L'intrepido is the latest project from Italian director Gianni Amelio, which has been selected to compete for the Golden Lion prize this month at the 70th Venice Film Festival. Described as a comedy with a tragic heart, the movie stars Antonio Albanese as a middle-aged unemployed man in Milan, who doggedly tries to get by in an unfeeling city while trying to retain his dignity and his passions. Looks interesting, head inside to check him out…
Amelio wrote the screenplay especially for Albanese who, as we said, plays a middle-aged, “substitute” worker living in Milan, who moves with agility, ease and bemusement among a succession of jobs.
In other words – he remains a jack of all trades: construction worker, cook, streetcar driver, courier. He can sew seams, launder clothes, or clean a football stadium. And here's the rest of the story:
“He is a kind of Everyman; at times Amelio gives him a persona similar to a type portrayed by Chaplin or Keaton: happy, upbeat, unflappable. But, like the great clowns, he also carries a vein of hurt and unhappiness. His wife has just left him, his hopes are now all pinned on his saxophone-playing son. Into this strange, uncertain world of the marginally employed comes a younger woman, and a relationship of a different kind starts.”
A light-hearted take on the country's current economic crisis, or a perfect balance between the political and the personal? According to director Amelio – it's a film about our anxieties, but with a smile.
Anyway, in addition to the upcoming Venice Film Festival, let us also mention that L'interpido has also been selected to be screened in the Special Presentation section at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, which means that we'll soon have more updates to share.
Let us know what you think about the story and stay tuned!
