diabolik 2021 movie review

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> Diabolik (2021) Film Review

Reviewed by: Andrew Robertson

Diabolik is a thief. Not a cutpurse or a footpad though, not a highwayman or a lush-roller, not an embezzler, not a double-dipper, not any form of stick-up man. A criminal mastermind, a daredevil with a doctorate in disguise, skilled with a throwing knife and amoral enough to use it. It's that which makes Diabolik both potentially faithful to the comics character and also difficult to enjoy, even as an antihero.

The comics series has deep roots, created in 1962 by the Guiussani sisters. The genre of fumetti neri springs from his masked exploits. That's closer to 'funnies' than comics, but the neri is the same as cinema noir, if not darker. Italian film has a fair few fondnesses for colour, and there are moments of suspense here that feel more like the horror of giallo than the four-fold forces of truth, justice, Marvel and DC. That's even with the reflexive darkening of all things childish, a flight from silliness that means I have lived through countless gritty reboots of a very rich man whose unresolved childhood trauma compels him to dress up as a member of the order chiroptera to beat up criminals and slightly fewer but somehow grittier reboots of a refugee whose inculcation with American ideals leaves him as conflicted as any self-made colonial oppressor mired in myths of their own creation.

That said, what I was actually minded of was Dredd . That's at the tail of a series of borrowings, Carlos Ezquerra based old Stoney Face on Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name but also upon David Carradine's Frankenstein from Death Race 2000, and that glossy black mask owes a debt to Diabolik that no amount of silicone based polish could obfuscate. That there's another potential debt to Fantomas is neither here nor there. Though masks abound, reflecting light and alluded to by careful lighting, but at a level that borrows from another less callow super-spy series, the Mission: Impossible franchise. That callousness is what to me makes Dredd a high water mark of comics adaptation and Diabolik a problematic one. Dredd might have his name on the film, but he is our escort through a story that's about other characters. A key, if not a kicked door, through Mega City One. He's an object lesson, not a subject.

Diabolik is a protagonist, but not a likeable one. Not only an antihero, a murderer. Luca Marinelli has charisma in spades, but not here. Valerio Mastandrea as the unwavering Detective Ginko gets more character moments from lighting a pipe than anything else. Miriam Leone's (Lady) Eva Kant is glamour personified, though something about the set of her stance reminded me more of Kristen Stewart than any icon of La Dolce Vita . From the robbing of what might be the only bank that's open all night, we're shown Diabolik at his coolest. That cool becomes ice-cold in places, and that makes his relationships all the more important and harder to believe in, never mind keep track of. Rumbling through the streets of Clerville, an Italianate Gotham that's somewhere in a state that shares its name. Nuova York, Nuova York, and all that. We'll also see Bellair and Ghenf, and these fictional locations are portrayed by places like the Aosta Valley, Milan, Trieste.

Fictional locations that are populated by real brands. It's E-Type Jaguars that Diabolik favours, at one point I counted nine bottles of Campari on a bar and three Negronis served to the Lady Kant. That's including the one between the four shots of her BVLGARI watch-face, at one of the many moments where she's waiting. Waiting, as might we the audience, for something else to happen.

At 133 minutes it's packed and oddly paced. Its episodic feel seems to come from trying to compress decades of story into one lump, or at least weeks of serial story-telling. That the box office has done well enough that two sequels are already in post-production is perhaps neither here nor there when the film changes gears more regularly than any of its drivers. We're given the chance to watch that, in one of several moments of detail that might have impressed as a panel on the page but feel like frames wasted. I'd love to say that when the police say Diabolik has turned left even as we see him turning right, this was playing with the reliability of the narration, but much as with Joker this is a film that's very careful to flash back and confirm what was and has not been going on. That caution, though ,starts to feel less like certainty than like a lack of trust.

