Skip to main content

Basilicata: Terra di Cinema - Interview with Actor Rocco Fasano of Ivan Polidoro’s 'La Sorpresa'

Shooting lasted four weeks with post production about six months, and now Ivan Polidoro’s much awaited "La Sorpresa" (The Surprise) is about to make its premiere in Potenza, the capital of the region of Basilicata and the city in which it was shot. 

"La Sorpresa" is the story of Antonio (Mario Ierace) a dying father, Adriana (Adriana Caggiano), the daughter forced to act as head of the household and Rocco (Rocco Fasano), the nurse trying to help. The story centers on Adriana and her struggles in coming to terms with the severity of her father’s illness after having already lost her mother. That loss and the secret behind her mother’s death has left Antonio without the will to live. Adriana’s struggle is real as she tries to act as a caregiver but cannot get passed sterile conversation and seemingly meaningless questions. Rocco, who uses his job to escape his own reality, does it with such passion that he takes on the role of a son, while Adriana watches helplessly knowing that she could never emotionally connect on that level. 


Rocco is a stranger who picks up the pieces when a family member can’t. It’s a universal story and a common situation that many people go through when a parent or close family member falls terminally ill. I asked cast member and Potenza native Rocco Fasano to shed some light on the story and his character. Our interview was done in Italian, so both versions are included. 

What is the message of "La Sorpresa"
The message of this film is freedom of choice, the full awareness of the characters’ existence- their dreams and their failures.

Tell me about your character.
My character is a nurse in charge of the daily care of a man who recently had a stroke. He’s a character whose whole life is his work. He is dedicated with heart and soul, so much so that he helps to mend the relationship between the man and his daughter, a relationship that deteriorated over the years due to lies and misunderstandings. 

How did the locals around Potenza take to the shooting?
The locals welcomed us with enthusiasm and curiosity, this being one of the first films to be shot almost entirely in the capital of Basilicata.

Since you are from Potenza, do you feel a special pride for this role?
I absolutely felt an immense joy when I learned that I got the role. I am lucano and proud of it. I am thrilled for the opportunity to contribute to the promotion of my land. This has been an emotional experience that I will remember for as long as I live.  

If you're in Potenza, the premiere of “La Sorpresa” will take place tonight at 8:00 PM at the Cineteatro Due Torri located at via Due Torri, 5. The phone number is 0971.21960.

The December release of La Sorpresa closes out 2015, the most prolific year yet for the Lucana Film Commission and its objective of supporting film production, further validating that Basilicata is indeed the land of cinema. 

Intervista in Italiano

Quel è il messaggio di La sorpresa?
Il messaggio di questo film è la libertà di scelta, la consapevolezza piena della propria esistenza dei propri sogni e dei propri fallimenti.

Raccontami il tuo personaggio.
Il mio personaggio è un infermiere che viene incaricato di badare quotidianamente ad un uomo colpito da un ictus cerebrale. È un personaggio che fa del proprio lavoro la propria vita: ci si dedica con anima e corpo, tant'è che riuscira con spontaneità e amore a ricucire un rapporto ormai deteriorato tra l'uomo e sua figlia, tra i quali bugie e fraintendimenti intercorrono creando un muro quasi invalicabile.

Come sono stati i locali nel ricevere la troupe cinematografica?
I locali ci hanno accolto con entusiasmo e curiosità, essendo questo uno dei primi lungometraggi ad essere stato girato quasi interamente nel capoluogo lucano. 

Ho letto che sei di Potenza. Avendo sangue lucano, hai avuto una speciale passione per lavorare a questo film fatto nella tua terra?
Ho assolutamente provato un'immensa gioia quando ho saputo dell'esito positivo del casting. Sono lucano e fiero di esserlo e sono felice di contribuire alla promozione della mia terra. È stata un'emozione che ricorderò finchè vivrò. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew t...

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...

Film at Lincoln Center honors Monica Vitti with retrospective featuring restored classics

Photo Courtesy of Archivio Luce-Cinecitt à A retrospective dedicated to the films of Italian cinema icon Monica Vitti will be held from June 6 to June 19 at Lincoln Center in New York City.  The 14-film series, titled "Monica Vitti: La Modernista," is presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà and marks the first North American retrospective celebrating Vitti's 35-year career. "We are pleased to partner with Cinecittà to celebrate one of Italy's most revered actresses," said Film at Lincoln Center Vice President of Programming Florence Almozini. "It is a privilege to present decades' worth of films from Monica Vitti's illustrious and prolific career, especially with many restored versions of her legendary works." Monica Vitti, a key figure in film history, began her career in the mid-1950s and quickly became a captivating presence on screen. Her collaboration with director Michelangelo Antonioni produced memorable films in the 196...

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...

The Anthology Film Archives Presents: The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Italo-Crime Films of the 1960s and '70's

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9" ...