For you: film plot, true story of Mattia Piccoli, cast, Edoardo Leo

Pis tea (at the cinema from today 17 October) it is a film that talks about care, about safeguarding memory and of an eleven-year-old boy who is a father to a father suffering from Alzheimer’s. It is the true story of Mattia Piccoli who in 2021 was appointed Standard Bearer of the Republic by President Sergio Mattarella for his love towards Paolo.

The first time his story is told occurs in the book A small time by Serenella Antoniazzi. Instead, it is translated for the screen by Alessandro Aronadio, in a film premiered at Rome Film Festival in the section Alice in the City. The story follows Paolo, his relationship with Mattia and his wife Michela, the moments of sharing with the familywhile the forty-year-old’s memory slowly evaporates.

For you: plot and true story of the film by Alessandro Aronodio with Edoardo Leo

Paolo (Edoardo Leo) is a father in his early forties who was diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s. Slowly the pieces of his memory fly away. Some of the best memories, like the first kiss, the name of the nurse who delivered his son Mattianow eleven years old (Javier Francesco Leoni), and eight of the eleven wedding anniversaries with his wife Michela (Teresa Saponangelo).

Every day for Paolo it is as if he repeats himself: that ice cream shop that he thinks has just opened, in reality he has been frequenting for some time. To meet the time that escapes him, he seeks moments of sharing with his son. It teaches him what perhaps he might forget the next day: driving the car or cutting the beard for when it comes.

Il Paolo’s biggest worry is telling Mattia about his illness. He succeeds at his brother Nicola’s house after seeing it Rocky. The man feels like the character played by Sylvester Stallone: ​​a winner, even if he doesn’t prevail against Creed. That day Paolo and Mattia told each other that they were afraid. Just like Rocky.

The review of For you

Alessandro Aronadio didn’t want to meet the real protagonists of his film: «I didn’t want to be affected by their pain – he declared – from the beginning I thought that this tragic story should be filtered through tenderness and comedy». The director makes the protagonists walk on a tightrope, in balance between tragedy and subtle ironyaided by Buster Keaton-style interludes. «Tell the story even with a smile it is a form of resistance against the tragedies that happen to everyone”, Aronadio is convinced.

For you it is a film that talks about care in a time when the world is dominated by cynicism and selfishness. And it can only do us good. It talks about the connection and love of a family and a child «in an era where everyone feels hyperconnected: in reality we have never been more alone», underlines Aronadio. The touching journey is that of a man forced into limbo and of a child who prematurely becomes the father of his father.

Who is Mattia Piccoli

In 2021 Mattia Piccoli from 11 years ago is appointed Standard Bearer of the Republic by President Sergio Mattarella for «the love and care with which he follows his father’s illness on a daily basis and helps him combat it. His commitment is more precious than ever. It is not common for a very young person to carry out the task of caregiver with such dedication, however his experience is an example for his peers too.”

Today Paolo Piccoli lives in an RSA in Concordia Sagittaria, in the province of Venicethe same town where his family lives and spends a few hours with him every day.

The cast of For you with Edoardo Leo and Teresa Saponangelo

Paolo is played by Edoardo Leo, also co-producer of the film together with Maurizio Piazza and Andrea Calbucci, his wife Michela da Teresa Saponangelo, while little Mattia by Javier Francesco Leoni. «This film left me with the strength of Michela who takes on her shoulders the weight of this affair and her responsibility towards her children. She’s not a heroine, she’s just the way she is».