PASSIONE

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As realized though its emotionally charged music, John Turturro's soulful cinematic celebration of young and old Neapolitan culture is an energetic labor of love that intoxicates.

Sexy, charismatic, and imbued with a warts-and-all sensibility, "Passione" presents a series of live music performance set pieces staged in public places throughout the Italian city of Naples. Pietra Montecorvino, Angela Luce, Raiz, Peppe Barra, and Max Casella are some of the local musicians who contribute haunting storytelling songs indigenous to the town situated between two volcanoes.

The soundtrack is powerful. Polyrhythms and soaring melodies carry you away. Dancers move with an unbridled sensuality. Lust drips with every hypnotic beat.

John Turturro narrates, and appears on screen periodically, as a historical tour guide around a city that means a lot to him. His overflowing excitement about Naples is contagious. The actor-turned-filmmaker tells us, "There are places you go and once is enough.

Then, there's Napoli." You couldn't hope for a better immersive armchair vacation to "one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world." If you want passion, "Passione" has plenty to share.

Rated. 90 mins.