Love and exercise in Cardiofitness
Today sees the domestic release of Fabio Tagliavia’s Cardiofitness [+see also:
trailer
film profile], starring Nicoletta Romanoff and Federico Costantini (18, son of director-producer Andrea Costantini).
A story of love and exercise, Cardiofitness, produced by Palomar and RAI Cinema and distributed by 01 on 150 screens, tells the story of the irrepressible passion that blossoms between Stefania, a 27 year-old college graduate in search of work, and Stefano, a 15 year-old high school student and lover of subway graffiti and baseball.
Their unusual relationship obviously evokes bafflement and scepticism among their friends and relatives. Tagliavia calls Cardiofitness, based on Alessandra Montrucchio’s eponymous novel, "a love story that depicts not only the conflict between an individual’s aspirations and societal constrictions, but, above all, the fear of being different and the courage to assert one’s difference”.
Although the director had in mind a cross between Truffaut’s Stolen Kisses and Grease, he opted for a romantic comedy that “spoke both to 15 year-olds and 90 year-old grandmothers”. The actors themselves point out the “oddity” of the relationship and admit they have little in common with their characters. Giulia Bevilacqua, who plays Stefania’s friend Cecilia, does not acknowledge the relationship between the lovers, while Daniele, Stefano’s cousin/friend, eagerly points out how opinions would be different if it were a 15 year-old girl in love with an adult man.
Perhaps Tagliavia is right when he says that Cardiofitness is "a litmus test to see how long we still have to go in achieving equality between the sexes”, set among Stairmasters, weights and treadmills.
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