14/11/2005

Pupi Avati’s new film, La seconda notte di nozze [+see also:
trailer
film profile], debuted at third place in the Italian box office (according to the Cinetel classification), and grossed 817,203 euro in its opening weekend.

Screened in competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, La seconda notte di nozze is set in 1945, immediately following WWII. Italy is devastated. In the ruins of Bologna, the American tanks are still prowling the streets. Nino and his mother Liliana, left widow by her husband, have lost everything. The handsome boy, who dreams of making movies, does his best to survive, by stealing here and cheating there. One day they receive a letter which will send southwards, to Puglia, in order to find Liliana's brother-in-law, Giordano, who has always been in love with her. Performed by the comic actor Antonio Albanese, Giordano is "the most gentle man cinema has ever made", as said the filmmaker. Living with two bad-tempered aunts and in spite of being well-off, he chose to become a bomb disposal expert after he saw a little girl killed by a mine blast ("it made a great lightning", sighs Giordano). After spending years in a mental hospital, everyone believes he is mad, and yet he is in fact a genius.

"The story is based on people's primary needs, needs which are fortunately satisfied today", says Avati. Liliana and Nino are making a trip in the opposite direction. A few years later the massive exodus of young Italian people began as they headed north in order to find work". Besides the historical context, Avati is a making a new tribute to the cinema of the past, considered as a liberation exercise. Avati wants to discover new talents: La seconda notte di nozze is supported by a cast as unusual as it is excellent: the lyrical singer Katia Ricciarelli, who is making her debut as an actress, expresses very well the dignity of a woman who has no longer has anything to lose, the two "comic" actors, Albanese and Neri Marcorè move in a casual way and are very funny, and the two "monsters", Angela Luce and Marisa Merlini play the two obstinate aunts.

La seconda notte di nozze is produced by Antonio Avati for Duea Filmin co-production with Rai Cinema, and is distributed by 01 Distribution (the international sales are handled by RaiTrade).

(Translated from Italian)