Italian Cinema Today

Named by Vogue Italy as the most versatile performer in the history of Italian cinema, Toni Servillo has earned a reputation as a masterful character actor who hauntingly transforms himself into dark, troubled protagonists indifferent to the dubious methods they employ to get what they want. Born in 1958 in Afragola, a town in the province of Naples, Servillo began his acting career on stage during the 1970s, founding Teatro Studio in Caserta and participating in a number of productions in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Influenced by Eduardo De Filippo, he interpreted several of the legendary actor and playwright’s roles and writings.   Servillo made his feature film debut in Mario Martone’s 1992 “Morte di un matematico napoletano” (Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician) and appeared in Martone’s follow-up projects: the 1993 “Rasoi,” the 1997 “I vesuviani” (The Vesuvians) and the 1998 “Teatro di guerra” (Rehearsals for War).   He was tapped by Paolo Sorrentino to play a starring...

Paolo Sorrentino at the 2005 edition of Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, NYC Update: 12 March 2018 It's always exciting to have news about a brand new Paolo Sorrentino film. Scenes from "Loro," his latest collaboration with Toni Servillo, were released today.  The Academy Award-winning director announced the project back in 2016 at the  73rd Venice Film Festival  when he was presenting the first two episodes of his HBO series, "The Young Pope." The project had been shelved for a while and then in April of 2017,  Variety  reported that filming would start during the summer. "Loro" was loosely based on the events surrounding Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. In November of 2013, Berlusconi was expelled from parliament amid accusations of sexual relations with a minor and bribing a senator. Two years later, he was found guilty of bribing the senator and was barred from public office for five ye...