The Roman actor, protagonist and co-producer of the film inspired by the story of Mattia Piccoli who at the age of 11 began to take care of his father
«It’s one of those films that enters your life and forces you to make reflections that go beyond cinema». Measure the words Edoardo Leo talking about «For you” by Alessandro Aronadio, presented yesterday as a joint event between Alice in the City and Rome Film Festival, in theaters today with Piper filmwith Teresa Saponangelo and the very young Javier Francesco Leoni. It is based on a real, painful story that moved Italy. That of Mattia Piccoli, an eleven-year-old boy who in 2021 was appointed Standard Bearer of the Republic by President Sergio Mattarella, by virtue of “the love and care with which he follows his father’s illness on a daily basis”. A terrible disease, early Alzheimer’s which struck his father Paolo when he was just over forty years old. He turned 54 yesterday in the RSA where he is hospitalized.
«Like many people I have a family experience: my grandmother died of Alzheimer’s at just 55 years old. Reading the book that tells their story (A small time by Serenella Antoniazzi, ndr) forced me on a journey into his illness, into my father’s gaze, into the memories of me as a teenager. I thought it was important to buy the rights to the book and make a film of it, of which I am also a co-producer.”
Haven’t you thought about directing it?
«With the other producers (Andrea Calbucci and Maurizio Piazza for Lungta film, ndr) and we said no, we needed a different look from mine, also from a directorial point of view. With Alessandro Aronadio I share irony, our way of joking even about important things. I actually did the exercise of forgetting that I’m also a director, I completely entrusted myself to his gaze.”
«Yes, and there is a common thread that links this film to It’s about time. Yes there
it spoke of the fear that time would take away our affections because we are always focused on something else. Here we talk about the fear of forgetfulness, of oblivion from another point of view. We know that the protagonist will forget everything, even the people closest to him, there is no greater fear than this. It’s a true story that warmed our hearts. We both thought that instead of a dramatic film, as has happened other times in the history of cinema dealing with Alzheimer’s stories, the right tone would have been that of tenderness, balanced between comedy and tragedy. Which in life are always mixed.”
According to Aronadio, telling this story with a smile and tenderness was a form of resistance to pain. As an actor, how did you find balance?
«It was a huge challenge, we didn’t want to fall into a blackmail tone. I can say that I have rarely prepared a character with such care and meticulousness. I studied the disease a lot, every video of Paolo’s, we all paid obsessive attention to it.”
At the center, more than the disease, are family relationships: husband and wife, father and son.
«We talk about the importance of care, something difficult to teach, which you learn from example. I experienced it because I saw my father taking care of his mother, my grandmother, even in very difficult moments. I never once heard him say that it weighed on him. It also helped me understand that it is possible to show one’s fragility in front of one’s children, that this does not mean losing authority and respect. If anything, the opposite.”
How did you find yourself with Teresa Saponangelo who plays Paolo’s wife, Michela?
«I’ve always followed her and I’ve always hoped to work on her because she has something very original, deeply authentic in every character. You feel that it has wonderful strength. It was really nice to act together, we improvised a lot and you only do it with the people you play the same music with. And with Javier we really played father and son.”
For a Roman like you, what does it mean that «Per te» begins its journey at this festival?
«Here I feel at home, being in Rome always has enormous value. We brought to the party It’s about time with Alessandro in the same section, Grand Public. And we chose not to show the film privately to the family, but we asked them to come here to see it together with the public in Rome tonight (yesterday for those reading, ndr). Precisely because we would like it to become a universal story.”
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André Itamara Vila Neto é um blogueiro apaixonado por guias de viagem e criador do Road Trips for the Rockstars . Apaixonado por explorar tesouros escondidos e rotas cênicas ao redor do mundo, André compartilha guias de viagem detalhados, dicas e experiências reais para inspirar outros aventureiros a pegar a estrada com confiança. Seja planejando a viagem perfeita ou descobrindo tesouros locais, a missão de André é tornar cada jornada inesquecível.
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