Synopsis
The Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi, 2001) is an Italian historical drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Ermanno Olmi — who took the Palme d'Or at Cannes for The Tree of Wooden Clogs.
November 1526. Emperor Charles V's German landsknechts are pushing south toward Rome. The only force capable of slowing them is Giovanni de' Medici, commander of the Black Bands, a mercenary captain who fights with speed and darkness rather than numbers. The Imperial army is carrying something new: field cannons. A falconet shot finds Giovanni's leg. What follows is not a battle — it is the end of one kind of soldier.
Olmi builds the film from mud and silence rather than flags and speeches. Christo Jivkov plays Giovanni with restraint. The final title card — noting that European commanders agreed to ban firearms after his death, an agreement they soon abandoned — lands harder than any battle scene. Stream The Profession of Arms online on iFILM.
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