27 September 2015
Newsdesk
Istituto Luce - Cinecittà (Filmitalia) is pleased to announce that this year a record number of 11 of Italy’s finest new and newly restored films have been selected to screen at the 59th BFI London Film Festival (8-19 October).
The feature films that will be shown are: ARIANNA, A BIGGER SPLASH, BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE), HAND GESTURES (IL GESTO DELLE MANI), THE INVISIBLE BOY (IL RAGAZZO INVISIBILE), LATIN LOVER, MEDITERRANEA, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, SWORN VIRGIN (VERGINE GIURATA), THE WAIT (L’ATTESA) and YOUTH.
Out of the selection, the following recently screened at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival: Guadagnino’s critically lauded A BIGGER SPLASH, which will receive a gala screening at the LFF; ARIANNA, an impressive debut exploring gender identity; BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE), a self-produced indie film by Italian maestro Marco Bellocchio, and winner of the Fipresci award in Venice; THE WAIT (L’ATTESA), a surprising first film from the assistant and scriptwriter to Paolo Sorrentino; and MEDITERRANEA, which also played in Critics’ Weeks at this year’s Cannes, and portrays young immigrants trying to make a better life in Europe, a subject matter which today could not be more relevant.
As for the other films in the line-up, Paolo Sorrentino’s YOUTH was received to critical acclaim at its premiere In Competition at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival. It later went on to win the audience award at Karlovy Vary. HAND GESTURES won the Fipresci prize at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where SWORN VIRGIN, another astounding debut about an ancient Albanian tradition that mixes up sexual identities, also premiered and has since gone on to pick up prizes at festivals around the world. INVISIBLE BOY by Academy Award winner Gabriele Salvatores will appeal to young audiences, and LATIN LOVER is a quirky and irresistibly funny comedy which reveals that many of the macho screen stars of Italy’s golden age of cinema were secretly gay. Last but not least, ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS is a sublime restoration of Luchino Visconti’s 1960 masterpiece, starring Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori and Annie Girardot.
This dynamic and diverse group of films will once again put Italian filmmaking at the forefront of the BFI London Film Festival. Istituto Luce-Cinecittà is delighted to be presenting these films in London, once again bringing UK audiences a selection of fresh, original and eye-opening work from directors both new and established.
THE FILMS
ARIANNA
Director Carlo Lavagna
Starring Ondina Quadri, Massimo Popolizio, Valentina Carnelutti
Sunday 11, 3.30pm – Curzon Mayfair Monday 12, 8.45pm – Hackney PH Strand: Debate (84 mins)
Arianna is a teenager with emotional and physical insecurities
who, unbeknown to her parents, embarks on a quest to discover
her sexual identity during a summer trip to the family holiday
home on the shores of Lake Bolsano. What follows is a coming of age drama featuring a topical twist, with Arianna attempting to cope with all the typical challenges young girls face, yet also having to face the realisation that her parents have lied to her and that nothing about her life is quite what it seems. Neither prurient nor sensationalist, this debut feature by Carlo Lavagna came out of a documentary he made on a real life case in Italy, but transposes the action to the everyday lives of a seemingly unassuming Italian family. Consequently, ARIANNA is an arresting, touching and inspiring story, which is superbly performed, particularly by wonderful newcomer Ondina Quadri in the title role.
A BIGGER SPLASH
Director Luca Guadagnino
Friday 9, 9.30pm - OLS Monday 12, 2.30pm - OLS Strand: Love (120 mins)
Marianne (Swinton) is a glittering rock star on a hiatus with her
filmmaker lover Paul (Schoenaerts). Recovering from an
operation on her throat, she has retreated from both the public gaze and her performance persona (an androgynous cross between Mick Jagger and David Bowie). Poolside, stripped naked in the scorching Italian sun and seemingly at ease, the lovers are completely unprepared for the sudden arrival of cocky music producer Harry (Fiennes) and his recently discovered daughter, the petulant and sexy Penelope (Johnson). Some clothes get ripped off, while others get put back on in this deliciously overheated drama with a dangerous edge. A remake of Jacques Deray and Jean-Claude Carriere’s La Piscine (1969) which draws its title from David Hockney’s painting of the same era, A BIGGER SPLASH transposes the original story from the French Riviera to Pantelleria, a volcanic, windswept Sicilian island that heaves with the same violence as the character’s emotions. Guadagnino sharply contrasts the cocooned oasis of these privileged tourists with the everyday lives of the local islanders and the illegal African immigrants looking for shelter. As with Guadagnino and Swinton’s previous collaboration I Am Love, the film cleaves the surfaces of a rarefied lifestyle. Here though, emotions are luxuriously untethered and celebrity wins out over morality and the law.
BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE)
Starring Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts, Tilda Swinton
Director Marco Bellocchio
Rohrwacher,
Thursday 8, 12.00pm – Vue7 Friday 9, 8.30pm – NFT2 Strand: Dare (106 mins)
Alba
Starring Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio,
Lydiya Liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi
It’s the 17th-century and the trial of a nun takes place in a monastery located in a small northern Italian village.
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Accused of tempting a priest, resulting in his suicide, the nun is forced to endure a series of barbaric tests. Present is the priest’s brother, an aristocrat, who is repelled and aroused by what he sees. Centuries later in the same town, the Count, who is now the sole occupant of the monastery – and clearly a vampire – is called upon to protect his home from a Russian developer. Linked by locale, themes and cast, the two periods are intertwined in this slyly humorous, satirical allegory – an adult fairytale that draws on gothic horror as it comments on religion, politics and social life in contemporary Italy. Challenging but rewarding, this is a very independent film from maestro Marco Bellocchio, which was shot in his own home.
HAND GESTURES (IL GESTO DELLE MANI)
Director Francesco Clerici
With Velasco Vitali, Lino De Ponti, Luigi Contino
Friday 9, 3.45pm – NFT3 Saturday 10, 3.30pm – NFT2 Strand: Love (77 mins)
Winner of the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at Berlinale
2015, Francesco Clerici’s debut documentary takes you inside
the heart of an historic bronze foundry in Milan that still uses
lost-wax casting, a technique that dates back to the 4th-century BC. The Ancient Greeks used the word techné to describe both art and craft and in Clerici’s film the hands of the artisans are the protagonists; you watch as they shape, knead, model, mix, repair, sand and polish their creation. The sounds of work blend into the noise of the radio and conversations in the background; with no voiceover narration and minimal spoken word you become transfixed by the hypnotic quality of the handwork. The individual stages in the creation process are interspersed with historical images of the 100-year-old foundry, revealing continuity that spans decades. This visually poetic film shows how integral both artist and artisan are to the act of creation.
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (ROCCO E I SUOI FRATELLI)
Director Luchino Visconti
Starring Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot
Saturday 10, 10.30am – NFT1 Monday 12, 11.00am – Vue 7 Strand: Journey (177 mins)
ROCCO is like an opera without the arias. A mother and her
five sons abandon the poverty of southern Italy and head for
the economic promise of Milan, only to find their
relationships implode as the brothers battle over love, passion and morality. ROCCO’s epic, emotional sweep is guaranteed to leave you emotionally drained by the end. It’s not just Visconti’s 1960 masterpiece, but also that of cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno. Whether he’s framing the fragile beauty of Alain Delon or the vistas of the city, his lustrous black and white camerawork is breathtaking. Here it could not be better served than by this magnificent restoration. And to cap it all, two scenes that were victims of the censor’s scissors have finally been reinstated.
LATIN LOVER
Director Cristina Comencini
Starring Marisa Paredes, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Virna Lisi Saturday 10, 6.15pm – Ciné Lumière
Monday 12, 9.00pm – Vue Islington
Saturday 17, 8.45pm - Ritzy
Strand: Laugh (104 mins)
Comencini’s gently ironic story of extended family feuds and
the movies is a satirical love letter of sorts to classical
Italian cinema and the actors who dominated it from the 1950s to the 1970s. It centres on the reunion of an extended family, all linked by the legendary actor Saverio Crispo, who is only shown in flashback and appears to be an amalgam of Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni. He fathered children by all the women present, who are gathered for the tenth anniversary of his death. Needless to say, petty feuds, major jealousies, conspiracy theories and dark secrets begin to emerge, while matters are further compounded by the appearance of the actor’s great friend and on-screen double. Chaos descends as everyone tries to come to terms with the various claims, counterclaims and revelations. Terrifically engaging, LATIN LOVER is also notable for featuring the last appearance of Italian screen icon Virna Lisi.
THE WAIT (L’ATTESA)
Director Piero Messina
Starring Juliette Binoche, Lou de Laâge, Giorgio Colangeli
Saturday 10, 9.00pm – PH Central Monday 12, 6.15pm – Hackney PH Sunday 18, 8.45pm – NFT1
First Feature Competition (100 mins)
Binoche is excellent as Anna, a grief stricken mother,
anchoring this plaintive, emotionally complex and original
story from first time filmmaker, Piero Messina. Still reeling from the sudden death of a loved one and roaming around in a large house in Sicily, Anna is forced out of her shell when Jeanne, her son’s estranged fiancée, comes to stay. She cannot bring herself to reveal the recent tragedy that has befallen them, so Anna pretends they are waiting for the son to arrive, encouraging her young guest to enjoy her hospitality, knowing that sooner or later the secret must come out. Over the course of a few days a sensitive and emotionally rich drama plays out, as Jeanne tries to understand her boyfriend’s mother and learn what is really going on. Handsomely mounted, this is subtle, thoughtful filmmaking, featuring an intelligent script and nuanced direction from newcomer Messina.
