Martin Scorsese famously made Gangs of New York at Rome’s Cinecittà, and embarked on Hugo’s technically complex 3D shoot at London’s Pinewood. Now returning to the continent, filming on his highly anticipated new feature What Happens at Night has started in Prague, starring his regular muse Leonardo DiCaprio alongside Jennifer Lawrence (who collaborated with Scorsese as a producer on last year’s Die My Love). A blue-chip supporting cast of Mads Mikkelsen (recently seen in The Promised Land [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
scheda film] and The Last Viking [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Anders Thomas Jensen
scheda film]), Patricia Clarkson (recently seen in Monica [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Andrea Pallaoro
scheda film]) and Jared Harris (of the Mad Men, The Crown and Chernobyl fame, recently seen in A House of Dynamite) rounds out the director’s second film for Apple Studios, which is also co-produced by his own Sikelia Productions and DiCaprio’s Appian Way. European backing comes from StudioCanal, with Shana Eddy-Grouf credited as executive producer.

Sometimes mischaracterised as only interested in gangster films, or films about low-life men, an important thread in Scorsese’s career is his affinity for tortured, gothic romanticism - most evident in The Age of Innocence and Shutter Island, which feel like tonal reference points for this new work. He finds an interesting collaborator in screenwriter Patrick Marber - best known for Closer, and also his 90s UK TV comedy work - who adapts Peter Cameron’s acclaimed 2020 novel. Plot synopses announced in the trades so far give an outline of the novel, describing a “dream-like story” of a married American couple (DiCaprio and Lawrence), who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby. They check into a cavernous, largely deserted hotel where they encounter an enigmatic cast of characters, including a flamboyant chanteuse, a depraved businessman and a charismatic faith healer. Nothing is quite as it seems in this strange, frozen world. As the couple struggle to claim their baby, the less they seem to know about themselves and the life they’ve built together.

For a first look, watermarked photos from the Czech tabloid Blesk (see here) show an intriguing get-up for DiCaprio, with an uncharacteristic paunch and nerdy glasses, along with the suggestion that the film is set in the present - a rarity for Scorsese. The actor, currently on the awards circuit for his lovely and soulful performance in One Battle After Another, also revealed Scorsese asked him to rewatch Vertigo for the role, a preview for the haunted, stricken atmosphere this new film seems to be chasing.

With Apple footing the bill, expect it to partner with a major studio for the film’s domestic theatrical release, as it did with Paramount Pictures for Killers of the Flower Moon; StudioCanal’s backing could also smooth its path to European theatrical distribution.