Gianfelice Imparato makes timid men under pressure worth watching without making them grand. We rate his quiet, unforced work in Gomorrah especially highly; it suits a film that refuses to make criminals attractive.
Fi1m perspective
Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro looks frightened in Gomorrah (2008), and Imparato lets that fear remain undignified. He does not turn timidity into a request for our affection. We were unsettled by Don Ciro’s anxiety, because Imparato makes it seem so ordinary. His understated delivery is right for Matteo Garrone’s film, in which organised crime is ugly and routine. A more demonstrative performance would have made this anxious man much less convincing.
His screen career has mostly been spent in supporting parts, with Bianca (1984), directed by Nanni Moretti, an early example. Steady work in Italian auteur cinema during the 1990s and 2000s led to wider international notice with Gomorrah and Paolo Sorrentino’s Il Divo (2008), in which he plays Vincenzo Scotti. He is well suited to ensembles that need ordinary men and minor authority figures to carry their share of the story without demanding special attention. His grounding in Eduardo De Filippo and Scarpetta comedies brings measured comic timing to the screen, though naturalistic delivery is the quality that matters most in Gomorrah.
Gomorrah gives that restraint a particularly good use: Don Ciro occupies one strand in a five-part narrative, without the whole film stopping to attend to him. Garrone gets a convincing anxious man without softening the film’s anger. The crowded storytelling can make it difficult to keep track of everyone, and an understated actor is hardly going to solve that problem by himself. That remains a real caveat to our recommendation, even with performances this persuasive.
Later credits include a lead as Emidio in Viviana Calò’s Querido Fidel (2021) and an appearance as Gennaro Pantalena in Mario Martone’s The King of Laughter (2021). The leading part is worth noting when his reputation rests so heavily on supporting and theatre work. There is no reason to treat supporting actor as a permanent job description. We would still start with Gomorrah, and watch how little Imparato needs to do to make a frightened man convincing.
Biography
Gianfelice Imparato is an Italian actor, playwright and stage director. Born on 9 August 1956 in Castellammare di Stabia, he began his professional acting career in 1976 with the company of Mico Galdieri. He later worked with directors including Carlo Cecchi and Luca De Filippo, and made his film debut in 1983.
Imparato is known for his role as Don Ciro in Matteo Garrone's Gomorrah (2008). He has appeared in other films such as Paolo Sorrentino's Il Divo (2008) as Vincenzo Scotti and Paola Randi's Into Paradiso (2010). On stage he has written and directed his own works, and received the Premio Ubu for best supporting actor in 2001. He has also worked in television, including the series I bastardi di Pizzofalcone.
