Skip to main content

"Mia Madre" receives 10 minutes of applause at Cannes Film Festival

Nanni Moretti's latest film, "Mia Madre" received 10 minutes of applause upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last night. European-film website, Cineuropa has been closely covering this film. They described it as a whirlwind of intimate and universally-shared emotions, with an exceptional performance from Margherita Buy. Hospital and set, public and private: these are the two juxtapositions that run the length of the film, alternating like clockwork. Buy's character is a director shooting a film about a group of factory workers who risk losing their jobs, but is also the daughter of a mother who is gravely ill (Giulia Lazzarini), the mother of a teenager who doesn’t want to focus on her studies (Beatrice Mancini), and the partner of a man she no longer loves (Enrico Iannello). She is also the sister of Giovanni (Nanni Moretti), with whom she shares her concerns and visits her mother’s bedside. The most serious stage of the illness coincides with the arrival on set of the guest star of the film, an American actor (John Turturro) who can’t remember his lines and is pretentious and difficult. We follow Margherita through her angry outbursts between takes, visits of locations and press conferences, and feel the pain she’s holding back every step of the way, whilst seeing a Moretti who is less like the usual centred, practical and reassuring character we are used to seeing in the role of the brother.
 
Below, I am reposting an in-depth interview with Nanni Moretti that was recently published on Cineuropa's website. It's rare for Moretti to talk at length about his work, so this interview really gives unique insight into his vision and inspiration behind this poignant work.

Nanni Moretti talks about latest film, "Mia Madre"

What was your motivation for this film and why did you choose a female alter ego?
Right from when I started working on the story with Gaia Manzini, Valia Santella and Chiara Valerio, the protagonist of the film was a woman, I never considered putting myself in the starring role. It’s been a while now since I last played the lead in a film, and I’m happy with that. I thought it would be interesting to transfer certain masculine traits to a female character. The role of the brother suited me down to the ground, although I must say that I can relate more to certain traits and the feeling of inadequacy Margherita’s character experiences. The death of a person’s mother is an important part of life, as many people know. It happened to me while I was editing Habemus papam  In a non-sadistic way, I wanted to portray this stage in a person’s life.

How was it working with Margherita Buy?This is the third film we’ve done together, the previous two being The Caiman and Habemus papam. She took the weight of the film onto her shoulders. Throughout the 70 days of filming, she was always on set. She would often say to me “I really like being a director, it’s fun yelling at actors!”. Everything in Margherita’s character is bubbling up at the same time and with the same sense of urgency. There’s the way she’s never in the room, her feeling of inadequacy towards her mother, the concerns she has for her daughter, work-related problems, and thoughts and dreams. I like how in some scenes the viewer doesn’t immediately know if what they were seeing was real or imaginary.

The Son's Room, Caos calmo which you starred in, and now Mia madre have a common thread, the subject of loss. What is it that you find so fascinating about this?I find it hard to theorise about my work, when you explain things you risk generating confusion, instead of making them clearer. At any rate, when I was twenty years-old it would never have occurred to me to direct films like these, as time goes on you start thinking more about death. The Son’s Room was about fears and ghosts, whilst Mia Madre deals with an experience that many have been through.

How much of an influence did your mother have on your career?My mother and father had very little to do with my choice to go into film. When I finished school at the age of 19 and decided to try my hand at this obscure thing called film they limited themselves to supporting me lovingly and unobtrusively, which meant a lot. I get embarrassed talking about my real mother, but there were generations of her former students that kept going back to her and talking to her about everything, which I only found out after her death. I never had any teachers as points of reference.

In the film Margherita has a sort of catchphrase that she says to her actors again and again, without them even understanding what she means: an actor has to get into their character but also stand beside it. Do you share this conviction?It’s something that I, too, tell my actors, it’s not just to make a mockery of Brecht. I don’t think that actors should be one-dimensional. For example, when she gets mad, Margherita is not just shouting, she’s also in pain, there’s always something else going on.

Margherita is your alter ego, but in the film we see her directing a film which has very little of the classic style of your films: it’s an average production with strikes and factory scenes, of which there are many.I wanted there to be a clear point of separation between Margherita’s private life, which is unstable and delicate, and a very structured film. Her mind’s always elsewhere (at work she thinks about her mother, and then about her daughter…) whilst the film she’s shooting is very solid. But no, it’s not my usual style of film. I didn’t want it to be.

