Filming is underway in Naples on Scherzetto, the new film by Mario Martone, starring Toni Servillo. Adapted from the 2016 novel of the same name by Domenico Starnone, which he co-wrote with his long-time collaborator Ippolita di Majo and which was published by Einaudi, the movie unfolds within four walls and on a balcony, where a veritable duel plays out between a grandfather and his grandson over the course of a few days.

Marking his seventh collaboration with the Neapolitan director (after works ranging from Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician and The King of Laughter [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
fiche film] to We Believed [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
interview : Mario Martone
fiche film] and Rehearsals for War), Servillo (awarded the Volpi Cup at the most recent Venice Film Festival thanks to La grazia [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]) plays Daniele Mallarico, a renowned illustrator who has lived and worked alone for years. He’s joined by Lorenzo Perrotta as his grandson, Mario, who’s a very small yet very boisterous child. According to the book’s synopsis, he’s “A grandson he’s only seen once or twice, entrusted to the grandfather’s care for three whole days” in a “razor-sharp tale, a quintessential chamber ‘scherzetto’, in which anger at growing old walks hand in hand with faith in the future.”

Joining him in the cast are Serena Rossi (The Children’s Train, Love and Bullets [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Marco et Antonio Manetti
fiche film]) and Leonardo Lidi (The Peacock’s Paradise [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Laura Bispuri
fiche film], Rose Island [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]) playing Mario’s parents, and Gianluca Di Gennaro (The Commander [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film], Capri-Revolution [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
fiche film]) and Giovanni Ludeno (recently seen in My Tennis Maestro [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Andrea Di Stefano
fiche film] and The Last Slap [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film]) in little cameo roles.

The film’s cinematography comes courtesy of Paolo Carnera (awarded a David di Donatello for his work on Io capitano [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]), production design is by Carmine Guarino (Nastro d’Argento for The Vice of Hope [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]) and costumes are by Daniela Ciancio, while editing is entrusted to Jacopo Quadri, original music to Valerio Vigliar, and the protagonist’s drawings to Dario Maglionico.

Several films have previously been adapted from Domenico Starnone’s books, including three directed by Daniele Luchetti (La scuola, Trust [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Daniele Luchetti
fiche film], The Ties [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Daniele Luchetti
fiche film]), Auguri professore by Riccardo Milani and Teeth by Gabriele Salvatores. Martone, who won the Grand Jury Prize in Venice in 1992 for Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician and the David di Donatello for Best Film via We Believed, as well as for Best Documentary via Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
fiche film], among other awards, was selected in competition in Cannes thanks to his most recent fiction features Nostalgia [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
interview : Pierfrancesco Favino
fiche film] and Fuori [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
interview : Mario Martone
fiche film].

Scherzetto is produced by Maria Carolina Terzi, Carlo, Lorenza and Luciano Stella and Mauro Luchetti for Mad Entertainment together with RAI Cinema, in association with Picomedia (Roberto Sessa). Made and distributed with the support of the Film and Audiovisual Investment Development Fund, the movie will be released in Italian cinemas by 01 Distribution. International distribution falls to RAI Cinema International Distribution.