ITALIA – 1978 – DCP – colore – 103’

Direction: Nanni Moretti

Screenplay: Nanni Moretti

Cinematography: Giuseppe Pinori

Editing: Enzo Meniconi

Set design: Massimo Razzi

Music: Franco Piersanti

Costumes: Lina Nervi Taviani, Fabrizia Magnini

Cast: Nanni Moretti (Michele), Luisa Rossi (sua madre Michele’s mother), Glauco Mauri (suo padre Michele’s father), Lorenza Ralli (Valentina, sua sorella Michele’s sister), Fabio Traversa (Mirko), Paolo Zaccagnini (Vito), Piero Galletti (Goffredo), Lina Sastri (Olga), Susanna Javicoli (Silvia), Carola Stagnaro (Flaminia), Maurizio Romoli (Cesare), Cristina Manni (Cristina), Simona Frosi (ex fidanzata di Michele Michele’s ex girlfriend), Giorgio Viterbo (intervistatore televisivo TV host), Luigi Moretti (attore disoccupato unemployed actor), Age (professore professor), Mauro Fabretti, Maurizio De Taddeo (due studenti two students), Cristiano Gentili (poeta poet Alvaro Rissa), Vincenzo Maria Vitobello (amico dell’etiope friend of the Ethiopian), Giampiero Mughini (intellettuale intellectual), Andrea Pozzi (young Goffredo bambino), Alberto Abruzzese (Alberto, amico di Olga Olga’s friend), Luciano Agati, Benedetta Bini, Sandro Conte, Roberto De Lellis, Pierluigi Farri, Nadia Fusini, Filippo La Porta, Giovanni Pietro Lombardo, Gaetano Marchione, Augusto Minzolini

Producer: Mario Gallo

Production: Filmalpha/Alphabeta Film

The restoration of Ecce Bombo (Nanni Moretti, 1978) was completed in 2024 by the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale, using original picture and sound negatives provided by Sacher Film. The processing was supervised by Nanni Moretti himself, and the restoration was carried out at the CSC Digital Lab.

synopsis

The film describes the daily life of Michele, a college student, and his relationship with his parents and sister Valentina, his interactions with girls and a group of friends. We see them discussing trivial matters at café tables or speaking on the airwaves from a private radio station. We witness arguments sparked in Michele’s family regarding Valentina’s decision to join a school sit-in, Michele’s strange courtship of his friend’s girlfriend and the attempts of the young man and his classmates to help a schizophrenic, Olga, overcome her illness. There is also a peculiar exam session consisting of collective sessions of self-awareness and self-confession. Summer arrives and Michele finds himself lonely and bored. Then, his friends return from vacation and everything starts all over again. One evening they all decide to go to Olga’s. Yet, except for Michele, everyone gets sidetracked along the way, distracted by futile amusements.

the director: NANNI MORETTI

After his earlier short films, Nanni Moretti made his debut feature-length film with I am Self Sufficient (1976), a breakthrough film that gained him recognition from both critics and the public, as did his following film Ecce bombo (1978). Throughout his long career, Moretti has received numerous awards and honors at various festivals, including the Venice Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. Founder of the production company Sacher Film, Moretti was the director of the Torino Film Festival from 2007 to 2008, while in 2023-2024, he made his debut as a theater director, directing Diari d’amore a diptych composed of two one-act plays by Natalia Ginzburg, Dialogo and Fragola e Panna.

premi awards

1978 Cannes FF – Concorso Competition

1978 Nastri d’Argento Silver Ribbons: Best Original Story

2024 Mostra di Venezia – Venice Classics: Best Restauration