Movies by Mills (April 2019)

CONTENTS Page 3 Editioral 4-7 Loro The complete international version of LORO, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, combining versions 1 & 2 which was made in order to run for the 91st Academy Awards. The film is about the life of Silvio Berlusconi, played by Toni Servillo. The film opened Cinema Made in Italy season of films on March 1st, 2019, in London.

8-11 Ricordi?

A long love story, seen through the memories of one young couple; recollections altered by moods, their different perspectives, and time itself. The journey through the years of two individuals, united, divided, happy, unhappy, deeply in love with others, in a single stream of emotions and shades of feeling. Over the course of the film, he learns that love can indeed last, while she learns to live with nostalgia. Their memories, as well, change over time: fading or else bursting with happiness, in a present that quickly slips away, becoming memories.

12-15 The Highwaymen The outlaws made headlines, the lawmen made history. The film follows the untold story of the legendary detectives who brought down Bonnie and Clyde, when the full force of the FBI and the latest forensic technology wasn’t enough to capture the nation’s most notorious criminals. Two former Texas Rangers must rely on their gut instincts and old school skills to get the job done.

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Maborosi A young woman’s husband apparently commits suicide without warning or reason, leaving behind his wife and infant.

Yumiko remarries and moves to a small fishing village, yet continues to search for meaning in a lonely world.

20-21 Interview with the leading actress of Loro – Elena Sofia Ricci.

22-23 Interview with the director of Ricordi? – Valerio Mieli

24-30 FilmFest Follower — Tribeca Looking at films to be screened at the festival.

31 DVD of the Month — Shoplifters.

32 Poster: Loro ACKNOWLEGEMENTS: We would like to thank the

PHOTO CREDITS: CURZON ARTIFICIAL EYE:1,4,6,7,32 LE PACTE: 8,10,11 NETFLIX: 12,14,15 BFI: 16,18,19

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following; Clare Leach, Fabrice Quakine, Chris Hagen – @ Premiere comms.com Jake Garriock @ Curzon.Com and Artificial Eye. Jill Reading at BFI Elena Sofia Ricci.

Valerio Mielli

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EDITORIAL Welcome to the 6th Anniversary edition of Movies

by Mills, our monthly online magazine which guides discerning cinemagoers to the best films that are due to be theatrically released in the coming weeks.

MbM’s first issue had a cover feature review of “Populaire” and interviews with its director Regis Roinsard, and its stars: Deborah Francois and Romain Duris, plus there was an interview with the director of “Gazzara” – Joseph Rezwin.

Following issues have had interviews with Susan Granger, Stephen Simon, Scott Cervine, Laura Waddell, Roberto Ando, Giovanni Veronisi, Phillip French, Alessandro Sperduti, Claudio Cuppellini, Pier Francesco Diliberto, Paolo Taviani, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, and in this issue, with Elena Sofia Ricci and Valerio Mieli.

A regular feature is FilmFest Follower which lists the films being screened at the major international film festivals: Cannes, Edinburgh, Karlovy Vary, Venice, Toronto, Rome, Dubai, Berlin, Hong Kong, Tribeca, Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Busan, Telluride, and of course – London.

Enjoy the read.

Brian Mills Magazine Editor

Paul Ridler Magazine Designer

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LORO Directed by Paolo Sorrentino Starring: Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci, Riccardo Scarmarcio.

Have you seen how many books people have written, attacking me? The Left can’t figure me out. They think that everything is always complicated. And instead it’s all so simple.

- Berlusconi The latest film from Paulo Sorrentino explores the excesses of greed, egotism, self-abasement of political tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, played by Sorrentino’s acolyte, Toni Servillo, who milks every scene he is in with long monologues, but we must wait quite awhile before he makes his appearance.

Prior to this we experience the ambitious Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio) and his wife Tamara (Euridice Axen) who run a ring of young prostitutes. Sergio longs to serve Berlusconi and get noticed by him by giving him everything he wants.

Berluscioni craved power and Sorrentino produces a powerful film that breeds scorn on the man in a film that obviously became such a threat to image that Loro was the first Sorrentino film since 2004 not to be invited to Cannes, seemingly suggesting that Berlusconi’s strong objections to seeing himself mocked and threatening lawsuits.

There is also the possible reason for exclusion from the Cannes Film Festival is the film’s strident tone and television feeling are behind its exclusion, not to mention the presentation of all the women as so much flesh for sale, especially in the year #MeToo. The hordes of young girls willing to stoop to anything to be near “Him”.

Berlusconi served four terms as prime minister of Italy. Sorrentino’s expose of Berlusconi in his pursuit of power via sex, glamour and drugs. He was more influential than Mussolini, or so he believed; his vanity knew no bounds.

The helmer of this extraordinary film is of course Paolo Sorrentino who works for the fifth time with actor Toni Servillo, who plays Berlusconi in Loro. It is the second time that Servillo has starred as a political leader: Giulio Andreotti who served as Prime Minister seven times since the restoration of democracy in 1946.

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The title of the film Loro is Italian for “them”, but also a word play on l’oro, meaning “the gold”. The film came out in theatres in two parts; Loro 1 and Loro 2. The new international version was made in order to allow the movie to run for the 91st Academy Awards. It is this complete version that MbM saw and is reviewed.