There's lots of quality here. The costuming is bang on, the locations are gorgeous. The wide array of secret doors and mimic-masks feel just the right flavour of unrealistic, counterweighted and compensated. The fondness for poured concrete from domino-effect staircases to circular car-parking features feels like it has been hewn from solid 1960s. That doesn't quite extend to the stunt-work though. One suspects that in the era they'd have been more cavalier with the vehicles. It seems the sound for some of the chases has been constructed after the fact, and with a heavy-hand, though that's also true of footsteps and otherwise. The score by Aldo Di Scazi and Pivio has a feel at times of John Barry. That's unfortunate when Dino De Laurentiis produced a filmed version in 1968 that was characterised by the introduction at the 2022 Italian Film Festival as a "second-rate James Bond". That 1968 version, written and directed by Mario Bava, is now a cult favourite, and Danger: Diabolik is (if you can find it) almost half an hour shorter than this.

What do the Manetti Bros do with those extra 28 minutes? Cram in enough that you start to wonder if they and all their co-writers needed more editors. They've done a lot of Crime TV, and also 2017's Love And Bullets, a mob musical and Song Of Napoli about an undercover policeman/pianist. Those were co-written with the late Michelangelo La Neve who collaborates here again. Rounding out the list is Mario Gomboli, who worked on a 2019 documentary about Diabolik with Giancarlo Soldi.

An adaptation of King Of Terror, a Diabolik story that's not only been reprinted but re-made. Comics continually devour themselves. Punisher might have started as a Spider-Man villain, but later outings borrow heavily from the Punisher: Max comics by Garth Ennis which don't feature the web-slinger at all. Iron Man 3 drew from the Warren Ellis Invincible Iron arc and it's those other takes on characters that gave them both variety and strength. In terms of comic book movies it wasn't just the presence of BVLGARI that reminded me of Frank Miller's take on Will Eisner's Spirit. Reverence can make tombstones of texts, take something from the page and still leave it flat.

This doesn't seem to build on new ground, indeed it seems to go back and forth over the same territory. The sudden introduction of split screens might be meant to indicate a tonal shift but instead feels like they got far enough into the film to unlock a new mode. There are some intriguing camera movements, there's a shot enabled by a drone from a hotel's frontage to a window but we don't go through it, indeed, the switch to the interior is more perverse than reverse. We get a glimpse of a rifled barrel of a microphone, but we're given later justification for misidentification.

I wasn't just counting Campari, but corpses. We're told that Diabolik leaves bodies in his wake but it left me in the audience cold. Luca Marinelli is being replaced in the sequels, and I don't know if those scripts will give another actor room to do something other than project a glassy confidence. Christian Bale's played emotionless criminals and murderers and masked vigilantes and Lee Marvin had a command of steel in eye and hand. Marinelli spends much of this film still, but even with a bit of Morse code there's not a dash of life to it.

Trying to make antihero antagonists bad enough to make them villainous in contrast produces absurdities like Martinis flavoured with children's tears. Diabolik goes some way with some of its antagonists, but a confrontation about the morality of taking lives between thief and thief-taker rings hollow. The contrast between the blade of the guillotine and the shining daggers of Diabolik is starker than lighting and geometry alone.

Geometry and arithmetic both feature. I am halfway convinced that one of the bank heists relies on a feat that's off by an order of magnitude. In one of the sequences a road is blocked with an improbable mechanism that makes the espresso machine in Live And Let Die look simple. The sum of it all is that if one had a fondness for the character, this might sate, but for most it won't add up.

Director: Antonio Manetti , Marco Manetti

Writer: Angela Giussani, Luciana Giussani, Antonio Manetti

Starring: Luca Marinelli, Miriam Leone, Valerio Mastandrea, Claudia Gerini, Alesandro Roja, Serena Rossi

Runtime: 133 minutes

Country: Italy

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MOVIE REVIEW: Diabolik (2021)

Diabolik is one of those obscure European characters that I’ve always found fascinating. Diabolik is an Italian character, a ruthless master thief created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani. Although he has the look of the classic gentleman thief and shares some of those traits, Diabolik differs from those characters in that he usually occupies a much darker place. Diabolik may be a master thief, but he is much closer to classic pulp-era characters like the French Fantomas, who is more of a villainous protagonist. Diabolik is less villainous than Fantomas, in that he tends to avoid killing innocents and usually strikes against those more corrupt than him, but he’s likewise a villain protagonist. He also has another interesting point that sets him apart; his love affair with his partner in crime Eva Kant, who is every bit the equal of Diabolik as a criminal mastermind.

