At the conclusion of the Venice Film Festival, and as these movies are out in Italian cinemas, we give you an idea of Gianni di Gregorio’s “Pranzo di ferragosto“, with the director and including Valeria De Franciscis, Marina Cacciotti, Maria Cali, Grazia Cesarini Sforza, Alfonso Santagata, Luigi Marchetti, Marcello Ottolenghi and Petre Rosu.
The story is of Gianni, who still lives with his elderly mother in a Rome apartment.
He has a few debts and hasn’t paid the rent or apartment block fees for a few months.
The adminstrator, who understands his situation, suggests a pact: he will cancel some of the debts only if Gianni hosts his mother for Ferragosto lunch.
Obliged to accept, Gianni finds himself hosting not only the administrator’s mother, but also the aunt, the friend’s mother making up a total of four elderly ladies to babysit.
Gianni Di Gregorio is one of Mattero Garrone’s collaborators, who produces the film.
He was a producer in Gomorra and here with distributor Fandango, chooses comedy instead.
Given the calibre of these guys, the film’s quality is assured, and it’s a rare example of sophisticated Italian comedy.
Di Gregorio writes, interprets and directs a film with old age as the protagonist – this is a courageous test in a time when comedy is often of the adolescent variety.
“Pranzo di ferragosto” is an irresistible and delicious Italian film, which is a gem wrapped up in a brief film.
The story refers to an episode that really happened to the director, but in reality Gianni didn’t accept the proposal of hosting the mother.
What would have happened if he had? What we see in the film is a “war” between four sprightly old ladies who are all different from each other.
“Pranzo di ferragosto” has a brilliant script, with well crafted dialogues, and situations wittily depicted.
It is set to be another film like “La ragazza del lago” coming from Venice’s critics week.
The film deserves praise, especially for the quartet of actresses who give new life, far from melancholy, to old age.
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