We first meet Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio) ascending the political steps of influence by schmoozing a local official in order to win a lucrative contact to supply the region’s school meals. Sergio insists that he is not for sale until he brings in his beautiful business partner Tamara (Euridice Axen) who is a talented persuader.

Sergio organises a party designed to attract Silvio’s wandering eye. It is here that the social satire embodies the influence of Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life). Sergio’s talent is to get close to men of power by appealing to their basic instincts.

The decadent opening scenes of naked pleasure and voyeurism captures Sergio’s knowingness of how to get Silvio’s attention and get him anything he wants.

Silvio’s ego and vanity knows no limits and has the wealth and political know-how to convince anyone who doubts him. He is the ultimate salesman.

The final act leaves an aging Silvio to contemplate the void alone. In such a moment, he redeems himself by making good his promise to replace the homes lost in the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake.

Yet as the camera pans silently over a marble statue of Christ, it settles on the faces of the townsfolk. And we are left to consider the depth and vanity behind that act of altruism.

Once again, Paolo Sorrentino has made a remarkable film, creating the ambiance of perfection of a great film director.

Loro is beautifully scored by Lele Marchitelli and the magnificence of the great cinematography of Luca Bigazzi.

Mention too Stefania Cella’s stunning Italian villas.

Add to this, the fine acting of Toni Servillo as Silvio Berlusconi and Elena Sofia Ricci as his wife Veronica, and Riccardo Scarmarcio as Sergio.

UK Release Date:

19th April

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Sergio (Ricardo Scamarcio) in Loro

Berlusconi (Toni Servillo) in Loro 6

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Berlusconi (Toni Servillo) in Loro

Berlusconi (Toni Servillo) in Loro

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RICORDI? Directed by Valerio Mieli Starring: Luca Marinelli, Linda Caridi, Giovanni Anzaldo, Camilla Diana, Anna Manuelli A long love story, seen through the memories of one young couple: recollections altered by moods, their different perspectives, and time itself.

This beautiful film was a highlight of this year’s “Cinema Made in Italy” film festival. Its presence was a serendipitous experience that will not be forgotten.

Anyone who can remember seeing Valerio Mieli’s “Ten Winters” will recall that it was about two lovers, Silvestro and Camilla and their romance which began in Venice and we watch them over a period of 10 winters as they separate and find new lovers yet still keep coming back together again.

“Ten Winters” was ten years ago and was Mieli’s directional debut feature, and at Cinema Made in Italy season of films, we were privileged to see his latest film “Ricordi?” and what a joyful experience that was!

The aspiring narrative offers us unnamed lovers played by Luca Marinelli and Linda Carida. Viewers will be able to relate to a romance and breaking up and the making up to be together again, but the originality of the storyline is the way it is told: flashing backwards and forwards in time without once disorientating the cinemagoer calls for the adroitness of editing by the impressive Desideria Rayner to convey Mieli’s sense of time and the impermanence of memory.

Superimposed images and slow motion express the fluidity of time and the cinematography by Daria D’Antonio is breath-taking. Every frame is like seeing a Renoir or recalling the beauty of Widerberg’s “Elvira Madigan”. When the tabs close, you know that for the last two hours, you have been in the presence of a master filmmaker, whose name can be mentioned in the same breath as Terrence Mallick: ricorda il suo nome Valerio Mieli.

What makes this film a masterpiece? Its originality, its beauty, its screenplay, its visual splendour, its superb acting, its brilliant direction.

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No film has ever shown a love story in way that shows the same lovers falling in and out of love and how their personalities change over the years.

We first see them at a garden party. She is wearing a white dress, but over the course of their memories the colour changes. She is optimistic about life and is satisfied with everything. He is moody and lets his unhappy childhood weigh him down. It is to their surprise that they enjoy each other’s company. They are not so different after all.

“You’re happy but not stupid.”

He tells her.

“Only the present exists.”

She tells him.

He lives in the past with his unhappy memories of a girl named Camilla Diana with red hair.

While she comes from an affluent family, his few happy childhood memories are overshadowed by recollections of ferocious arguments between his parents and his mother’s alcoholism.

He takes her to visit an empty apartment where he lived as a boy, the actual place of his greatest traumas and unhappiness.

Surprisingly, they decide to rent it and live together.

Just when they seem happy enough and everything is going their way, he tells her that their love has probably mutated into friendship: “It’ll never be as good as this again!”

All of this rings true, including the moment in the story when their roles seem to reverse. He has learned that life is not all doom and gloom, while she takes the world more realistically with all its imperfections and moods; but much time and pain must pass before they can take a fresh look at their relationship.

Ricordi? is a film about emotions and films are about feelings and you want to stay with this film because you have been transported into the film and that is what makes this a magical cinematic experience and why you will remember this film because it is truly an emotion picture.

Valerio Mieli like all filmmakers wants his film to be seen and it will. It premiered in Venice and was screened at the Busan Film Festival and at Bengaluru in India. It will be theatrically released in Italy on March 21st and in Argentina on July 4th.

MbM will keep you updated on further release dates of Ricordi? in our weekly Newsletter.