Diabolik has been adapted into film once before with the campy adventure film Danger: Diabolik , a cult classic perhaps best known in the West for being riffed on the original series of Mystery Science Theater 3000 . (As an aside, that film has been previously reviewed by fellow Cinema Crusader Lance Lucero, and his review of Danger: Diabolik is well worth checking out.) However, where that film feels tonally more like a 1960’s Bond film, the 2021 version by the Manetti Brothers attempts to recreate the tone and flavor of the original comics by the Giussani sisters. The result is a very different film from its predecessor, and your reaction to it may depend on how familiar you are with Diabolik and the 1960’s film. The film is presented in Italian with English subtitles, and that too may affect the experience depending on your tastes.

One point that I respect about this film is that it is a film that is recognizably accurate to the comics by the Giussani sisters. Although my own reading of them is scant, the level of detail, including visual designs and background details of the characters, is consistent as far as I am aware. Eva Kant’s past as described in the film is well in line with what the Giussanis wrote, for instance, and Eva herself often looks like she walked off the page. The story revolves around the story of how Diabolik abandons his alias of Walter Dorian and takes Eva on as a partner, and this comes across as well executed. Much of the plot of the film is taken from the third Diabolik story, where Eva is introduced and the book shifts to the direction that the series is known for. The feel of the film is more in line with a book than a traditional movie, leading me to believe that the Manettis borrowed a considerable chunk of the plot from the comic. The Manettis deserve credit for honoring the source material, choosing the right source material, and doing their best to bring the vision of the Giussani sisters to life on the screen.

This is not to say that it does so perfectly, though it makes a good faith attempt, and a better one than we see with many Western comic book films. The pacing is methodical, which usually works, but it can also be slow at times, even in scenes where it should feel faster than it does. One point that struck me as odd was the early police chase where Diabolik attempts to elude Ginza’s men in his Jaguar. The driving scenes feel oddly slow, like the cars are taking a leisurely drive through Clerville rather than a high-speed chase. In fairness, it’s possible that this scene simply looks odd by comparison to Western car chases, but there’s a sense of urgency that feels missing. Still, the script is good enough and the performances are mostly good enough to overcome these issues.

I have mixed feelings when it comes to the cast of the film; some of these actors look quite good in their roles, while I had concerns about others. The biggest question mark in this cast is Luca Marinelli as the infamous Diabolik. There are elements of his performance that I like, such as his cold and controlled demeanor when he’s pretending to be Walter Dorian. I can also appreciate his effectiveness in using his eyes to show menace, which comes across very well in the Diabolik mask. However, when the mask is off, he lacks the same stature and dangerous mystique that he has when he’s wearing the costume. I had no such concerns about Miriam Leone, who is excellent as Eva Kant, to the point that she looks like the character on the page. Leone hones into two strong elements of the Eva character—the ladylike poise of a noblewoman, and the seductive allure that allows Eva to manipulate people. The inner strength is played up as well, but not to the point where she overshadows Diabolik. Valerio Mastandrea delivers a strong performance as Inspector Ginza, the honest Clerville police detective who is dedicated to law and order. Ginza is the closest to a hero that we get in the series, and Mastandrea portrays him as both competent and a good man who is dedicated to his duty. Alessandro Roja as Giorgio Caron is another performance that I was torn about. While he convincingly comes across as the “nice guy” who is unable to captivate Eva and he grasps the surface level of Caron, the performance lacks the menace or intensity that I would expect from the story’s main villain. Even so, there are enough pieces there in the ensemble cast to make the film work, and the high points in the casting are exceptional.

