Bruno Bonomo (Silvio Orlando) was a famous producer of b-movies in 70s; after a long hiatus, following the commercial fiasco of “Cataratte”, Bonomo is going to be signed by RAI in order to produce a film about Cristoforo Colombo’s homecoming. When the director Franco Caspio (Giuliano Montaldo) quits the project, Bonomo is forced to offer another screenplay to RAI, which is “Il Caimano” a screenplay he stumbled upon, written by the young director Teresa (Jasmine Trinca). The film-in-the-film is centered on the figure of Italy’s prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a subject so controversial that even the public television refuse to produce it. While Bonomo’s private life collapses piece by piece, as he’s divorcing from his wife (Margherita Buy), and the bank is pressing him hard to pay back his long-standing debts, he finds out that struggling to get this movie filmed is the only thing that keeps him alive. –IMDb
Giovanni (Nanni) Moretti was born in 1953 in Bolzano. Both his parents are teachers and researchers. His first passions, cinema, water-polo and political commitment mark his works and his biography. After having graduated, Moretti tries to find work as assistant-director before shooting his first Super-8 shorts. He is also an actor for the Taviani Brothers (Padre padrone). His first feature-length film Io sono un autarchico brings him success both with the critics and the public. His second (Ecce Bombo) is selected by Cannes Film Festival. The success of the film makes Moretti one of the main European new authors.
Sogni d’oro wins the Jury Prize in Venice, and after Bianca (1983), La messa è finita wins the Silver Bear at the 1985 Berlinale.
In 1987, toghether with his long-time friend Angela barbagallo, Moretti establishes his production and distribution company, Sacher Film. They will then purchase and run a theater in Rom, called Nuovo Sacher.
Some dialogs and characters… read more
first an probably last Moretti for at least a while. so much excess in coating this film - acting, camera, story - uncanny at first but then it started frightening me, more an more. Hate experiencing such films.
A lightened tale of a struggling film producer and father-of-two who receives an explosive script on the exploits of Silvio Berlusconi. While rooted in Moretti’s inclinations toward the nuclear family, the extended sequences of films-within-the-film - undercutting Moretti’s look at his industry, and recalling the focal script - deem it rather satiric. Whether the domestic, comic and political elements form something coherent is another story - they sure as hell don’t on paper - but its earnest portrait renders it entirely likeable, and entertaining still.
A tragic failure. A missed opportunity. An artistic embarrassment. Berlusconi is beyond parody. As a libing Kung Fu panda (Zizek) defies satire. But Moretti's film is a cinematic catastrophe.
Nanni Moretti will be in New York this weekend for several screenings of his work.
A comparison between two systems, the disastrous life of a film producer, and the calamitous course of a country ruled by a hypocrite and corrupt villain (which is not fiction at all, not only in italy… read review