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Lei (Linda Carida) in Ricordi?

Lui (Luca Marinelli) in Ricordi?

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Lei (Linda Carida) and Lui (Luca Marinelli) in Ricordi?

Lei (Linda Carida) and Lui (Luca Marinelli) in Ricordi?

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THE HIGHWAYMEN Directed by John Lee Hancock Starring: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kim Dickens, Emily Brobst, Kathy Bates, Edward Bossert How many bullets you got in you?

- Manny Sixteen I think

Might be good to have a doctor look at Might be good to have a doctor look at I ain’t got no bullets in me Cos I was covering you -

Frank you sometime Manny you sometime Frank Manny Frank

It was difficult to watch this film without replaying Arthur Penn’s classic “Bonnie And Clyde” in 1967.

The point of view in the film was from the notorious outlaws, whereas in the latest it is from the two Texas Rangers, Frank (Kevin Costner) and Manny (Woody Harrelson), who are hired to hunt them down.

There are major differences between two versions. When “Bonnie And Clyde” was released at the Montreal Film Festival and just a few weeks later at the New York Film Festival, it caused quite a stir and critics and cinemagoers were declaring that they had never seen anything like it.

It had a nouvelle vague look about it and the vital comeuppance of the climax when Bonnie and Clyde are riddled with bullets was seen in slow-motion.

John Lee Hancock’s telling of the story concentrates on the popularity of Bonnie and Clyde as heroes and the most poignant scene of the movie is when crowds of young women crowd around their bullet-riddled car and the couple’s blood-soaked bodies, trying to touch them.

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Earlier in the film, Manny comments that to become famous now, you have to kill people, while Frank adds: What is the world coming to?

The major attribute of The Highwaymen are the stars: Costner and Harrelson who work very well together and trade quips which are often funny but doesn’t take you away from their purpose of being dedicated Texas Rangers. This is not a remake of Bonnie and Clyde, but a reworking, and as such, it works well for a while, but grossly needs editing down from its 2 hours, 12 minutes.

For cineastes it will invariably encourage them to check out Bonnie and Clyde, the far superior movie. There was no Manny in the film, just Frank Hamer played by Denver Pyle. One of Clyde Burrow’s elder brothers deemed worthy to be in the film and was played by Gene Hackman.

Francois Truffaut was keenly interested in making the film and may have even been involved in the development of the screenplay.

However, before filming could begin, the opportunity arose for Truffaut to make Fahrenheit 451, a long-cherished project of his, and he dropped out to make that film instead.

There is a very long sequence in which Bonnie and Clyde get drunk and come to terms with their impending death. They trash their room and rip out the mattress from their bed, turning it into a makeshift coffin. Then they put on their best clothes and put makeup on each other so they can see what they will look like when they’re dead. The scene concludes with Bonnie and Clyde around CW by candlelight and chanting “The Hearse Song.”

The film’s frank treatment of sex and the unusual relationship between the impotent Clyde and the aggressive Bonnie, broke new ground. By the late 1960s, Hollywood had abandoned Production Code restrictions for a ratings system that permitted greater freedom in the portrayal of sex and violence. Bonnie And Clyde was among the first and most successful films made under this new system. It gained ten Academy Award nominations, and its immense drawing power at the box office helped pull American cinema out of the red and back into a newfound profitability.

Bonnie And Clyde was a powerfully ambiguous statement about the place of violence and the individual in American society in movie history, but its importance is much greater. The film’s popular and critical success showed the Hollywood establishment, struggling to reconnect with its national audience, that movies combining European stylization and seriousness with traditional American themes could be successful.

Most importantly, Bonnie And Clyde paved the way for future masterpieces such as Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather.

As for The Highwaymen, it is not even in the same league, but do check out Bonnie And Clyde, to see why.

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Manny (Woody Harrelson), Frank (Kevin Costner) in The Highwaymen

Manny (Woody Harrelson), Deputy Ted Hinton (Thomas Mann), Frank (Kevin Costner) in The Highwaymen

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Frank (Kevin Costner) and Manny (Woody Harrelson) in The Highwaymen

Frank (Kevin Costner) and Manny (Woody Harrelson) in The Highwaymen

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MABOROSI Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda Starring: Makiko Esumi, Takashi Naito, Tadanobi Asano I don’t understand! Why did he kill himself? Why was he walking along the tracks? It just goes around and around in my head. Why do you think he did it?

- Yumiko The sea has the power to beguile. Back when dad was fishing, he once saw a maborosi – a strange light – far out at sea.

Something in it was beckoning to him, he said…it happens to all of us.

- Tamio Maborosi was Koreeda’s first fictional feature after making documentary features which began in 1991 with Non-Fiction.

Maborosi garnered wins at Venice for Best Cinematography by Masao Nakabori, Golden Lion Nominee for Koreeda; Golden Hugo Award for Best Feature at Chicago. Awards of The Japanese Academy: Winner: Newcomer of the Year: Mikiko Esumi.

Maborosi is a powerfully moving film on loss, loneliness, uncertainty and coming to terms with the past, and again focusing on human dilemmas. The film is based on an original short story, “Maboroshi no Hikari” (A Trick of Light) written by Teru Miyamoto (best known as the author of Muddy River, which was made into a film in 1981 by Kohei Oguri.