Do you share Margherita’s feeling of inadequacy?I’ve been in this business for decades, but it hasn’t left me detached and confident. The day before filming starts I still have the same nightmares as when I was a young man (of arriving unprepared on set, of there something being broken or missing…). The feeling of inadequacy is something I am well acquainted with, and not only in a public setting. I used to think that with time I would grow a thick skin, and yet I now realise that time has the opposite effect; the more it passes the more you feel out of your element. As for theme, I think that when you make a film, you make it and that’s it, even if the theme is very strong as is the case here. When a director is focusing on the script, the cast, the direction, the performance and the editing, they can’t invest as much time and energy into the theme they’re dealing with… having said that, perhaps I don’t entirely agree.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Anna Foglietta: Actress and Activist with Old School Elegance

One look at actress Anna Foglietta in her any of her roles, and the Golden Age of Italian cinema comes to mind. Among Italy’s most sought-after actresses today, Foglietta brings to the table a classic eloquence of yesterday while representing Italy’s modern woman. Born in Rome in 1979, Foglietta began her career in 2005 with a role in the RAI television series La squadra . Her character Agent Anna De Luca had a two-year run on the series as she was transitioning to cinema with Paolo Virzì’s 2006 ensemble project 4-4-2- Il gioco più bello del mondo . Since then, she has become one of Italy’s most diverse actresses, transforming herself into interesting, layered characters for comedies and dramas alike. Aside from a small part in Anton Corbijn’s 2010 film The American starring George Clooney, Foglietta’s work began reaching mainstream American audiences in 2015. As Elisa in Edoardo Leo’s 2015 comedy Noi e la Giulia , Foglietta showed her funny side playing a goofball pregn

The Life and Work of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci as Malèna Born in Umbria in 1964, Monica Bellucci is one of the most recognizable faces of international cinema. But she didn't always have her sights set on the spotlight. She went to college to study law and modeled to pay her tuition. Her success in the fashion world coupled with the offers that were pouring in to appear on the big screen eventually took over, changing her fate. Bellucci made her on-screen debut in the 1990 television movie, " Vita coi figli." Just two years later, she scored her first American role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula."   In addition to her native language, she speaks fluent English and French, which has made for a smooth transition from Italian to international cinema. Stateside, she has acted in blockbusters such as "The Matrix-Reloaded,"     " The Passion of the Christ" and " The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She has also appeared in several French films, a

Marco Giallini's latest film headed to America

He's an intense, articulate actor with dozens of diverse roles to his credit, and his latest film, Perfetti Sconosciuti (Perfect Strangers) is set to make its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Roman-born actor, Marco Giallini shines in the roles he takes on, whether he is the oddball in a comedy, the sexy mystery man in a drama or the bad guy you’d love to hate in a thriller.   In each case, Giallini reels us into his character’s fascinating world with his impressive range of performing. Born in Rome in 1963, Giallini grew up with a number of interests including music, motorcycles and soccer. Before he discovered his call to act, he explored his passion for music, starting his own band in the early 80’s called, I Monitors. Then in 1985, destiny knocked at his door, and Giallini enrolled in acting school. He studied theater and for nearly a decade, participated in local productions in Rome’s many venues. It was in 1995 that he made his debut in cinema wit

Michelangelo Frammartino's "Il buco" — Unearthing our past

When a team of speleologists descended 700 meters into the Bifurto Abyss in Cosenza, Calabria, in 1961, they discovered that the underground caverns were the third deepest in the world and the deepest in Europe. Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Frammartino retraces that mission six decades later with a cast of locals and their livestock in his latest documentary, “Il buco” (“The Hole”). Inspiration for the film came while he was on location shooting his 2007 documentary, “Le quattro volte” (“Four Times”). Officials in the Pollino mountains, which stretch between Calabria and Basilicata, showed him what appeared to be just another sinkhole. Frammartino failed to understand their enthusiasm until they tossed a large stone into the void. It disappeared without making a sound. He was so overcome by the experience and the eerie landscape, he was haunted for years, compelling him to make his current film, one of many rooted in nature. “I was born in Milan, but my family is from Calabria. My pa

Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni.. What cinema dreams are made of

The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up its retrospective of the cinematic collaboration of husband and wife team, Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni. Over the last few days, the couple have participated in discussions, Q & A sessions and have introduced several of their films. Today, I attended a screening of "La voce della luna" (The voice of the moon). It was  Federico Fellini's last film and is a wonderful tribute to the director's signature poetic madness. The film gave Benigni the opportunity to team up with fellow beloved comic, Paolo Villaggio, and the two created a truly unforgettable adventure. Today's screening began with an introduction by Benigni. The moments leading up to his introduction were noticeably serious and somewhat tense. Benigni's publicist and TIFF security staunchly guarded his privacy. There was no interaction and no photos were allowed. Guided by his entourage, he walked quickly from the Green Room to th