Pure gangster film gold. This is a bitter pill, done brilliantly 
by Shervin Youssefian. In his feature debut, he explores the 
multi-facetedness of human behavior and all the ways he can add 
a new meaning to the term comedy. Machiavelli Hangman is 
like an Italian comedy that involves a bunch of gangsters and 
gigolos who have no idea what they’re doing but they go through 
with their plans with such determination that the viewer is only 
delighted to jump on the wagon.

Breaking down the film in a few words and it’s going to be very 
easy to do, one would have to put it this way: brilliant, fast-
paced and absolutely exhilarating. This isn’t your ordinary film. 
It’s a testament that there are still ferociously original minds 
at work and they find a way to get their material on the screen. 
The monopolizing of the large studios and the comic book genre 
has put a damper on entertainment. Spiderman and its sequel and 
X-men were probably the best to come out of that category but the 
rest were pure disasters. Hulk was a complete disappointment.

Although Youssefian has received a lot of attention with 
Machiavelli Hangman as a new wave of Armenian Filmmakers, he had 
been involved in the short film festival circuit for quite a 
while. He was the mind behind such national award-winners as 
Present Past and the well known and loved Color Blind, in which 
he acted himself. Color Blind is about a filmmaker who is too 
short to admit his love to a woman, so he decides to cast her in 
a film and live vicariously through the script. For some time, 
the short film was simply going to be called SHORT.

After gathering a list of accolades, Shervin Youssefian 
Miran Films with his partner Harry Gevon. They made commercials 
and more short films for nationally renowned companies, before 
they moved to the feature world with Machiavelli Hangman. The 
company also has another feature film in development called House 
of Women which deals with a brothel and a family of prostitutes. 
Rumor has it that it will be the come-back vehicle for Warren 
Beatty.

Being the first film to come out of this company, you may think 
that Hangman would have some rough edges. In fact, the impressive 
care and craft that was put into this will blow your mind. This 
film, shot on a tiny budget of less than $500,000 will mark the 
initiation of digital filmmaker as the primary independent 
format. Finally, everyone will be able to afford to make films 
without betting the whole farm.
 

Curtis Quigg is a movie reviewer.
Machiavelli Hangman
http://www.hangmanmovie.com