Angel of Evil

{{distinguish|Evil Angel (disambiguation){{!}}Evil Angel}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Angel of Evil

| image = Angel of Evil.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| alt =

| director = Michele Placido

| producer = Elide Melli

| writer = Carlo Bonini

| starring = {{plainlist|

}}

| editing =

| cinematography = Arnaldo Catinari

| music = Davide Cavuti
Negramaro

| studio =

| distributor = 20th Century Fox

| released = {{Film date|df=y|2010|12|17}}

| runtime = 125 minutes

| country = Italy, France, Romania

| language = Italian

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Angel of Evil ({{langx|it|Vallanzasca – Gli angeli del male}}, also known as Vallanzasca – Angels of Evil) is a 2010 Italian crime film directed by Michele Placido. It is based on the biography Il fiore del male. Bandito a Milano (The flower of evil. Bandit in Milan) of bank robber Renato Vallanzasca, by Italian journalist Carlo Bonini.

Plot

Locked up in prison serving a life sentence for his crimes, an old Renato Vallanzasca (Kim Rossi Stuart) proceeds in the memories of a youth spent as head of a crime syndicate known as the chronicle Banda della Comasina, which raged in the 1970s in Milan between robberies, kidnappings, murders and evasions.

Cast

Production

In 2008, 20th Century Fox showed a project of Renato Vallanzasca's movie to Michele Placido, proposing him to direct it. The director, initially uninterested, accepted the job only after being approached by Kim Rossi Stuart, who wanted to play the role of the protagonist. Placido spoke for the first time about it in a January 2009 interview, in which he announced his plans for the future, directing Vallanzasca and two other films.[https://archive.today/20120801235639/http://www.gazzettadiparma.it/primapagina/dettaglio/4/71119/Michele_Placido:_Vallanzasca_%C3%88_cinema_vivo.html] Gazzetta di Parma

Release

= Italy =

20th Century Fox has taken care of Italian cinema distribution. Before being confirmed as the distribution company, the producers had thought of Medusa Film and Rai Cinema, but neither were interested in film studies and rejected the script. On 12 July 2010, Michele Placido said in a press release about the film that both houses had refused the rights acquisition because of the "hypocritical respectability" in Italy.

Vallanzasca was originally planned to be theatrically released in Italy in October 2010, but 20th Century Fox delayed it a few months after, to 17 December.

= U.S. =

The film was released in the United States in 2011 with the title Angel of Evil.{{cite news|last=Andy Webster|title=Angel of Evil (2010). Sleazy Charm, Bloody Ends|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/17/movies/angel-of-evil-review.html?_r=0|accessdate=28 February 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 June 2011}}

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 52% rating based on reviews from 25 critics, and an average rating of 5.6/10.{{cite web | url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/angel_of_evil/ | title=Angel of Evil (2011) | publisher=Rotten Tomatoes | access-date=8 July 2022 }} Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".{{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/angel-of-evil?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c | title=Angel of Evil | publisher=Metacritic }}

References

{{Reflist}}