Skip to main content

Mimmo Calopresti: A Filmmaker in Search of the Truth

Through tragedy, corruption, friendship and love, Mimmo Calopresti’s characters forge through life with dignity and hope.

 Born in Calabria, raised in Torino and currently living in Rome, Calopresti is known for his direct style of filmmaking that treads finely between reality and fiction. Often drawn from his own point-of-view, he documents life-changing events whether tragic or historic. Calopresti began his filmmaking career with documentaries and short films and then in 1996, made his feature film debut with La Seconda Volta (The Second Time) starring Nanni Moretti.

 He followed up with two successes- the 1998 drama La parola amore esiste (The Word Love Exists), which recounts the obsessive love of an emotionally fragile woman, and the 2000 film Il rumore del mare (The Sound of the Sea), which was most likely taken from Calopresti's own life experiences. The story of two teenagers on the verge of adulthood and discovering their independence, Rosario, from the south of Italy goes to live in the north, thanks to his friend Luigi, also from the south but working in Torino. He wants to give Rosario a chance at a different way of life. 

 Calopresti recently presented  a selection of his works at the Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. The screening was organized by filmmaker and professor Elisabetta Sanino D'Amanda of the Rochester Institute of Technology. I caught up with him after the screening and asked him about his own experience of having origins in the south while living in the north. He mentioned the significance of his film's title, Il rumore del mare. "The title of my film, Il rumore del mare was born from the poetry Lavorare, lavorare, lavorare (“Work, Work, Work,” a famous poem by Dino Campana). Torino has always been a place of work. My father worked in a factory. I don’t mean it as a negative thing. It was positive. The south is the joy of my childhood. The sea. I prefer the sound of the sea. My life has always been divided into these words- busy working and being in the middle of beauty. I’ve been very lucky having two directions, two possibilities of living different ways of life. Now I live in Rome but when I return to the north, I find a different Italy. There are two Italys- the North and the South are still divided.

The autobiographical tale La felicita non costa niente (Happiness for free), which he presented at the 2003 edition of Lincoln Center's Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, follows 40-year-old Sergio after a near death experience opens his eyes to his mortality. This awakening reveals some hard truths that he must face. So he decides to just leave it all behind and start over. Before long, he realizes that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

 His second Open Roads presentation, which he also presented at the Eastman Museum, was the 2009 film La fabbrica dei Tedeschi (The German’s Factory), which features vignettes with a number of actors including Silvio Orlando and Valeria Golino. Following the aftermath of a deadly fire that took place in 2007 at the ThyssenKrupp, an iron and steel plant in Torino, the film traces the lives and moments leading up to the evening in December when tragedy struck. Calopresti talks with family members of the victims, who are visibly in mourning, but looking for justice as they recount the factory’s known safety concerns and dangerous working conditions.
He also presented his 2015 film Uno per tutti (One for All) at the Eastman Museum. Adapted from the novel by Gaetano Savatteri, Calopresti directed the film and played a supporting role. Uno per tutti stars Fabrizio Ferracane and Isabella Ferrari as a couple forced to deal with the repercussions of a crime committed by their teenage son. The film explores the complexities of a longtime friendship between people who take different paths in life. Speaking to this theme, Calopresti said, “The idea was to tell a story of friendship- how to be friends, what you need to protect yourself, what you need to go ahead in life or to face life. Sometimes you do not end up being together. It’s difficult to stay together whether you’re talking about a father and son, a couple or friends. Everyone has a difficulty.”

A fascinating work is his 2016 documentary, La Fabbrica Fantasma, which speaks to the growing global problem of counterfeit products often containing toxic materials. Calopresti travels through Italy and Europe, visiting the ports where the merchandise arrives often from China, and then to the stores and outdoor markets where the items are sold. He delves into the financial motivation behind the growing phenomenon and iidentifies the characteristics which validate a product’s authenticity, revealing if it is indeed a fake. It’s a timely, important film to see especially if you have children as toxic materials are often used to make counterfeit toys and dolls. The closing scene is especially poignant and poetic as we see the world through a child's eyes. She is protected and nurtured, playing with dolls in a museum while statistics of the counterfeit industry and its perils are displayed on screen.

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and Marcello Fonte in a scene from Aspromonte: La Terra deli Ultimi
He is currently finishing work on his latest film Aspromonte: La Terra deli Ultimi (Land of the Forgotten). It was shot in Africo, Calabria and has a stellar cast that includes Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Marcello Fonte, Francesco Colella, Marco Leonardi, Sergio Rubini and Fabrizio Gifuni. It is slated for a 2019 release. We'll keep you posted. In the meantime, you can keep up with Mimmo Calopresti on Instagram.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Conversation with Sergio Castellitto

Sergio Castellitto has made a profound impact on world cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. Born in Rome in 1953, Castellitto graduated from film school in 1978 and credits American cinema with pushing him toward a career in acting. His work has garnered numerous accolades, largely due to his immersive, original approach to projects in film, television and theatre. Castellitto is fluent in French and English, which has contributed mightily to his international stardom. But it's the actor's trademark brown eyes and charming everyman qualities that have lent his various characters -- even the ones that are rough around the edges -- an air of dignity that other actors might not have achieved. Sergio Castellitto and Margaret Mazzantini, 2005 Films such as "Paura e Amore," "L'uomo delle stelle," "Caterina va in città," and "Bella Martha" heralded Castellitto as a versatile artist with far-reaching abilities. But it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints.   The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti" Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in en...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sergio Leone: Recreating the American Cowboy

Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West" He's an Italian filmmaker who left his mark on the world by telling uniquely American stories. Known throughout the world for his iconic Spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone comes from a family of filmmakers. His mother, Edvige Valcarenghi whose stage name was Bice Walerian, was a silent movie actress who gave up her career to become a wife and mother when she married Vincenzo Leone in 1916. Vincenzo whose stage name was Roberto Roberti, was a noted filmmaker who directed and acted in movies during the silent film era. He actually tried to discourage his son from pursuing a career in cinema, so Sergio Leone briefly studied law. But then fate stepped in and he landed a position as an assistant on Vittorio De Sica ’s "The Bicycle Thieves"   in 1948. Leone also briefly appears in the film, as part of a group of German priests taking shelter from the rain. Although he emerged during the rise of Neorealism, Leone mig...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Extraordinary Career and Legacy of Dino De Laurentiis

Producer Dino De Laurentiis was one of the most prolific filmmakers ever, having produced or co-produced more than 600 films during a career that spanned seven decades. His legacy continues not only through the work of his children and grandchildren but also through a new generation of filmmakers in his Italian hometown. De Laurentiis was born in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius on Aug. 8, 1919, in the city of Torre Annunziata, located just minutes from the ruins of Pompeii. As a child, he worked at a local pasta factory owned and operated by his father. That experience had a profound effect on him, shaping a lifelong passion for food and an appreciation for business. At the age of 17, he decided to leave home for the big city. He arrived in Rome and enrolled in the prestigious film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. After attending the school for about a year, he managed to produce one film in 1940, The Last Combat , before having to leave Rome temporarily for m...
Post a Comment
Read more