Black Souls

In the self-confidently sluggish Black Souls, brothers in a small-time crime dynasty prepare to take their business to a new sphere of big-city influence, yet a long-simmering family feud tragically draws them back to their sleepy village. Their eldest brother turned his back on the family business years ago to become the village's subcompact-driving shepherd, but just when he thinks he's out, a series of betrayals and paybacks pulls him back in. Italian filmmaker Francesco Munzi's Black Souls opens in Milan and closes in the Italian countryside, and explicitly evokes The Godfather along the way, but it has more in common with the recent Russian drama Leviathan. Both films build their corrupt worlds with a painstakingness that borders on lethargy; both are so weighty and somber that it's practically comical, and while both are clearly the product of talented directors, I never quite connected with either. D.B.