Corruption of the innocent. That's the central theme of director Enzo Provenzale's "South Wind" when a young man (a very good Renato Salvatori), bound by his obligation to the mafia, decides to shirk his duties and go on the run. Caught up in her own desire to leave an oppressive family, Grazia (Claudia Cardinale) joins him and the two set off into the humid Italian landscape.
As an early vehicle for Claudia Cardinale, "South Wind" shows her burgeoning vitality as an international star. But even more impressive is the way director Enzo Provenzale maintains an aura of paranoid tension around the two young lovers on the run. There's a scene where their mouths almost touch as they talk on a train, and the tension of push-and-pull desire drips off the screen. In much the same textual framing, the ever-present mafia henchman's looming presence is a character all its own, from the car tailing a series of trains and buses, to a foot-chase down the bustling concrete corridors of an Italian city. But "South Wind" is ultimately about the slow development of a relationship between Cardinale and Salvatori. Of course, the air of fatalism catches up with everyone, but "South Wind" does its best to craft two distinct modes of narrative.... part thriller and part romance in equally pleasing measures. This deft touch should come as no surprise since Provenzale was a screenwriter for several of Franceso Rosi's best films (including "Hands Over the City" and "Salvatore Giuliano"), and "South Wind" is his only directorial effort and one that deserves reclamation and attention.