Diabolik is a solid but imperfect film, but one that grasps the basic idea of comic book adaptations extremely well. To its credit, Diabolik is a far more respectful film to its source material than most modern comic book films, and one that Hollywood could stand to learn from. The Manetti Brothers come across as filmmakers who care about Diabolik, and moreover, care enough to get it right as much as possible. So even though there are some weaknesses in the film, that passion shines through enough that it’s worth at least a viewing if you’re interested in this character. I hope the Manettis decide to follow up on this film, as I think the pieces are there to improve upon it.

Score: 3.8/5

Directors: Antonio Manetti and Marco Manetti

Cast: Luca Marinelli, Miriam Leone, Valerio Mastandrea, Claudia Gerini, Alessandro Roja, Serena Rossi, Roberto Citran

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Luca Marinelli (Diabolik) Miriam Leone (Eva Kant) Valerio Mastandrea (Ginko) Alessandro Roja (Caron) Serena Rossi (Elisabeth Gay) Luca Di Giovanni (cameriere Roberto Hotel Excelsior) Vanessa Scalera (Segretaria di Caron) Roberto Citran (Direttore dell'hotel) Antonino Iuorio (Direttore del carcere) Daniela Piperno (Direttrice della banca)

Antonio Manetti, Marco Manetti

The dark and romantic story of the first meeting between master thief Diabolik and Eva Kant, set in the fictional state of Clerville in the late 1960s. Inspector Ginko is on the hunt for the criminal, trying to stop his evil plans.

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2021 Directed by Marco Manetti , Antonio Manetti

1960s, the city of Clerville. The forthcoming visit of heiress Eva Kant, who'll be bringing a famous pink diamond with her, catches the attention of Diabolik, the infallible and elusive thief whose real identity is unknown: while trying to steal the jewel, he finds himself bewitched by Eva's charm, a feeling she may be reciprocating. But the police, led by relentless Inspector Ginko, is rapidly closing in on him...

Luca Marinelli Miriam Leone Valerio Mastandrea Alessandro Roja Serena Rossi Luca Di Giovanni Vanessa Scalera Roberto Citran Antonino Iuorio Daniela Piperno Pier Giorgio Bellocchio Guglielmo Favilla Urbano Barberini Giovanni Calcagno Davide Devenuto Stefano Pesce Massimo Triggiani Claudia Gerini Antonio Scarpa Francesca Nerozzi Mario Gomboli Giuseppe Palumbo

Directors Directors

Marco Manetti Antonio Manetti

Producers Producers

Paolo Del Brocco Carlo Macchitella Antonio Manetti Marco Manetti

Writers Writers

Michelangelo La Neve Antonio Manetti Marco Manetti

Original Writers Original Writers

Angela Giussani Luciana Giussani

Story Story

Antonio Manetti Marco Manetti Mario Gomboli Michelangelo La Neve

Casting Casting

Teresa Razzauti

Editor Editor

Federico Maria Maneschi

Cinematography Cinematography

Francesca Amitrano

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Vincenzo Mineo

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Pier Giorgio Bellocchio Laura Contarino

Production Design Production Design

Noemi Marchica

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Simone Silvestri

Stunts Stunts

Alessandro Borgese

Composers Composers

Pivio Aldo De Scalzi

Songs Songs

Manuel Agnelli

Sound Sound

Lavinia Burcheri

Costume Design Costume Design

Ginevra De Carolis

Makeup Makeup

Francesca Lodoli

Mompracem RAI Astorina S.A.C.

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

French Italian

Releases by Date

16 dec 2021, 14 apr 2022, 17 jun 2022, 26 oct 2023, 01 apr 2022, 03 jan 2023, releases by country.