Koreeda offered great promise with Maborosi and has gone far beyond anyone’s expectations with making some of the greatest films ever made. In 1998 he made the fantasy drama After Life, which won the FIPRESCI prize at San Sebastian, Distance in 2001, the first of five films selected for Cannes Competition to date. Nobody Knows (2004), whose 12-year-old star Yuya Yagira became the youngest-ever winner of Best Actor at Cannes, which was followed in 2006 by Hana, about a young samurai. Two years later came Still Walking, his first film to feature veteran actress Kirin Kiki, who would become his regular collaborator, then in 2009 came the quirky romance Air Doll, which premiered at Cannes and in 2011, and then I Wish, winner of Best Screenplay at San Sebastian.

Like Father, Like Son in 2013, won the Jury Prize at Cannes and the audience award at San Sebastian. In 2015, Our Little Sister was nominated for the Palme d’Or and went on to win the Jury Prize at San Sebastian. 2016, After the Storm premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes and in 2017 The Third Murder was in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

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For Kore-eda his biggest success to date has been *Shoplifters, winning the Palme d’Or, the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations from around the world. His current film, The Truth is in post-production and will be his first film not set in Japan, and not in Japanese, starring Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke and Ludivine Sagnier.

And so back to the beginning and Maborosi.

In bed with her husband Ikuo, Yumiko dreams of being 12 again, and of the day of her Grandmother leaving and never to return.

She wakes Ikuo and tells him about the dream, and he tries to comfort her. We see Ikuo cycling home from work, then gazing at a passing overhead train. We see the two at home with their baby son Yuichi, teasing one another and Yumiko watching Ikuo through the window of the factory where he works – although he doesn’t immediately see her. In a bar, she gives him a bell for his bicycle key, and they talk to the barman. On another day, it’s raining, and he drops by, to leave the bike and take an umbrella. He doesn’t come home that night, later a man knocks at their door to tell them someone has been killed by a train while walking between the tracks, his body unrecognisable.

Yumiko identifies Ikuo’s bike key with its little bell.

Some years pass. Worried by Yumiko’s distantness since bereavement, and that she may kill herself, her neighbour, Mrs Ono, suggests she marry a friend, Tamio, who lost his first wife. Yumiko and Yuichi travel to Tamio’s small coastal village, where they meet his father and small daughter, and villagers, including Tomeno, an old woman. Tamio’s job takes up most of his day, but they marry, and Yumiko settles in.

Returning some time later to Osaka, Yumiko speaks to the barman, who says he saw Ikuo the night he died, when he seemed happy and normal. Back in the village, Yumiko is worried when Tomeno, whom promised her some crabs, is not back from the sea after it has turned stormy. Eventually she returns, safe and cheerful, but Yumiko is unsettled, reminded of her past loss.

When Yuichi wants a bicycle, Yumiko remembers the key and the bell. Tamio, coming in drunk, sees her hide it and asks her about it. She tells him, then questions him about his love for his first wife, and cries. Home from work next day, he finds Yuichi alone. Yumiko has followed a funeral procession down to the seashore and stands watching the burning coffin. She tells him she has never understood why Ikuo killed himself, and he tells her of the maborosi.

Perhaps her healing can now begin.

*SHOPLIFTERS IS MbM’S DVD OF THE MONTH www.moviesbymills.com

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Yumiko (Makiko Esumi) in Maborosi

Imaginary figures from Maborosi 18

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Yumiko (Makiko Esumi) in Maborosi

Yumiko (Makiko Esumi) in Maborosi

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ELENA SOFIA RICCI Interviewed at the Italian Cultural Institute, London on the 27th February 2019.

Elena:

It starts from the beginning, choosing the actors and the actresses, so I made two auditions for him and he tests me and tried to understand how fast I was on following him in the directions he gave to me and he needed somebody very fast, because you have no idea how he is when he shoots, like a TV series.

MbM:

More so than any other director that you have worked with?

Elena:

Like TV. He works fast with three or more takes. So, you have to be ready; know the part by heart, be very fast and follow him.

So, I already knew from the beginning from the beginning what he wanted. It was so well written. He writes in such wonderful ways like a poem. So, it was very easy. You were able to read even between the lines; almost in the white parts and it was also so clear what he wanted.

Of course, we knew our characters especially Veronica Lario. Knew her, not personally. There was no video of her but we knew how she was behind the scenes she was discreet in her…and this always tell you something about her that she was somebody who wanted to appear in the corner and so I imagined her in this direction, and then she was a woman. A woman who was suffering at the very end of a love story, at the very end of a marriage, with daughters and sons and children and it’s always sad, it’s always hard. To make the decision, even if your husband is not the husband you married for twenty-six years. But when you believe in the project, you want to fight to the end. So, I imagined how she had suffered a lot, and because I am a woman and more than fifty years old…unfortunately. I was married and I know how it’ s hard. How does this all bless you?

MbM: So, you could relate to her?

