Tartaglia’s art of scraping by in Naples
What we won’t do for art, especially the typically Italian art of “scraping by”, which Achille (Eduardo Tartaglia) knows all too well. He makes ends meet working at the Naples registry office until suddenly one day he loses his house and his job, finding himself on the verge of financial failure and of being dumped by the beautiful Brigida (Veronica Mazza). But never fear: he has only to impersonate a former Mafioso (Biagio Izzo) to get into a witness protection programme and start his life anew.
La Valigia sul Letto (“The Suitcase on the Bed”) is the third feature by Tartaglia, in which the comical Neapolitan actor, a hit on local stages, takes a comedic (and rhythmically and stylistically theatrical) approach to certain social problems. For a while the characters even live in an underground tunnel: “In the belly of a shattered city”, says the director, “which is an element that could lend itself to symbolic interpretation, although the film doesn’t want to harp on that”.
Naples is thus a leading character in its own right here, and it’s no surprise to see Elvio Porta (who co-wrote Mi Manda Picone with Nanni Loy) behind a screenplay that also deals with the Camorra [Neapolitan mafia]. Adds Tartaglia: “This is the first of my films to directly tackle the city, and reality, along the lines of the commedia all’Italiana, which proved that comedy is just tragedy seen from another perspective”.
Naturally, Medusa, which is releasing the film on March 12 on approximately 150 screens, is counting on strong box office returns in the Campania Region (of which Naples is the capital and where the director’s previous film, Ci Sta un Francese, un Inglese e un Napoletano [+see also:
trailer
film profile] was a hit, grossing €850,000) and more generally in the central and southern areas of Italy.
Produced by Mitar Group, run by Eduardo Tartaglia Sr. and Alessandro Tartaglia, La Valigia sul Letto was made for €1.3m, half of which came from the Ministry of Culture (MiBAC), which deemed the film of national cultural interest.
(Translated from Italian)
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