Physical DVD & Blu-Ray
Physical 12
Theatrical T

Russian Federation

Theatrical 16+

133 mins More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by giada ★★★★★

mi dispiace per luca marinelli ma se valerio mastandrea mi cercasse io mi farei trovare

Review by pieboni ★★★ 1

Le possibilità che i dialoghi li abbia scritti Lory del Santo sono poche, ma mai zero.

Review by Gabriele Niola ★½ 22

Quando Diabolik si nasconde nell'armadio come fosse Raimondo Vianello, e proprio lo vediamo rannicchiarsi spinto da Eva Kant, si può anche ipotizzare che i Manetti cerchino apertamente il sabotaggio

Review by izzy ★★★★★ 2

amə fidatevi guardatelo con le orecchie chiuse, il senso critico fuori dalla finestra e come se fosse una rom-com diabolik x ginko fidateviii non ho mai riso così tanto

Review by giulia ★½

io comunque elizabeth che dice che si sente felice solo quando è con luca marinelli la capisco

Review by snowannaee ★★★★★ 1

voglio farmi mettere le mani al collo da Luca Marinelli

Review by Gabriperi ★★★★

Lista di 5 cose importanti in questo film:

Il naso di Marinelli con la maschera in latex.

10 minuti di Marinelli che fa gaslighting (gatekeeping, girlbossing) a sua moglie.

10/10 all’interior designer dei covi.

“Maledizione”

Miriam Leone che dice “mogliettina un cavolo”

Review by Giulia ★★★

eva kant ha un knife kink ma chi sono io per giudicarla quando il coltello ce l'ha in mano Marinelli

Review by chiara! ☆ ★★★★★

è il modo in cui luca ha passato tre quarti del film così 🧍

Review by giulia !! ★★

una stella per il naso di luca marinelli e una per le tette di miriam leone

Review by charlie ★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Adesso però mi dite dove posso comprare l’action figure di Luca Marinelli subacqueo.

Review by tittytwister ★★ 2

Pensavo fosse Diabolik invece era Diabbbolik.

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The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review

Diabolik (2021)

Rating: ★★★★.

Directors – Manetti Bros., Screenplay – Michelangelo Le Neve & Manetti Bros., Story – Mario Gomboli, Michelangelo La Neve & Manetti Bros., Based on the Comic-Book Created by Angela Giussani & Luciana Giussani, Producers – Paolo Del Brocco, Carlo Macchitella & Manetti Bros., Photography – Francesco Amitrano, Music – Aldo & Pivio de Scalzi, Visual Effects Supervisor – Simone Silvestri, Visual Effects – Palantir Digital, Makeup – Francesca Lodoli, Production Design – Noemi Marchica. Production Company – Rai Cinema/Mompracem/Astorina srl/Bleidwin.

Luca Marinelli (Diabolik), Miriam Leone (Eve Kant), Valerio Mastandrea (Inspector Ginko), Alessandro Roja (Giorgio Caron), Serena Rossi (Elisabeth Gay), Luca Di Giovanni (Roberto), Claudia Gerini (Mrs Morel), Vanessa Scalera (Caron’s Secretary), Roberto Citran (Hotel Manager), Guglielmo Favilla (Florian)

The bane of the police department in Clerville is the masked criminal Diabolik. Diabolik masterminds daring robberies and getaways, yet nobody knows his identity. Lady Eva Kant, the widow of a wealthy South African businessman, arrives in Italy. Inspector Ginko comes to warn her that Diabolik will make attempt to steal her fabled Pink Diamond, but she is unafraid. Using a lifelike facemask, Diabolik impersonates a waiter to get to the safe in her room. After she confesses that the diamond is a fake and that she wants to meet Diabolik, he reveals his true face to her. The two admit an attraction. Diabolik also maintains an identity as Walter Dorian, living with Elisabeth Gay. Elisabeth then finds his secret lair beneath the property and alerts the police who arrest Diabolik. Throughout the trial, Diabolik communicates secret directions to Eva in Morse Code and sets up an elaborate ruse to prevent him from being sent to the guillotine.