Elena: I not only just gave my heart

to this woman, I experienced through this woman and then I trusted Paolo Sorrentino totally and I let him lead me like a tango in the way of this movie and that was really easy, and it was easier because Toni Servillo was on my side and he was so special. He is such a great actor. He studies so much, he studied a lot. I’ve never seen somebody study so much because he had so much dialogue, monologues, and he was so sweet to me, because it was very funny because in the beginning I was in this couple, almost a couple Sorrentino, Toni Servillo.

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MbM:

Because of his experience, Sorrentino, and because of your experience of working with so many great directors, but working with him, knowing what he did with the central character in “The Great Beauty”, which again was a wonderful movie, did you ever think that you would get the chance to work with him?

Elena:

My agent called me to say that Paolo Sorrentino wants to meet with me. I said to him you rung the wrong number. It’s me Sofia…

He said he wants to see you. Are you sure? Because you know, for many years. Italian movies didn’t like so much people who worked on TV, and actually, I came from theatre, it was my very beginning, and often I go back to theatre. Last year I did “Broken Glasses” – Arthur Miller.

I often go back to theatre. I’ve tried all my career to be free, and I’m very strange as an actress in Italy, that’s why nobody can really pigeon-hole me. I did something in TV and then I go to theatre. But honestly when I did a lot of TV, I was a big success on TV, so I became very popular as an actress on TV in Italy. Cinema didn’t like me that much except for some little parts in some movies.

There was then working with Fausto Brizzi (Ex) and the movie “Loose Cannons”. *Editors note: these were feature films and “Ex” particularly was a successful comedy Paulo already had come from the Oscars and I already had the feeling…I was crying when he gave me the part of Veronica as I couldn’t believe..I was dreaming about having a change, changing something in my career and go back to the theatre to do something harder, more difficult.

MbM:

I think the character that you play as his wife is what you don’t say that is so important, the expression that you have is just wonderful and that is a true actress and I think that when you do that and you know of your experience of working with great directors.

Elena:

I’ll tell you something. I felt like a little child because he has such a charisma and I said to myself: Elena, you’ve been working with Mario Monicelli, and actors like Phillippe…Gigi Manni, Fernando Rey..So, I was young, I didn’t have the self-awareness of who I have in front. But now I am so much conscious, much more aware…and of course this character needed a lot of responsibility and it was a weight that I had this responsibly towards Paolo and to Mrs Lario, Veronica Lario. So, I went on tiptoes and trying to be in touch with the deep soul of Veronica.

MbM:

It shows in the performance that you give. You need someone of understanding and calmness, even though inside of you there is a volcano erupting and I think that is what it is all about and you show that, and that is not easy to do. I think if you took you, the character, your performance out of that film, it wouldn’t be anywhere like the film. It really is a memorable performance.

Elena:

Thank you so much…but I’m not sure about that. The film really is a masterpiece.

MbM: Did you ever watch “The Great Beauty”?

Elena: I saw it so many times…his movies. www.moviesbymills.com

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IN CONVERSATION WITH

VALERIO MIELI The following conversation took place with the film director of “Ricordi?” Valerio Mieli, at the Cine Lumiere, South Kensington on Thursday 28th February 2019 during the Cinema Made in Italy season of films.

MbM:

Valerio, I loved the film! It was so original and was for me unexpectedly excellent. There are very few films which are original and here we have a narrative that crosses time where past and the present are one and the film is a beautiful love story of two people who change and it wins over its audience because it is easy to watch as it is a feelgood movie and I loved every moment of it.

It is visually stunning, and I just wanted say Stop! I want to frame that image! It was like watching a moving Renoir, an experience I haven’t had since seeing “Elvira Madigan”.

Valerio:

Thank you. It was Daria D’Antonio.

MbM:

Because the film covered so many time-frames, it must have been very difficult to write.

Valerio:

It was. It was very difficult. The difficulty was to try this original way of telling but, not being hard to see. So, to hide this structure, which was a very complicated structure.

Everything was written and then worked again with this deadline and with editor, we worked a lot because the same moment could work or be hard to understand, just moving the image of a couple of seconds because when he sees her, he has an image, a very short image. You can immediately tell what this means because it is something that happens to you every day. You look at someone and you say that reminds me of that person or I see her when we were in love together and now we’re not anymore. You just have an image, half a second, it’s enough in your life, but you have to put the image at the right moment because if you put it a bit earlier or later, you don’t understand or you understand and it doesn’t work and it’s very hard to do, but it won’t be hard to see.

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MbM:

It is a deeply emotional picture and that to me is what films should be about – feelings. How does a film make you feel? I felt I was with the characters and could relate to them – feeling what they felt.

Valerio:

It’s a love story through the years. It takes a long time: a long long time. We are inside the characters every year.

So, it was told from outside. So, we open the window every year.

In this movie, the older story is told through the memories and deep emotions of the characters. So, the first time we see them it is from his point of view and then from her point of view. And then this memory in the year’s changes. Ten years ago, it’s different because when you remember it in a dream because you are not in love anymore or your jealous or you’re angry. So, the main difference is here.

I tried here to tell the story through the emotions of the characters and without knowing what reality is, because it doesn’t exist in this film and the time is subjective.

