Axis forces. Isn’t that too bad?”
The whole affair is dull, badly executed and tone deaf. -Michael
It was so dull, I could have easily fallen asleep. In fact the primary thing that prevented any such thing from occurring was the threat from Michael that he would make me watch the whole thing again if I fell asleep. That was motivation. -Sarah
Yeah, but did you like it? (Michael/Sarah)
Nope. This movie is awful. Sarah thinks this movie (in which Nick plays a rapist/murderer who imagines that he has leprosy) was better than Vampire’s Kiss (in which Nick plays a rapist/murderer who imagines that he is a vampire), but I disagree. I’m calling this the worst Nicolas Cage movie in the marathon, so far (and I’ve seen Rumble Fish).
Nope. It’s a dull and boring flick. -Sarah
Where can I watch it?
It’s streaming for free on Amazon Prime and the Roku Channel.
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