-->Diabolik is a classic Italian comic-book. Although not widely distributed outside of Italy, the comic has a cult following, even saw a number of imitators. The comic-book was created by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani in 1962 and has been in publication ever since. The two sisters wrote most of the stories until Angela passed away in 1987 with Luciana continued overseeing publication, gradually turning the strip over to others writers before retiring in 1999. The comic-book found an international appeal with Mario Bava’s witty and stylish film adaptation Danger: Diabolik (1967) starring John Phillip Law as Diabolik and Marisa Mell as Eva Kant. There was also a US co-produced animated tv series Diabolik (2000-1) that ran for 40 episodes.

Diabolik is a new film version of the comic-strip from the Manetti Bros., Marco and Antonio. The Manetti Bros. directed numerous music videos in Italy from the 1990s before making their film debut with the low-budget horror film Zora the Vampire (2000). They went on to other works such as the SF film The Arrival of Wang (2011) and the horror film Paura 3D (2012), as well as the non-genre Floor 17 (2005), Song of Napoli (2013) and Love and Bullets (2017).

In the opening scenes, the Manetti Bros. get the essence of the Diabolik comic-book down perfectly. We see Luca Marinelli in his black-masked costume – made of skin-molding rubber or vinyl where everything is stripped down to a narrowly illuminated band of light around his eyes – and driving his trademark E-type Jaguar. The getaway scenes are a sublime masterpiece of this type of film – Diabolik fleeing from a police blockade at either end of an alley by remotely activating a hidden ramp and jumping his car right over the top of their vehicles; releasing gas behind his vehicle to knock his pursuers out; and then leaving Inspector Ginko trailing a mocked-up tail end of his car.

The Manetti Bros. make a film with a slick, stylish elegance. Everything has been retro-dated to a 1960 setting, two years before the comic-book began. Thus all the vehicles, women’s outfits, record players and electronic equipment are in period. One of the great fun aspects of the film is its employment of grand pulp devices that have largely become outmoded these days – the use of lifelike facemasks and elaborate imposture schemes, truth serums, secret lairs with hidden door entrances behind rock or brick walls, even beneath an ordinary grass lawn.

As Diabolik, Luca Marinelli lacks the smouldering good looks of John Phillip Law – his eyes have a piercing intensity, although there are also shots where he tends to a certain blankness. The film’s one unabashed triumph is Miriam Leone as Eva Kant. She radiates sophistication and allure with everything she does, and has an ability to own every scene in which she appears. Not to mention the costuming people go to town and outfit her with an array of dazzling outfits. The scenes with her and Diabolik connecting or the operation involving Morse Code messages blinked in a courtroom to the elaborate ruse to trick her way in to rescue Diabolik on the eve of his execution are sublime.

There is the inevitable point where you have to compare Diabolik with Danger: Diabolik . First of all, it should be said that I enjoyed both versions equally. They also take very different approaches to the same material. To compare Diabolik to Batman, you could say that Danger: Diabolik is like a much more stylish version of the Batman (1966-8) tv series, whereas Diabolik rests more in the territory of the Christopher Nolan Batman films. Mario Bava made much more of a pop art comic-book of a movie with hilariously stylised direction to match. By contrast, the Manetti Bros. make a more realistically grounded film, which they then use as a springboard to deliver a series of wittily sophisticated set-ups and improbably pulpish plot devices.

The Manetti Bros. followed this with two sequels Diabolik: Ginko Attacks (2022) and Diabolik Chi Sei? (2023), featuring return performances from Eva Leone and Valerio Mastandrea but with a new actor Giacomo Gianniotti cast as Diabolik. -->

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"Wordy and overly explanatory, phlegmatic and devoid of brilliance. The transmedia narrative doesn't manage to create a world where the different creative levels and the different means of enjoying the story can join together" Camillo de Marco : Cineuropa

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FILMS / REVIEWS Italy

Review: Diabolik

by Camillo De Marco

16/12/2021 - Despite the iconic, black Jaguar E-Type, the Manetti Bros.’ film based on the Giussani sisters’ noir comic book is wordy, phlegmatic and devoid of brilliance

