Anatomy of An Abduction

Sicilian Ghost Story’s directors reveal how they turned a real-life kidnapping and its subsequent trial into a film

THEY WERE PERSONALLY INVESTED

fabio Grassadonia: “For years we’ve looked at telling the [true] story of these Mafioso who kidnapped this kid Giuseppe — they destroyed his life. Both Antonio and I are from Sicily. We lived there during the terrible years in the 1980s and ’90s when it was full of violence. A lot of killings of judges, policemen, journalists.”

THEY STUDYIED COURT TRANSCRIPTS

Grassadonia: “There was a huge trial [kidnapper and killer Giovanni Brusca is pictured above] and we read all the transcripts, and a book that people involved in the case wrote. We rebuilt the entire journey of this kid. When you are with him in captivity, everything you see and hear, all the dialogue, comes from reality. We didn’t change anything.”

THEY RECONSTRUCED LOCATIONS

Antonio Piazza: “Giuseppe was kept captive as a prisoner in many locations, and we rebuilt them exactly as they were in reality. Visiting all the places was very emotionally demanding. The last one he was in, his experience was like a concentration camp, and that’s what it feels like going there.”

THEY FUSED REALITY WITH FAIRY TALE

Grassadonia: “It’s a fairy tale, and these Mafioso with Giuseppe are no more than ogres. They are stupid and violent and they don’t deserve treatment like human beings. We tried to portray this wasteland where people have lost their humanity, and the kids have to find their own way to protect their dignity as human beings.”

THEY kept it HONEST

Piazza: “We wanted to avoid romanticising the Mafiosi. Films turn villains into heroes — we’ve suffered a lot of Mafia stereotypes. But in reality their cruelty is grotesque. And also we wanted to show the banality of their cruelty, of their stupidity. All of this was crucial for us as filmmakers, and as Sicilians.”