Pizza Mafia (2011)

Directed by: Tim Oliehoek | 85 minutes | action, drama, comedy, romance, crime | Actors: Mamoun Elyounoussi, Iliass Ojja, Sallie Harmsen, Hakim Traïda, Sabri Saad El Hamus, Noufissa Rhalmi, Ismael Tarhabi, Jeroen Mourmans, Achmed el Jennouni, Mounir Boualin, Loek Peters, Kaj Niemeijer, Gillis Biesheuvel, Menno Maria de Haas, Lottie de Bruijn, Fred van Kaam, Nelleke Zitman, Frances de Jong, Jihane el Fahidi, Frank Wijdenbosch, Verginia Olijfveld, Torsten Colijn, Ernst ter Linden, Simon Zwiers

Tim Oliehoek directs spectacular films such as ‘Vet Hard’, ‘Spion van Oranje’, and now also ‘Pizzamaffia’. Compared to colleagues from abroad who shot films like ‘The Terminator’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or ‘Die Hard’, as a Dutchman, in his genre, he obviously lacks a considerable budget. A lack of money is also evident in ‘Pizzamaffia’ – that film mainly lacks a scenario that also involves the viewer instinctively in the moped stunts splashing off the screen. The somewhat clumsy title ‘Pizzamaffia’ might suggest that you are being given a hilarious glimpse into the dim world of moldy pizzerias. However, you don’t get to see much more than a flight-threatening cockroach – beautifully portrayed – in that world.

The story of ‘Pizzamafia’ revolves around rivalry. The one between two brothers, Amar and Uncle Faris, and the one between their sons, cousins ​​Bram and Haas. Bram’s father Amar (Sabri Saad El Hamus) owns pizzeria Novara. Because he has it on his back, the business is run with passion and commitment by his brother Faris (Hakim Traïdia). All Amar has to do is count money. Only: he counts less and less money. And when Faris is accused of embezzlement by his own brother, he has had enough. Faris steps out of the pizzeria, cuts off contact with his brother and starts his own pizza joint across the street. Of course, this degenerates into an unhealthy competitive battle between the two eateries – the qualities of olive oil against the savings of margarine, and so on. You can almost feel how screenwriters Luuk van Bemmelen and Simon de Waal have puzzled over the ways to place the two pizza joints opposite each other (if they hadn’t had Khalid Boudou’s book before that). Their fathers’ quarrel drives an equally deep wedge between Bram and Haas (Mamoun Elyounoussi and Iliass Ojja). From pizza couriers blood gabbers are suddenly sworn enemies who fight each other with fire and scooter. It’s a shame that transitions like that are presented with a thunderclap – you as a viewer have to accept that they don’t like each other from one moment to the next. That is a bit difficult if you hardly have the time and arguments for it. In short, if you suspect that they mainly argue to keep the film exciting.

The storyline of the film is childlike: and then, and then. And the clichés – how many times have we seen someone indulge in a parody of Tony Montana or Travis Bickle? Of course one cousin dreams of quick money and the other of a career as an aviator. That in itself is not a bad thing – that’s partly how life works. And it makes the film crystal clear for even the most unworldly teenager who will see this film. What disappoints is the naive and schematic approach to dreams, problems and behaviors. It’s like ticking off a list. Just like Bram hangs depressed and drunk in a chair during a party, and the hottest punch of the party can hardly contain itself with excitement. Think of it as a beautiful dream. Yet the first twenty minutes of ‘Pizzamaffia’ still convince in all areas: funny, beautifully portrayed, and drama and characters are well portrayed. Subsequently, the artificial narration and the symbolism, flattened by pizza couriers, reduce the people we meet in the beginning to puppets in the hands of an over-enthusiastic film crew. You as a viewer are less concerned about how Bram and Haas will find each other again than how far they can jump with scooters. The zigzagging action scenes in the urban setting do not appear as part of the story, but as an interlude: ‘And now for something completely different…’

Nevertheless, the main men in the story convincingly portray their roles, just like Bram’s neat girlfriend Sallie Harmsen does. What a pity that those roles remain so flat. That applies even more to the grub that hangs around them – the helper with the funny styrofoam voice, the silent Moroccan mother who frys anchovies in the kitchen (but of course turns out to have a voice at the end). You wish ‘Pizzamaffia’ every success, because you see how everyone has done their best. But as this film progresses, paradoxically, story and characters become more and more at the service of its imagination. How much more satisfying would ‘Pizzamafia’ have been if that ratio had been reversed?

‘Pizzamaffia’ is one of those films that makes you long for a ‘golden boy’ like Oliehoek, with his visual brilliance and sense of spectacle and acting, to be paired up with a screenwriter like Maria Goos or Mijke de Jong, with their for drama and their ability to reduce it to human proportions. Because pure entertainment also requires, in addition to technical feats, a degree of emotional involvement. This is proven time and again by the more successful multi-million dollar productions from Hollywood, with their enviable production facilities.