What went wrong with the long-awaited Diabolik [ + see also: trailer film profile ] by brothers Marco and Antonio Manetti ( Love and Bullets [ + see also: film review trailer interview: Marco and Antonio Manetti film profile ] ), based upon the well-known comic by sisters Angela and Luciana Giussani ? We take a close-up look at the film revolving around the ruthless and steely-eyed criminal clad in a black suit and driving an iconic Jaguar E-Type, one of the most widely translated Italian comic books in the world.

The Manetti Bros. have years of experience under their belts and the film is an independent production backed by RAI Cinema, boasting a considerable budget for an Italian film –10 million euros to be exact. This was a long-planned, industrial-scale project and Diabolik 2 and 3 are already in the planning. It was an “attempt to produce a powerful product capable of making an impact on the market”, producer Carlo Macchitella explains. It’s a laudable attempt to pave an Italian road towards the cinecomic, as has been attempted of late with mixed results, by way of The Armadillo’s Prophecy [ + see also: film review trailer film profile ] by Emanuele Scaringi, based on the comic book by Zerocalcare (whose animated series Tear Along the Dotted Line just dropped to great acclaim on Netflix) , The Land of Sons [ + see also: film review trailer film profile ] by Claudio Cupellini, 5 Is the Perfect Number [ + see also: film review trailer interview: Igort film profile ] by Igort, Monolith [ + see also: trailer film profile ] by Ivan Silvestrini , The Last Man on Earth [ + see also: film review trailer film profile ] by Gipi, and They Call Me Jeeg [ + see also: film review trailer making of interview: Gabriele Mainetti film profile ] by Gabriele Mainetti (which isn’t actually based on any one particular comic book) . With its highly vintage, retro and analogical form, the Manetti brothers’ Diabolik doesn’t seem to pay heed to the tastes of cinecomic audiences, who love action, speed, stupor and dark comedy. Diabolik never takes us by surprise, and the car chases by Italian police officers in the 1970s, whom the directors also drew inspiration from, were far more exciting and technically more daring. “We look to ourselves, in the hope that what we like will also be liked by others. We don’t have any particular target audience”, the Manetti brothers somewhat confusingly stated while presenting the film to the press.

This Diabolik of 2021 can be compared to that created 50 years ago under the aegis of horror maestro Mario Bava , which was designated a flop by Dino de Laurentiis, who produced it (“rather than making a Diabolik like the Giussani sisters’ one, we made a bad 007”), a film which never takes itself seriously, with its terrible script and its sub-par acting, but which is a visual pop-fest, composed of optical-art, psychedelics and dazzling colours (as well as music by Morricone). They’re all features which throw fans of the genre into raptures, obviously including the Manetti brothers themselves (and the Cahiers du Cinéma praised the aesthetic set-up of the film). The modern-day Diabolik , meanwhile, is wordy and overly explanatory, phlegmatic and devoid of brilliance. The utter amorality characterising the comic book protagonist simply fails to come through. The original 1960s setting, with sets and costumes reminiscent of that time and philologically aligned with the comic, doesn’t seem to pay off in cinematic terms. The characters are as deep as the piece of paper they were drawn on. But a film is a film, and a comic is a comic. In this instance, the transmedia narrative doesn’t manage to create a world where the different creative levels and the different means of enjoying the story can successfully join together in one shared narrative context.

The Manetti brothers have been lucky enough to be able to count on actors hailing from the mini Italian star system, along the lines of Luca Marinelli (now known all over the world as a result of his role in The Old Guard), Miriam Leone (in the shoes of Eva Kant) , and Valerio Mastandrea (Inspector Ginko, Diabolik’s alter ego), further joined by Alessandro Roja, Serena Rossi and Claudia Gerini . But sadly, good actors aren’t suited to all parts, just like George Clooney wasn’t right for Joel Schumacher’s unfortunate movie Batman & Robin . The Manetti brothers’ directorial approach insisted on a monotone performance to follow the comic book unfailingly, a feat perfectly executed by the actors involved, with the sole exception of Miriam Leone who infused a note of vivacious feminism into the criminal’s fascinating partner.