THE INVISIBLE BOY (IL RAGAZZO INVISIBILE)
Director Gabriele Salvatores Sunday 11, 1.00pm – Ciné Lumière
Strand: Family (100 mins)
Michele is a shy boy who is picked on by his peers. He lives
alone with his police officer mother and wishes that he
could hide from the world. That wish comes true when he
discovers a Halloween outfit that makes him invisible. Inevitably, revenge against the school bullies and a visit to the girls’ changing rooms is in order, but every action has consequences. Whilst invisible, he has the confidence to befriend Stella, a girl he has a crush on and who, in his invisible form, believes him to be a malevolent spirit. What begins as a charming coming of age tale soon transforms into a thrilling, superhero adventure as Academy Award winner Gabriele Salvatores sends Michele and Stella off on a chase in which life-changing secrets will be revealed.
SWORN VIRGIN (VERGINE GIURATA)
Director Laura Bispuri
Starring Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli, Lars Eidinger Tuesday 13, 6.30pm – Ritzy
Saturday 17, 2.30pm – Curzon Mayfair
Strand: Journey (90 mins)
Starring Ludovico Girardello, Valeria Golino, Fabrizio
Bentivoglio
This is a delicately observed, beautifully realised and
uniquely distinctive first feature by Laura Bispuri. In a
remote Albanian mountain community, women’s lives are
rigidly defined by arranged marriages. The only possibility of escape from this tradition is to become a sworn virgin and live as man. This is the fate chosen by Hana, or Mark as she becomes known. However, after ten years in this role a trip to Italy offers a new chance, opening up the tantalising, hopeful, but also terrifying possibility of a new life. Alba Rohrwacher (The Wonders, Hungry Hearts, which both featured in LFF 2014) is remarkable as Hana/Mark, her performance subtly and sensitively conveying the troubled nature of her existence and the sense of excitement brimming with the thought of a new lease of life. Bispuri’s film captures the pastoral beauty of the land whilst conveying the angst of its protagonist.
YOUTH
Director Paolo Sorrentino Starring
Thursday 15, 6.00pm – Vue 7 Thursday 15, 6.30pm – Vue 5 Sunday 18, 6.00pm – PH Central Strand: Journey (118 mins)
Set largely in a luxury Swiss spa, YOUTH is a deliciously
bittersweet drama from acclaimed Italian director Sorrentino (The Great Beauty). It focuses on the friendship between Fred (Caine in scintillating form), a curmudgeonly retired composer, and elderly film director Mick (Keitel). Fred is resisting attempts to revive his greatest work, while Mick is desperate to make a comeback movie starring his former muse and favoured actress Brenda (Fonda). If that weren’t enough, members of Fred’s family suddenly arrive on the scene. Sorrentino demonstrates his complete mastery of storytelling by skilfully weaving the various narrative strands into a moving, funny and affecting whole. Stylish, witty and emotionally resonant, Youth also features sharp and smart references to pop culture – including a cameo by Paloma Faith – as well as movies past and present. It offers further evidence, if any were needed, of Sorrentino’s position as one of contemporary cinema’s finest filmmakers.
MEDITERRANEA
Director Jonas Carpignano
Starring Koudos Seihon, Alassane Sy, Adam Gnegne Friday 16, 9.15pm – Curzon Mayfair
Saturday 17, 1.00pm – Ritzy
Strand: Debate (107 mins)
Jonas Carpignano’s riveting feature debut is an ultra-
topical tale of two young African men, Ayiva and Abas
from Burkina Faso who, in search of a better life, make the
difficult and dangerous trip across the Sahara desert and Mediterranean Sea to reach Italy. Needless to say, their destination is more problematic than the two friends imagined. The Calabrian community is hostile towards immigrants who attempt to eke out an existence there, which eventually leads to violence and rioting. Played by a largely non-professional cast (many having experienced similar problems), Mediterranea is a powerful, strikingly shot and utterly believable film. Directed with verve and considerable aplomb by director Carpignano, the film was developed from his award winning short A Chianna, which also drew on real life events.
Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul
Dano, Jane Fonda
