20/10/2023 - Roberta Torre pays a very particular homage to beloved actress Monica Vitti, enriched by the music of Shigeru Umebayashi and with an Alba Rohrwacher in a state of grace

“My hair hurts” is the famous sentence uttered by Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Red Desert, and also the title of the new film directed by Roberta Torre, shown in competition at the 18th Rome Film Fest. Not a biography of Vitti, but a very particular homage that the director of Tano da morire (and of the more recent The Fabulous Ones [+see also:
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Also conceived and written by Torre, in collaboration with Franco Bernini, Mi fanno male i capelli [+see also:
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From her films with Antonioni, to whom she was a muse in the trilogy of incommunicability (L’avventura, La notte, L’eclisse), to her most brilliant roles, amongst which the ones with Alberto Sordi such as Help Me, My Love and Polvere di stelle, the versatile actress lives again through the eyes of Monica, who recreates the scenes of her most famous films and reflects herself in the star, thus offering herself an alternative identity, since her own has dissolved together with her memories; in that sense, this expressively free film is also a beautiful homage to the 7th art and the emotions it leaves us with.

“I’ve had the chance to work at the same time with Alba Rohrwacher, Filippo Timi, Monica Vitti, Alberto Sordi and Marcello Mastroianni”, jokes Torre. To do so, she made use of the skilful editing of Paola Freddi. The film is also impressive for the splendid costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini (2018 European Film Award for his work on Dogman [+see also:
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Q&A: Matteo Garrone
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interview: Edoardo de Angelis
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interview: Matteo Garrone
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film profile]) and for the original music by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi (In The Mood For Love), celebrated this year the the Roma Cinema Fest with a lifetime achievement award.

Mi fanno male i capelli was produced by Stemal Entertainment with Rai Cinema, and will show in 70 Italian cinemas from 20 October through I Wonder Pictures and Unipol Biografilm Collection.

(Translated from Italian)