11/06/2020 - Emiliano Corapi's second feature film, now available on Amazon Prime Italy, is a successful noir romantic comedy featuring a gallery of irresistibly mean characters

Renato is a young insurance salesman who even sells contracts to the dead, but whenever he has a beautiful thing, he lives in the constant fear of losing it. That is why, when he meets Anna, a charming student under house arrest, it seems too good to be true: for him, it is the ideal relationship, since he always knows where to find her and can truly be the only man in her life. From this pleasantly mean-spirited premise begins Love Under House Arrest [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the second feature from Emiliano Corapi (Sulla strada di casa [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) available on Amazon Prime Italy from 10 June, a slightly noir romantic comedy exploring the anxieties and the fragility of those afraid to put their feelings at stake.

Who has never said, in the recent months of lockdown, “it feels like being on house arrest”? Ironically, in Corapi’s comedy, which was supposed to be released in cinemas in April before the coronavirus crisis hit, Anna (Miriam Leone) is genuinely on house arrest. Renato (Simone Liberati) meets her by chance during a leave that was granted to her to take an exam at the university. Not knowing the condition of this particularly jaded girl, he accepts to have a coffee at her place and lets himself be seduced. But when the police knock on the door for a routine check, the picture becomes clearer. Anna still has two years ahead of her for robbery. And so, after the initial shock, Renato believes this to be an unmissable opportunity to finally experience a peaceful relationship.

However, within the four walls where much of the film’s action is set, he will find everything but peace. Between a wicked mother (Anna Ferruzzo), a policeman in love (Antonio Milo) and most of all Franco, Anna’s former fiancé just escaped from prison (Fabrizio Rongione), the true prisoner of this small apartment becomes Renato, willing to do anything to keep his beloved, who exploits him unscrupulously, locked up indoors. Franco is preparing the robbery of the century, with the help of sexy jeweler Dori (Eleonora Russo), but his partner in crime Sergetto (Luciano Scarpa) pulls out at the last moment, due to illness. Someone is urgently needed to take his place.

Well written and well acted, Love Under House Arrest starts off from an original idea and develops it by adding a pinch of drama and a good dose of action, playing with a gallery of irresistibly shameless and opportunistic characters, each grappling in their own way with their own traumas and hang-ups. The fact that the film comes out so close to a pandemic that has kept the entire world in a cage is a curious coincidence that only makes it more attractive.

Produced by Andrea Petrozzi for World Video Production with Rai Cinema and in collaboration with Frame by Frame and Marvin Film, Love Under House Arrest is available on Amazon Prime, distributed by Adler Entertainment.

(Translated from Italian)