Skip to main content

Interview: Director Andrea De Sica

It's just been announced that director Andrea De Sica won the Nastro d'Argento award for Best Debut. His film "I figli della notte" (Children of the Night) is a spectacular first feature, so it's a much-deserved honor.

"I figli della notte" is the story of an unlikely friendship between Giulio and Edoardo that is born in an all-boys boarding school nestled in the secluded mountains of northern Italy. The two discover a nightclub hidden in the surrounding forest. One thing leads to another and they manage to get themselves into some serious trouble. One can interpret that each boy has his own set of problems, which stem from belonging to families of wealth. They are dropped off against their will and forced to live in an environment that isn't always emotionally healthy, especially for a teenager. The articulate script blended with the energetic, but mysterious music score add a strong element of suspense and keep you at the edge of your seat right up until the end. 

 Andrea De Sica recently presented the film in New York at Lincoln Center's annual series "Open Roads: New Italian Cinema". I caught up with him and asked him about his first feature film and the cinematic legacy of his iconic family. 

 First, I have to compliment you because your film is really an exceptional first feature. How did you prepare as a director to take on a feature after making short films and series?
The preparation was long and it began when I was a child. I come from a family of cinema, I had my first experience on the set when I was 10-years-old. We say that I don't have a single memory that is not attached to cinema!
   
I read that the main character was inspired by someone you knew in real life. Could you tell me more about how that experience influenced the character?
L. had been three years in boarding school, and had just moved back to Rome when we met. A shy kid, very well mannered, always better-dressed then everyone. His presence was hardly noticed, he was very discreet, he almost seemed a shadow; when we met for the first time and I asked him who he was, he answered "no one".
A guy wronged him regarding a girl and L. went to see him at home. The guy was found face down in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. Charges for attempted murder were pressed against L.; he never spoke a word of what he had done, not even to boast. Under his seraphic and reserved aura was hidden a killer's instinct.

E. at fifteen had already ran away from home three times in order to avoid the parents he hated. He had done just about everything: shoplifter, hobo, window cleaner. When you spoke to him it was like listening to a thirty-year-old in a fifteen-year-old's body. He was energetic, completely anarchic. In spite of coming from a very rich family, experience had taught him how to survive in every situation. And most of all he was joyful. There was never a pinch of sadness in his stories; he also had been in boarding school in the past, and he missed it in some ways: there he had met his greatest friends, that he would never see again after that experience.

These two aptitudes, a romantic one and the other ruthless, were translated into the construction of the two protagonists. Two opposite personalities: Giulio and Edoardo..


 Why did you choose to shoot in the region of Alto Adige? Do the snow and mountains have a particular significance to the story?
I made the decision along with my producers because I was searching for a place that was completely isolated. But I didn't want to make a film in the realistic setting of an actual school. I wanted something that would communicate in images the state of the characters' souls. So I chose to set it in a grand hotel of the late 19th century. 

We are connected on social media and I see from time to time that you publish stories about your grandfather. You seem to embrace your family’s cinema legacy and the fact that your grandfather made some of the most beautiful films in the history of filmmaking. What are your feelings on belonging to this type of cinema royalty?
I am very proud. I am a great admirer of ALL the members of my family. At the same time, I needed time to find my own path. "I Figli della" notte was the moment in which I said, 
“Cari tutti, vi saluto. E’ ora che vada per la mia strada.” (Goodbye my dears. The time has come for me to take my own road."

How did you approach that road of making your own film- balancing that kind of master filmmaking while telling a story of your generation?
I did it with great joy and fun. I believe to have made my own interpretations of the films I watched as a teenager. I saw the films of Kubrick, Spielberg and Lynch, and I was fascinated with them in the face of their sacred depictions. 

You dedicated your film to your father, which was such a beautiful gesture and actually gave me the chills. Can you tell me something about what you learned from him in regard to both filmmaking and in life? How does he stay with you and influence you today? And also, were you inspired by your father’s work to compose your own soundtrack?
The inspiration for the music came from a film that my father worked on in the 1990s-  
"Dellamorte Dellamore" (Cemetery Man) by Michele Soavi. But he did not like electronic music much, which often made us argue. In reality, when he passed away, I realized that I did not want anyone else to do the music, so I learned to do it alone.. totally instinctive and irrational.

 Watch the trailer for "Dellamorte Dellamore" featuring Manuel De Sica's music...


I see qualities of neorealism in the work of many young Italian filmmakers, especially when funding is minimal. They rely more on the poignancy of the stories rather than effects or elaborate sets. I believe that this is part of your grandfather’s legacy. Do you also see his filmmaking living on in the new generations of filmmakers?
Yes, absolutely. My grandfather and his colleagues have paved a road that will always be valid at any time and latitude.

Have you begun to think about your next project?
Yes! This time, it will be a true horror film!

There's no immediate word on international distribution of the this film. We will keep you posted. In the meantime, various past projects by Andrea De Sica are available on YouTube and Vimeo.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Roma 11:00" – The Tragic True Story of Desperation in a World of Poverty

There couldn’t have been a more perfect couple than Lucia Bosè and Raf Vallone in Giuseppe De Santis’ 1952 “Roma 11:00.”  A tragic story based on true events, the film follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a job listing for a typist. When 200 women are in line on one staircase over several floors, a crack leads to the collapse of the entire staircase. Dozens were injured and one was killed. The tragedy spoke to the poverty and desperation that existed for so many Italians in the early 1950s before the ‘58 industrial boom began.  Cesare Zavattini was one of the screenwriters. Elio Petri was the assistant director who interviewed many of the victims and cast a few in supporting roles. In addition to Bosè and Vallone, the film stars Carla Del Poggio, Massimo Girotti, Maria Grazia Francia, Lea Padovani and Delia Scala. The film is set in Largo Circense 37, while in reality the collapse took place in via Savoia 31, in the Salario district, on J...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

'Salvatore Giuliano' blends documentary realism with dramatic storytelling

"Salvatore Giuliano" is a 1962 Italian crime drama directed by Francesco Rosi that dramatizes the real-life events surrounding the life and death of the legendary Sicilian bandit and folk hero. Giuliano rose to notoriety after the liberation of Sicily from fascist control in 1943, when he formed a gang that joined a separatist army. When the army dissolved, he and his gang intensified their outlaw activities. One of their most significant crimes was the Portella della Ginestra incident, during which dozens of men, women, and children were killed or wounded. This act prompted the authorities to launch an all-out war against Giuliano. His defenses slowly crumbled, and on July 5, 1959, his body was discovered in the courtyard of a house in Castelvetrano. That moment serves as the starting point for Rosi's film. Giuliano's fame is tied to his involvement in the Sicilian independence movement and his battles against both the Italian government and the Mafia in the 1940s a...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait  “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann.  Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Gianfranco Rosi to premiere 'Sotto le nuvole' at Venice Film Fest, exploring Naples' history

Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will premiere his much-anticipated latest film at the upcoming 82nd Venice International Film Festival , which runs August 27 - Sept. 6. "Sotto le nuvole" (Below the Clouds)  takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. There has not been much information revealed but so far, we know that the film will focus on themes similar to those explored by Rosi in his previous works, such as the examination of Roman culture in "Sacro GRA" (2013) and Lampedusa's refugee crisis in "Fuocoammare" (2016).  The film's synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, the remains of women, children and men — statues, buried cities. Only thin layers separate contemporary and ancient life, an...
Post a Comment
Read more