Actor Ivan Boragine on Gomorra, Growing up in Napoli and his Love for Theater

Neapolitan actor Ivan Boragine embraces everything that is Napoli. From his pride and passion to his nostalgia and sadness, Napoli is always in his heart. That is why his role in the popular Italian television series Gomorra has been the role of a lifetime. Not only has the worldwide broadcast (64 countries) skyrocketed him to fame, it has given him a way to bring to light the problems and corruption of one generation so that the next could have a better chance. I met with Boragine recently while I was in Rome. I found him to be down-to-earth and honest about the pride and love he has for his culture and also for his art. We spoke a lot about his hometown of Napoli and the impact the Neapolitan theater has had on actors. We also talked about his role in Gomorra and how it fuels his love for acting.

Boragine got his start in acting a little over a decade ago when he landed a role in a local theater production of the Neapolitan classic, Miseria e Nobilità (Misery and Nobility). Although he was just a teenager, the experience made a big impression on him and ignited his passion for acting. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled in local acting courses at respected theater schools including Teatro Totò, and studied vigorously to perfect his craft. Soon, roles were being offered and he was on his way to pursuing his dream. He appeared in a number of television shows, such as RAI’s Un posto al sole and La squadra.

His life-changing role came as Michele Casillo in Sky Italia’s television series, Gomorra. Launched in 2014, Gomorra is based on the book by Roberto Saviano, a journalist known for his writings about the Neapolitan mafia- and the film, Gomorra directed by Matteo Garrone. Set in Naples, the story follows a cast of characters ranging from gangsters to drug dealers to law enforcement and regular civilians. It is a fast-paced drama with sharp dialogue and intense, action-packed scenes- many not for the faint of heart. Boragine told me that although Gomorra is fiction, it shows a side of Napoli that does exist. This dark side has a grave effect on the youth of the city, many of whom choose a life of crime over a college education. He told me that he cries twice when visiting his city- when he arrives and when he leaves. Boragine has hope for the future of Napoli and that a show like Gomorra will help in some way to turn things around.

During our interview, Boragine spoke about theater and its importance in the whole scheme of art and cinema. He credits the experience of performing on stage to the success of some of Italy’s leading Neapolitan actors like Toni Servillo. He feels that having that foundation of theater and working so closely with an audience give an actor, especially when doing comedy, a unique perspective. The quality he appreciates the most of theater is the freedom of interpreting a character and giving that character a whole host of emotions from one night to the next ranging from laughter to tears.

Boragine’s current project is a theater production in his hometown of Napoli, titled Sottozero - Death and Rebirth of a man in a cage. If you’re in Italy, I recommend going. It’s just a two-night engagement on the 16^th and 17^th of January at the Teatro Bolivar Napoli. Boragine describes the production as “naked, raw truth”.

If you have a Regional 2 DVD player, which is easily available through Amazon, you could watch past episodes of Gomorra. Otherwise, Ivan Boragine’s work is pretty tough to find in America. We’ll let you know as soon as anything becomes available stateside. In the meantime, follow Boragine on social media.. Twitter and Facebook.

Comments

7 Days - 7 Women: Interview with Actress Sabrina Impacciatore

Photo by Rossella Vetrano On Day 6 of our series, 7 Days - 7 Women, in which we are profiling seven strong, talented women working as filmmakers, writers or visual artists, we talk with actress Sabrina Impacciatore about the diversity of her roles. Whether she's playing a devoted mother trying to protect her child, Jesus Christ's "Veronica" in Mel Gibson's controversial film, "Passion of the Christ" or a young woman coming of age, Impacciatore escapes into the life and mind of each character she takes on, sometimes so deeply that she believes she is actually them. It's a fine line between reality and fiction, but she treads it carefully and anyone watching her performance benefits from her emotional connection to the character that she becomes. I spoke with Impacciatore at the 2010 Open Roads: New Italian Film series in New York City. We talked about her lifelong dream of becoming an actress. She also gave me some insight into the diff

A Conversation With the Man Who Played Pasolini's Christ

There have been countless cinematic interpretations of the books of the Bible, but few have stood the test of time. One that qualifies as a classic is Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1964 “Il Vangolo secondo Matteo” (The Gospel According to St. Matthew). Considered by the Vatican to be among the best film adaptations of one of the Gospels, Pasolini’s 1964 film was shot in the regions of Calabria, Puglia and Basilicata. In an interview with RAI television while on location in Matera, Pasolini talked about the reasons for shooting there. “I chose two or three places in Basilicata. One is Barile, a town of Albanians. I needed a place for Bethlehem. Another location is Matera because it reminded me of Jerusalem,” he explained. Pasolini’s interpretation of St. Matthews’s Gospel is pure, with no added commentary. He said that he followed the Gospel word for word without adding a single syllable. He explained in the interview that his idea to make the film happened by coincidence. “In October of 19

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

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

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog