Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and Gabriele Mainetti’s “Freaks Out” lead the pack at the David di Donatello Awards this year with 16 nominations each.
Here’s the complete list of nominees:
Picture
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Director
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Debut Director
“The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice
“Maternal,” Maura Delpero
“Small Body,” Laura Samani
“Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis
“Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile
Producer
“A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — Rai Cinema
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto...
Here’s the complete list of nominees:
Picture
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Director
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Leonardo Di Costanzo
“The Hand of God,” Paolo Sorrentino
“Ennio,” Giuseppe Tornatore
“Freaks Out,” Gabriele Mainetti
“Qui Rido Io” (The King of Laughter), Mario Martone
Debut Director
“The Bad Poet,” Gianluca Jodice
“Maternal,” Maura Delpero
“Small Body,” Laura Samani
“Re Granchio” (The Legend of King Crab), Alessio Rigo De Righi, Matteo Zoppis
“Una Femmina” (The Code of Silence), Francesco Constabile
Producer
“A Chiara,” Jon Coplon, Paolo Carpignano, Ryan Zacarias, Jonas Carpignano (Stayblack Productions) — Rai Cinema
“Ariaferma” (The Inner Cage), Carlo Cresto...
- 4/30/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Great Beauty and The Hand Of God star Toni Servillo plays Neopolitan actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta in The King Of Laughter (Qui Rido Io), Mario Martone’s latest Venice Film Festival competition premiere. An affectionate, theatrical portrait set in the early 20th century, it culminates in an historic court case, but the build-up is leisurely to a fault.
We first meet Scarpetta when he’s preparing to go on stage. It’s a place where he seems the happiest, if you discount the beds of various female family members. That pretty much sums up the characterization that takes over two hours to repeat. We see that Scarpetta craves the adulation and laughter of the audience, and is having affairs with both his wife’s sister and his wife’s niece. Everyone knows that the resulting children are his, but it’s barely spoken of: he’s known as “Uncle” to the kids.
We first meet Scarpetta when he’s preparing to go on stage. It’s a place where he seems the happiest, if you discount the beds of various female family members. That pretty much sums up the characterization that takes over two hours to repeat. We see that Scarpetta craves the adulation and laughter of the audience, and is having affairs with both his wife’s sister and his wife’s niece. Everyone knows that the resulting children are his, but it’s barely spoken of: he’s known as “Uncle” to the kids.
- 9/11/2021
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
“I’ve never liked artists who have more fun offstage than onstage,” says Italian comic star Eduardo Scarpetta (played by Toni Servillo) in “The King of Laughter.” If that was indeed Scarpetta’s belief, he would have thoroughly approved of Mario Martone’s big, brash, garishly frosted celebration cake of a biopic, in which everyone involved seems to be having the very best of times, tumbling onto screen with the breathless energy of a community theater crew given a very generous spotlight. How much fun viewers will be having with them is open to question. Those au fait with the particular chapter of Italian theater history outlined in Martone’s film might join in the eager applause from the local press contingent at Venice. Others may be more bemused by its unrelenting, dialed-to-11 spirit of cinematic carousing.
“The King of Laughter” is Martone’s third film in four years to premiere in competition at Venice,...
“The King of Laughter” is Martone’s third film in four years to premiere in competition at Venice,...
- 9/8/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – Matteo Garrone’s revelatory crime picture joins the esteemed group of worthy foreign film Oscar contenders (like “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”) inexplicably snubbed by the Academy. But such accolades are meaningless compared to the reaction it has received, breaking box office records in its limited release, while acquiring the passionate support of film icons like Martin Scorsese. It has gained a reputation for being the “ultimate Mafia movie” (even though it’s actually about a different crime family), besting everything from “The Godfather” and “GoodFellas” to “The Sopranos.”
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Yet Garrone doesn’t even attempt to mimic the larger-than-life style and scope of Coppola or Scorsese, and his film achieves an entirely different kind of greatness, stripping away any shred of romanticism or artifice to reveal the primal horror lying behind scenes of deceptively mundane life. His film also has the distinction of being set in modern-day Italy,...
- 12/1/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 2/12/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
Release Date: Dec. 19 (limited), Feb. 13
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
Director: Matteo Garrone
Writers: Roberto Saviano, Garrone, Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Massimo Gaudioso
Cinematographer: Marco Onorato
Starring: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo
Studio/Run Time: IFC, 137 mins.
A bureaucracy of blood, Italian-indie style
Gomorrah’s portrait of Italy’s Camorra crime family is more a Fast Food Nation-style exposé of a teeming criminal ecosystem than a typical mob drama. Powered by several parallel plots corresponding to the family’s interests (drugs, textile manufacturing, waste disposal, weapon running, etc.), the Camorras recall a massive, barely functioning bureaucracy whose internal conflicts happen to be frequently (and efficiently) resolved with insane carnage, both emotional and bodily. There’s a mid-level manager (Gianfelice Imparato’s Don Ciro, proud to work every day in a tie), an Hr department (systematically testing adolescent recruits by decking them with bulletproof vests and shooting) and plenty of corporate politics.
- 12/15/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
Film Review: Gomorra, Cannes, In Competition
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
Powerful, stripped to its very essence and featuring a spectacular cast (of mostly non-professionals), Matteo Garrone's sixth feature film "Gomorra" goes beyond Tarrantino's gratuitous violence and even Scorsese's Hollywood sensibility in depicting the everyday reality of organized crime's foot soldiers. The characters of the film's five stories all work for the Camorra - the Neapolitan "mafia" behind over 4,000 murders in 30 years in Italy, and countless illegal activities - and besides being extremely dangerous are relentless, petty and anything but wise.
Success at home is virtually guaranteed for "Gomorra" as it's based on Roberto Saviano's eponymous 2006 bestseller (1.2 million copies sold, translated into 33 languages) and the build-up to its release along with selection in competition at Cannes have created a huge buzz in Italy. Internationally, the film has sold to a handful of European territories so far, as well as Canada, though buyers are expected to grow significantly after Cannes.
"Gomorra" is one of the rare dramatic films to come out of Italy in recent years that has the appeal to play well theatrically, at least in Europe, and in festivals worldwide. In the U.S., it should play to the widest possible range of Art House audiences looking for a thinking person's mafia movie.
At times slow and documentary-like, "Gomorra" is tension-filled and highly realistic. (Author and co-screenwriter Saviano, 29, has been under police escort even since the book was published.) Shot predominantly in Naples' Scampia neighborhood - an architectural nightmare of enormous rundown apartment blocks - the film never caters to those looking for the kind of adrenaline or over-the-top humor or glamor that's come to be associated with the genre.
Garrone neither judges nor idolizes in his sober approach, and restrains from too many other indulgences, artistic or formulaic, beyond handheld camera work and numerous close-ups. And the faces he chooses, predominantly people plucked from the streets on which he films, make most movie mafiosos look like models.
Even the film's soundtrack (Neapolitan pop music, sparingly used) adds to the overall feel of background rather than imposing a mood. Garrone also makes use of total silence and, rather than coming across as a manipulative film school trick, it only enhances particularly emotional scenes.
Apart from the film's most notable star, Toni Servillo, other standout performances come from Gianfelice Imparatore, Salvatore Cantalupo, Carmine Paternoster and 13-year-old Salvatore Abruzzese.
Cast: Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale, Salvatore Cantalupo, Gigio Morra, Salvatore Abruzzese, Marco Macor, Ciro Petrone, Carmine Paternoster. Director: Matteo Garrone. Screenwriters: Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano. Producer: Domenico Procacci. Director of photography: Marco Onorato. Production designer: Paolo Bonfini. Costume designer: Alessandra Cardini. Editor: Marco Spoletini.
Production companies: Fandango, RAI Cinema
Sales Agent: Fandango Portobello Sales
No MPAA rating, 135 minutes.
- 5/17/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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