31/08/2005

First film presented today in the official selection out of competition, the European co-production The Fine Art of Love - Mine Haha by Englishman John Irving reveals itself as a tribute by the organisers at la Mostra to the Italian filmmaker Alberto Lattuada, who passed away in July. The Milan director was, in fact, passionate about the adaptation of Mine Haha or the physical education of young women, a short story by German dramatist Frank Wedekind which appeared in 1888 and for which he wrote three treatments for the big screen which were used by Jim Carrington and Sadie Jones for the final version of John Irving’s film. French women Lucile Hadzihalilovic also adapted the work for the screen last year with the feature Innocence.

Gathering an international cast made up notably of Jacqueline Bisset, Urbano Barberini, Silvia De Santis, Eva Grimaldi, Tomás Hanák, Anya Lahiri and Enrico Lo Verso, The Fine Art of Love... takes place at the start of the 20th century, in the German region of Thuringe. A group of young 16 year old girls are being educated deep in the forest, away from the rest of the world. Subjected to an iron discipline applied by the director of the school (Jacqueline Bisset), they find themselves confronted with the mysterious disappearance of two of their classmates and the arrival of a police inspector (Enrico Lo Verso) determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, tainted as it is with an erotic adolescent ambiance.

John Irving’s 16th feature, The Fine Art of Love - Mine Haha was produced by the Italian outfit Titania Produzioni and co-produced with British Creative Partners and Czech Balzer International Films. Filmed in the Czech republic (at Liberec and Marienbad) and at Terni in Italy (among other places at the Papigno studios, controlled by Cinecittà Studios and operated by the company Spitfire run Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi), the film will be distributed in Italy by 01 Distribution.

(Translated from French)