In 1989 was released the cinematographic adaptation of Ennio Flaiano’s novel (1947) Tempo di uccidere (Time to kill) directed by Giuliano Montaldo. This contribution analyses the narratological features of the two versions, showing how in the medial switch the critical sight on Italian colonialism of the novel is turned to a shallow tale where is instead enforced the traditional view of white male superiority, due to the loss of the inner focus, the misread representation of characters, and the underestimation of episodes which served in the book to undermine colonizer’s self-sight and disclose the identity crisis of the following chapters.