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

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

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

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

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" ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Riccardo Scamarcio Joins Cast of "John Wick 2"

Update to our original January 18 post.. - According to the Hollywood Reporter, the follow-up to John Wick has been given an official title — John Wick, Chapter 2 — and a release date from Lionsgate: Feb. 10, 2017. It's just been reported that Keanu Reeves is in Rome shooting his new film, "John Wick 2" with Italian actors Riccardo Scamarcio and Claudia Gerini . The film is an action-thriller and sequel to "John Wick". Shooting began last October in New York City. John Wick, played by Reeves, is a hitman that comes out of retirement to seek vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and the killing of his puppy, a gift from his recently deceased wife. The scenes being shot in Italy for the sequel reportedly take his career to the international level.  Riccardo Scamarcio One of Italy's most recognizable faces, Riccardo Scamarcio has built a solid career based on the diversity in the roles he chooses and the intensity with which he plays the...
Post a Comment
Read more