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Palio

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Palio

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Summary

Twice a year the Italian city of Siena goes crazy for the oldest horse race in the world: the Palio. Not your average race: strategy, bribery and corruption play as much a part as the skill of the riders. Horses are allocated by lot four days prior to the race. This is when the madness truly begins. In the eye of the storm stand the jockeys. Loved and loathed by the districts they represent, they forge alliances and make deals promising large cash sums to try and get the best start. Legendary rider Gigi Bruschelli has won 13 Palios in 16 years and is accused by his critics of monopolizing the race. He works the system, paying off younger jockeys and fixing the race with average horses. Two races away from beating the world record, Bruschelli will do anything to win. But one jockey stands in his way, his former trainee, a handsome young Sardinian, Giovanni Atzeni, who is quietly determined to challenge his old mentor. Less interested in bribes and collusion, he rides for the love of the race. PALIO is the thrilling story of a young 'outsider' keen to break in to the dangerous but lucrative race and the corrupt 'insider' who has manipulated the city of Siena for a decade. Their passionate and dramatic battle is an epic and cinematic tale of Italian life in microcosm.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Steve Morrissey

This is a gripping and informative documentary about the bareback horse race run twice a year in Siena. Director Cosima Spender is in the same territory as 2004's The Last Victory, but she goes one better by getting up-close access to the jockeys who race around the murderous piazza where the city's rival districts assemble to cheer on their champions. We meet the young buck being mentored by a retired champ, and also the current top dog, a gristly 13-time winner cusping middle age but unlikely to go down without a fight. It's a classic underdog sports movie gambit and by the time the brutal and mercifully short race gets underway, we're as invested in the outcome as if we had money on the result - though it would be a brave soul who took a punt on a race this thoroughly, and openly, corrupt. Picturesquely shot, tightly edited and re-purposing some old Ennio Morricone soundtrack music to spaghetti-western effect, this is an eye-opening documentary that can be enjoyed with or without previous knowledge of horses or horse racing.

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7.3/10

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Credits

Crew

rolenameDirectorCosima Spender

Details

Theatrical distributor

Picturehouse Entertainment

Released on

2015-09-25

Languages

Italian

Guidance

Violence

Available on

DVD

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