In Italian cinemas as of 16 December in 500 copies, courtesy of 01 , Diabolik is produced by Mompracem and RAI Cinema , in association with Astorina. International sales are entrusted to Germany’s Beta Cinema .

(Translated from Italian)

Photogallery 15/10/2021: Rome 2021 - Red carpet: Manetti Bros

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Diabolik (Colonna Sonora Originale)

Different stars.

1 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Diabolik Tema 1:20
2 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini Demoniaz 2:22
3 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini L'acqua sale 0:54
4 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Rivelazione del nome 2:08
5 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Eva 0:56
6 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Eva frega la polizia 1:24
7 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta In a Corner of My Heart (feat. Claudia Sanguineti) 6:54
8 Pivio e Aldo De Scalzi Dal teaser 1:10
9 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini Diabolikon 3:09
10 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Evasione di Diabolik 0:52
11 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Diabolik ed Elisabeth 1:07
12 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini Fanza Ramanza 2:45
13 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta La delusione di Eva 2:01
14 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Ricostruzione del colpo 4:41
15 Pivio, Aldo De Scalzi e Claudio Pacini Prosomasuku 1:37
16 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Sott'acqua 1:24
17 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini Diabolikon v. alt 3:44
18 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Claudio Pacini Dossierik 3:23
19 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Il direttore entra nella stanza 2:19
20 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Diabolik sente tutto 1:47
21 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi L'evasione e la polizia 2:01
22 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Ombre nella notte 2:35
23 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Apertura del rifugio 1:29
24 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi Scontro finale 2:27
25 Pivio & Aldo De Scalzi & Luca Cresta Sotto la maschera 2:22
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‘Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!,’ Starring Giacomo Gianniotti, Monica Bellucci, Debuts Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

Leo Barraclough

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The trailer for stylish comic crime action movie “Diabolik – Ginko Attacks!” has debuted. The film stars Giacomo Gianniotti (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Marvel’s Avengers”) in the role of the charming master thief Diabolik, and Monica Bellucci .

The film, which will be released in Italy by 01 Distribution/Rai Cinema on Nov. 17, is written and directed by Marco and Antonio Manetti. Beta Cinema is handling world sales.

In the film, Diabolik and Eva nearly get caught in Inspector Ginko’s trap. While on the run, Eva gets hurt and Diabolik, mercilessly, abandons her. A furious Eva proposes to Ginko to collaborate in the capture of Diabolik.

Popular on Variety

Other cast members include Miriam Leone (“The Invisible Witness,” “Medici”) and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers,” “Nine”).

It is the second part of an adaptation of Angela and Luciana Giussani’s international bestselling comic-book series, which has sold more than 150 million copies.

The first part of the franchise, 2021’s “Diabolik,” was among the leaders in the race for Italy’s top film awards – the David di Donatello Awards – with 11 nominations.

“Diabolik” was acquired by distributors in France (Metropolitain), Spain (Flins & Piniculas), Latin America and Portugal (both Sun Distribution Group), Canada (Mongrel Media), China (3 Billion Films), Taiwan (AV-Jet International), South Korea (Contents Gate) and the former Yugoslavia (Discovery).

Marco and Antonio Manetti made their directorial debut in 1995 with an episode in the film “De Generazione.” Their movie “Zora la Vampira” was released in 2000, followed by “Piano 17,” “Paura 3D” and “L’Arrivo di Wang.” In 2013, they garnered acclaim from critics and public alike with “Song ‘e Napule,” followed by “Love and Bullets” in 2017, which was in competition at Venice Film Festival and won the David di Donatello Award for best film.

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Diabolik: Ginko Attacks (2022)

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