Casinò

Casinò
by Martin Scorsese (1995)

Boss Remo Gaggi entrusts Sam “Ace” Rothstein, a particularly skilled gambler, with the management of a new casino in Las Vegas.

To control the business, he is joined by Nicky Santoro, a gangster with particularly violent ways.

Quote.

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵: 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪.”

“𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵: 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.”

(Sam “Ace” Rothstein)

LONG LIVE LAS VEGAS!

This famous city in Nevada, viewed from above at night, is nothing more than a huge amusement park in the middle of the desert.

Or in the middle of nowhere, if you prefer.

Sounds, colors, bright lights, luxury cars, imposing hotels, streets, and boutiques create the illusion that it’s all real, even the famous monuments meticulously reconstructed for the millions of souls who tread the surface of this city every day.

Tourists arrive from all over the world, ready to be enchanted by this grand spectacle.

And then, of course, there are the casinos that rake in mountains of money, non-stop.

Everyone, even out of curiosity, ends up betting a few dollars: some stop almost immediately, aware that defeat will inevitably come sooner or later, while others continue until they lose everything.

It always happens this way when money and gambling come together. And this is where the problems arise.

But for those, there’s always the surrounding desert because, as 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐨 says… 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴…

Considerations

Martin Scorsese adds another sparkling and precious gem to his collection, starting from Nicholas Pileggi’s novel to present his version of Las Vegas.

He replaces the usual postcard image of glittering lights and colors with a universe dominated by darkness and anguish.

What is most surprising, despite the film’s length, is the frenetic pace with which the story is presented.

There isn’t a moment’s pause, no time for reflection.

The characters traverse the film constantly accompanied by music and dialogue (complete with voice-overs) and, very quickly, they meet their tragic fates, driven by ambition, greed, a thirst for power, and a desire to control everything.

While De Niro and Pesci represent the usual guarantee of quality and remain at exceptionally high levels, who truly leaves the audience breathless is Stone.

Always eager, by her own admission, to become “good enough to work with De Niro,” after winning the role over many other famous candidates, she suffers on set for several days due to a back problem.

Despite this, she delivers a performance that is perfect and is awarded the well-deserved Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama.

It is truly regrettable to note that such talent has not always emerged so clearly in the past and that Sharon often hasn’t fully shown what a wonderful actress she can be.

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