ROME – ‘The Strangeness’: there may be a more apt title for a film with protagonists Toni Servillo and Ficarra and Picone? The unusual trio was brought together for the first time on the set Roberto wentdirector and screenwriter (together with Massimo Gaudioso and Ugo Chiti) of a comedy about Louis Pirandellohitting theaters October 27.
“I wanted to tell the chaos, the confused relationship between reality and fiction, but also to give the spectator the pleasure of showing him the encounter between the popular world and Pirandello. And then find the vitality behind the creative act,” said Andò today, during the presentation of the film at the Rome Film Fest.
THE STRANGE, WHAT THE FILM IS ABOUT
The film tells the genesis of ‘Six characters in search of an author’, dramaturgical masterpiece that revolutionized the theater of the early twentieth century, breaking down the fourth wall that divided actors and spectators. For some time Pirandello has been obsessed with ‘a strangeness’, which however he is unable to transform into a theatrical work. They will come to their aid two undertakers sui generis: Nofrio and Sebastiano (except Ficarra and Valentino Picone)what of day they bury the dead And at night they enjoy acting with an amateur theater company. The meeting takes place during the playwright’s return trip to his native town, Girgenti, for the celebrations of Verga’s 80th birthday (played in ‘La Stranezza’ by Renato Carpentieri).
The episode really happened, just as true is the character of thebeloved nurse Maria Stellawhose death represents the narrative expedient that will lead Pirandello to meet the gravediggers played by Ficarra and Picone, they, on the other hand, yes, the fruit of the imagination. “To make Pirandello human, we needed two characters who show sympathy and tenderness, who get angry in their community, who have this passion for the theatre. It was a chance to bring the audience to the fore. A third element that creates the chemistry for theater to become a fact,” explained the director. Pirandello spies on them and listens, absorbing their humanity, never ceasing his work of investigation of reality. “Servillo made Pirandello alive in his fragility: he is brilliant, but also likeable”, commented Andò.
SERVILLO: “HAPPY TO HAVE HELPED TO BREAK THE WALL THAT DIVIDS COMEDY AND DRAMA ACTORS”
“The film frees Pirandello from the clichés of intellectual heaviness and tells it in a crucial moment of his life – underlined Servillo – However, the restlessness of the character remains, which also depends on his biographical events” (his wife was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital In the film she is played by Donatella Finocchiaro ed). “I was happy, through this film, to have contributed to bringing down the fences that divide comic and dramatic actors- explained Servillo-. The alchemy born with Ficarra and Picone is proportional to the curiosity of acting together”, underlined Servillo.
MEDUSA AND RAI CINEMA AMONG THE PRODUCERS, FICARRA: “HALF FILM ON RAI1, THE OTHER PART ON CANALE 5”
‘The strangeness’ of the film lies in the production that sees ‘the strange couple’ Medusa Film – Rai Cinema join forces. “When it airs on TV we will see the first half on Rai 1 and the second half on Canale 5- joked Ficarra in the press conference-. I have preserved audio from the period in which the collaboration was born”, he added, addressing Giampaolo Letta, CEO of Medusa Film.
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In ‘The strangeness’ Servillo is ‘Pirandello in search of inspiration’, with Ficarra and Picone