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To try and synopsize the various trials and tribulations of the Genovese crime family during the first half of the 20th century would be a fool’s errand, and both Levinson and Pileggi recognize that, focusing on a few key events in the story of the longtime relationship between Costello and Genovese — namely, the latter’s botched hit on the former in 1957 — while glossing over most of their backstory in rapid-fire montage.

Explanatory panels located inside the showcases synopsize decades of investigations on the part of the carabinieri that often led to criminal proceedings and subsequently the return of the ill-gotten goods.

The haunting, atmospheric feature debut of Icelandic director Valdimar Jóhannsson, who co-wrote the screenplay with the Icelandic novelist, poet and lyricist Sjon, “Lamb” is a little hard to swallow, let alone digest, but quite easy to synopsize, at least in its basics.

And one of your arguments — it's difficult to synopsize, but you can do a better job than me — is that the people who still believe in democracy are ceding too much terrain or perhaps not understanding the nature of the conflict.

“It’s like, if you synopsize the story, you haven’t really described the play. It’s about something other than that, and the ‘something other than that’ is the thing.”