ITALIA – 1998 – colore – 95’

Direction: Michele Placido

Screenplay: Domenico Starnone, Michele Placido

Cinematography: Blasco Giurato

Editing: Francesca Calvelli

Set design: Paola Comencini

Music: Carlo Crivelli

Costumes: Claudio Cordaro

Cast: Giovanna Mezzogiorno (Liliana), Fabrizio Bentivoglio (Antonio, Gerardo’s father), Rocco Papaleo (Cucchiaro), Enrico Lo Verso (Doctor Satriano), Rino Cassano (Don Gaetano), Michele Placido (Don Gerardo), Piero Pischedda (Gerardo), Sergio Rubini (Italo)

Producer: Giovanni Di Clemente

Production: Clemi Cinematografica, Rai Fiction

Distribution: CDI – Buena Vista International Italia

synopsis

Don Gerardo recalls his childhood in southern Italy during the 1950s. He was a young boy full of enthusiasm, yet he experienced reality with an intense difficulty, feeling out of place in his village, uncomfortable with his family and even facing expulsion from a boarding school. However, he developed an attraction to Liliana, a young communist activist in her early twenties, who fervently spent her time on militancy as well as devoted herself to educating the youngest in a makeshift school. She was a strong-willed girl, who therefore arouses both distrust and admiration within the entire community. Reflecting on that distant time and a lost love, Gerardo remembers his intense feelings, made up of an unflinching dedication typical of early adolescence and the strong passions that are naturally intertwined with commitment and experience.

critical note

“Despite the distance of time, the (leading actress) Giovanna Mezzogiorno offers an expressive intensity and love that has put her back in the limelight.” (Maurizio Porro, Il Corriere della Sera, 19/9/98)

“The simplicity and passion of the actor (Michele Placido), in his fourth endeavor as a director, make this a touching work that is worth seeing because it speaks about us, our roots and what we were merely 40 years ago—and even how we no longer are, in some ways fortunately, in others less so. In the film, the young schoolteacher Liliana Rossi possesses the beautiful simple face of Giovanna Mezzogiorno.” (La Repubblica)

main awards

1998 Mostra di Venezia: Premio Pasinetti Award a to Giovanna Mezzogiorno, FEDIC Award a to Michele Placido

1999 Nastri d’Argento: Best Leading Actress

1999 Ciak d’Oro: Best Leading Actress

1999 David di Donatello:  Best Supporting Actor (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), Giovanna Mezzogiorno nominated as Best Leading Actress