MbM:

To me, it was a feelgood movie, and it is one that reaches out to the audience. Did you find it difficult to get backing for the film and did you write the story with an actor and actress in mind?

Valerio:

I wanted to work with Marinelli from his first film, “The Solitude of Prime Numbers”. I liked him a lot, so I was very fortunate he became famous, so it helped me fund my film, but I knew that we had something in common and this happened when we met: immediately had the impression that we already knew each other.

MbM: And how about Linda Caridi?

Valerio: I didn’t know her. We

cast a lot of people, a lot of

girls and she was extraordinary.

We needed someone who was able to switch from one point of view to another. She can be very hard, even nasty. Sometimes, when bad things happen between them. She sees herself in a very different way. She can be sweet, she can be both. She can be transported into a suffering character.

She can do anything you want her to. She is an extraordinary actress. We knew it.

MbM: And does the film succeed in reaching its audience?

Valerio: Well, I think it does because it tells you the

story in a way that is closer to the way we live our lives, which about our minds and what we see.

We are constantly invaded by memories and so the aim of the movie was to be even closer to the emotions of the audience and make an easy film to see because you just have to stay and watch, and everything comes through you. So, you are not bored because you follow all what happens between them, but in a way it’s easier to digest, because it’s already digested by your mind.

MbM:

I’m getting the sign it’s time to wrap. So, grazie, Valerio. Ciao.

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FILMFEST FOLLOWER

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL APRIL 24-MAY 5

U.S.NARRATIVE COMPETITION BLOW THE MAN DOWN Directed by Danielle Krudy, Bridget Savage Cole.

Starring: Morgan Saylor, Sophie Lowe, Margo Martindale, June Squibb While grieving for the loss of their mother, the Connolly sisters suddenly find they have a crime to cover up, leading them deep into the underbelly of their salty Maine fishing village

BURNING CANE Directed by Phillip Youmans.

Starring: Wendell Pierce, Karen Karla Livers, Dominique McClellan Set among the cane fields of rural Louisiana, Burning Cane follows a deeply religious mother struggling to reconcile her convictions of faith with the love she has for her troubled son.

CLEMENTINE Directed by Lara Jean Gallagher.

Starring: Otmara Marrero, Sydney Sweeney, Will Britain Reeling from a one-sided breakup, heartbroken Karen breaks into her ex’s lakeside. There, she strikes up a complicated relationship with provocative younger woman Lana in this beautiful rendered psychological drama and sexual coming of age story.

GULLY Directed by Nabil Elderkin Starring: Terrence Howard, Amber Heard, Kelvin Harrison Jr.,Charlie Plummer After suffering traumatic childhoods, and socioeconomic hardships, three disillusioned teens reach their breaking point, and go on a rampage through a dystopian, modern-day Los Angeles.

INITIALS SG Directed by Rania Aattieh, Daniel Garcia.

Starring: Diego Paretti, Julianne Nicholson, Daniel Fanego An aging Argentine Serge Gainsbourg wannabe struggles with a career he can’t seem to get on track, an affair he doesn’t want, and a crime he didn’t mean to commit.

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LOW TIDE Directed by Kevin McMullen.

Starring: Keenan Johnson, Jaden Lieberher, Alex Neustaedter Ala, Red, and Smitty spend high summer on the Jersey Shore roving the boardwalk and getting into trouble. But the discovery of good oldfashioned treasure sets the friends on an escalating course of suspicion and violence in this atmospheric thriller.

THE PLACE OF NO WORDS Directed by Mark Webber Starring: Mark Webber, Teresa Palmer, Bodhi Palmer, Nicole Elizabeth Berger A three-year-old asks his father an unanswerable question: “Where do we go when we die?” Together, they embark on an epic journey of fantasy realms and mythical creatures in a quest for the answer.

THE SHORT HISTORY OF THE LONG ROAD Directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy Starring: Sabrina Carpenter, Steven Ogg, Danny Trejo For teenage Nola, home is the open road with her self-reliant father and their trusty van, two nomads against the world. When Nola’s rootless existence is turned upside-down, she realizes that life as an outsider might not be her only choice.

STRAY DOLLS Directed by Sonejuhi Sinha Starring: Geetanjali Thapa, Olivia DeJonge, Robert Aramayo Riz is a recent South Asian immigrant who takes a job at a seedy motel in a bid to start over in America. The motel’s other employees and guests pull her back into a life she preferred to leave behind.

SWALLOW Directed by Carlo Mirabella-Davis Starring: Haley Bennett, Austin Stowell, Elizabeth Marvel Hunter, a newly pregnant housewife, finds herself increasingly compelled to consume dangerous objects. As her husband and his family tighten their control over her life, she must confront the dark secret behind her obsession.

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION 17 BLOCKS Directed by Davy Rothbart Using two decades of intimate home video, 17 Blocks tells the story of the Sanford family, whose struggles with addiction and gun violence eventually lead a journey of love, loss, and acceptance.

THE DOG DOC Directed by Cindy Meehl Called a maverick, a miracle-worker, and a quack, Dr. Marty Goldstein is a pioneer of integrative veterinary medicine. By holistically treating animals after other vets have given up, Goldstein provides a last hope for pet owners with nothing left to lose.

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FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO Directed by Daniel Karslake When the Supreme Court legalized marriage equality, the backlash by the religious right was swift, severe, and successful. Karslake’s documentary looks at four faith-based families with LGBTQ children caught in the crosshairs of sexuality, identity, and scripture.

LEFTOVER WOMEN Directed by Shosh Shlam, Hilda Medalla In China, single women are under immense pressure to marry young or face the stigma that comes with being “leftover women.” Through marriage markets, matchmakers, and government-sponsored dating festivals, Leftover Women follows three hopeful singles seeking to define love on their own terms.

MYSTIFY: MICHAEL HUTCHENCE Directed by Richard Lowenstein Michael Hutchence was flying high as the lead singer of the legendary rock band INXS until his untimely death in 1997. Richard Lowenstein’s kinetic yet intimate documentary examines Hutchence deeply felt life through his many loves demons.

OUR TIME MACHINE Directed by Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang Conceptual artist and puppeteer Ma Liang begins work on an ambitious performance piece about time and memory. For collaboration, he turns to his father, a former director of the Shanghai Chinese Opera, who is beginning to lose his own memories.

RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT Directed by Matt Wolf Beginning in the 1970s, Marion Stokes recorded an incredible 70,000VHS tapes of unfiltered daily television. At the time, her compulsion raised eyebrows, but revisited through the lens of today’s media landscape, Stokes’ unusual life’s work becomes an extraordinary archive of television-and American-history.

REWIND Directed by Sasha Joseph Neulinger An unflinching personal narrative that reconstructs the unthinkable story of director Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s boyhood and bravely exposes the dynamics of abuse passed through generations.

SCHEME BIRDS Directed by Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin As her childhood turns into motherhood, teenage troublemaker Gemma comes of age in her fading Scottish steel town. But in a place where “you either get knocked up or locked up,” innocent games can easily turn into crime.

SEAHORSE Directed by Jeanie Finlay Director Jeanie Finlay charts a transgender man’s pathe to parenthood after he decides to carry his child himself. The pregnancy prompts an unexpected reckoning with conventions of masculinity, self-definition and biology.

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WATSON Directed by Lesley Chilcott Founder of Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson has spent 40 years fighting to end the destruction of the ocean’s wildlife and its habitat. Part philosopher, Watson’s methods stop at nothing to protect what lies beneath.

A WOMAN’S WORK: THE NFL’S CHEERLEADER PROBLEM Directed by Yu Gu Football and feminism collide in this documentary that follows former NFL cheerleaders battling the league to end wage theft and illegal employment practices that have persisted for 50 years.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE COMPETITION AAMIS Directed by Bhaskar Hazarika Starring: Lima Das, Arghadeep Baruah, Neetali Das Married Niri shares a forbidden passion with Sumon, who introduces her to a world of fresh, wild meat-based delicacies. But as their unconsummated desire mounts, the two are pushed inexorably towards transgression and taboo.

FLAWLESS Directed by Sharon Maymon, Tal Granit Starring: Stav Strasiko, Netsanet Zenaneh Mekonnen Three teenage girls in search of physical perfection are drawn down a dark path of black-market plastic surgery, an impulsive adventure that ultimately becomes a journey of self-discovery.

FLESH OUT Directed by Michela Occhipinti, Simona Coppini Starring: Verida Beitta, Ahmed Delche, Amal Saad Bouh Oumar Following the announcement of her impending arranged marriage, young Mauritanian woman Verida faces the suffocating pressure of gavage-the traditional process of overeating to attain a more desired figure for her husband.

THE GASOLINE THIEVES Directed by Edgar Nito Starring: Eduardo Banda, Pedro Joaquin, Regina Reynoso Propelled for the need for cash to impress a crush, 14-year-old Mexican farmhand Lalo finds himself dangerously in over his head after entering the country’s underworld of illegal gasoline extraction.

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HOUSE OF HUMMINGBIRD Directed by Bora Kin Starring: Jihu Park, Saebyuk Kim, Seungyeon Kim In 1994 Seol, a quiet eighth-grader Eunhee spends her time consumed by love and friendship, shoplifting, and karaoke. But it’s her new teacher that Eunhee finds the unlikely connection that she has been desperately seeking in this touching coming-of-age drama.

NOAH LAND Directed by Cenk Erturk Starring: Ali Atay, Haluk Bilginer, Arin Kusasizoglu, Mehmet Ozgur A son tries to honour his terminally ill father’s last wish to be buried under a tree he planted as a child, but clashes with villagers who claim the tree is in fact a holy relic planted by Noah after the Great Flood.

A REGULAR WOMAN Directed by Sherry Horman Starring: Almila Bagriacik, Rauand Taleb, Aram Arami Based on real life events, the film gives a voice to a Turkish-Kurdish woman living in Berlin with her young son, who was victim of an honour killing by her brother at the age of 23.

ROADS Directed by Sebastian Schipper Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Stephanie Bak, Moritz Bleibtreau An unlikely pair of teenage loners hit the road in an impromptu bordercrossing adventure in this cross-cultural road movie from the breakout director of Victoria.

RUN Directed by Scott Graham Starring: Mark Stanley, Marli Siu, Amy Manson In the Northern Scottish town of Fraserburgh, young men dream of escapism through late-night drag races, Finnie used to be one such lad, but now he works at the fish factory, and it’s his son’s turn to dream and race. Until one night when Finnie steals the boy’s car for one last joyride.

WHITE AS SNOW Directed by Anne Fontaine Starring: Lou de Laage, Isabelle Huppert, Damien Bonnard Recasting the tale of Snow White as the story of a sheltered young woman’s sexual awakening in this racy feminist fable.

SPOTLIGHT NARRATIVE AMERICAN WOMAN Directed by Semi Chellas Starring: Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, Lola Kirke, John Gallagher Jr. Inspired by the headline-dominating kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst in 1974, this atmospheric drama is a fictionalized reimagining of her time in hiding , from the perspective of Jenny, who is also hiding after her actions against the war in Vietnam.

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BUFFALOED Directed by Tanya Wexler Starring: Zoey Deutch, Judy Greer, Jermaine Fowler, Jai Courtney A raucous comedy. One woman finding her calling in an ethically debatable industry: debt collecting.

CHARLIE SAYS Directed by Mary Harron Starring: Suki Waterhouse, Hannah Murray, Matt Smith Tells the Charles Manson story through the fresh eyes of his devoted followers: Leslie van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins.

CROWN VIC Directed Joel Souza Starring: Thomas Jane, Luke Kleintank, Gregg Bello Over the course of a single night, two police officers at the opposite ends of their careers find themselves thrust into a violent hunt for two cop killers on the loose in the Olympic Division of Los Angeles.

DREAMLAND Directed by Miles Joris-Peyrafitte Starring: Margot Robbie, Finn Cole, Travis Fimmel, Kerry Condon Amid the dust storms and economic depression of Dustbowl Era Texas, Eugene Evans finds his family farm on the brink of foreclosure. His last bet to save the farm is the bounty on the head of fugitive bank robber Allison Wells.

EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE Directed by Berlinger Starring: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, Jeffrey Donovan A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy from the perspective of Liz, his long-time girlfriend, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.

GEORGETOWN Directed by Christoph Waltz Starring: Christoph Waltz, Annette Bening, Vanessa Redgrave Eccentric social climber Ulrich Mott throws lavish parties with his much-older wife, Elsa, in the Washington D.C. neighbourhood. But when her daughter starts asking questions, Ulrich must mount an increasingly elaborate charade to conceal skeletons and convince everyone of his innocence.

GOOD POSTURE Adrift, unmotivated, and only slightly spoiled, Lillian has been pawned off on family friends in Brooklyn, New York, one of whom is a famous, and famously aloof, writer. Lillian decides to make a documentary-unauthorized, of course-about her hermit housemate.

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THE KILL TEAM Directed by Dan Krauss Starring: Nat Wolff, Alexander Skarsgard, Adam Long The Kill Team dramatizes the true story of Private Andrew Briggman, an infantryman in Afghanistan who is swept up in a conspiracy of violence against civilians perpetrated by his own platoon.

LOST TRANSMISSIONS Directed by Katharine O’Brien Starring: Simon Pegg, Juno Temple, Alexandra Daddario After famed record producer Theo Ross goes off his schizophrenia meds, introverted songwriter Hannah dedicates herself to getting him the help he needs, perhaps at the cost of her own dreams.

ONLY Directed by Takashi Doscher Starring: Frieda Pinto, Leslie Odom Jr., Chandler Riggs After the onset of a mysterious plague that affects only females, Eva may be the only woman left on Earth. Longing for freedom after months of secret quarantine, she and her partner Will venture out into the unknown.

PLUS ONE Directed by Jeff Chan Starring: Maya Erskine, Jack Quaid, Ed Begley Jr., Rosalind Chao In order to survive a summer wedding fever, long-time single friends Ben and Alice agree to be each other’s plus one at every goddam wedding they’re invited to.

SAFE SPACES Directed by Daniel Schechter Starring: Justin Long, Kate Berlant, Lynn Cohen, Michael Godere A young professor faces criticism over a classroom controversy while grappling with his beloved grandmother’s serious illness.

SKIN Directed by Guy Nattiv Starring: Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Daniel Henshall True story of Bryon Widney, a white supremacist who begins a path to redemption through a romance with a single mother intent on keeping her children out of the movement.

STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN Directed by Matt Ratner Starring: Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz, Eloise Mumford An unlikely, multigenerational friendship between a failed comedian and a charming, alcoholic dermatologist helps both confront longsimmering regrets in this warm-hearted buddy comedy.

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EXTRAS DVD OF THE MONTH SHOPLIFTERS Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu Starring: Lily Franky, Sakura Ando After a successful shoplifting spree, Osamu (Lily Franky) and his son rescue a little girl in the freezing cold and invite her home with them. Osama’s wife Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) reluctantly agrees to shelter her.

Although the family is poor, they live happily together until an unforeseen incident upsets the delicate balance they have created, revealing long-buried secrets.

*Thunderbird Releasing Trailers *Redoubtable *The Heiresses *Burning *Sorry Angel www.moviesbymills.com

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