Neapolitan writer/director Antonio Capuano grabbed the attention of the film world with his debut feature, Vito e gli altri (Vito and the Others), which appeared as the Italian hope in the Critics Week section at Venice in 1991. It went on to pick up the Silver Ribbon for first-time director, marking the arrival of a filmmaker to be watched.
Pianese nunzio quattordici anni a maggio (Pianese Nunzio, 14 in May) is Capuano's paean to his birth-place, Naples, where the film was shot during October and November last year. The story of a 14-year-old street urchin and his relationship with a courageous local priest, its setting is the crumbling, baroque heart of Naples that is the old town a labyrinth of alleyways festooned with washing lines and narrow streets populated by high-heeled harlots, loud, generously-built mothers and nefarious, low-life criminality. Many of the cast are Neapolitan actors, professional or otherwise, including the eponymous young protagonist, played by Emanuele Gargiulo, a 16-year-old apprentice goldsmith here making his screen debut.
Gargiulo's callowness is counter-balanced by the presence of the distinguished Fabrizio Bentivoglio, playing his spiritual benefactor, Father Lorenzo Borrelli. Along with numerous stage credits, Bentivoglio's screen appearances include: Pier Giuseppe Murgia's La festa perduta, which won Best Film at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 1981, Silvio Soldini's Un'anima divisa in due, which won the Volpi Cup and a Grolla at Venice in 1992, and the Taviani brothers' Le affinitá elettive in 1995. But, as Bentivoglio puts it, 'it is the humanity of Naples that is the star of the film, and in this sense the film is like a huge fresco, a marvellous group narrative.'
Nevertheless, there is still a plot. While young Nunzio scrapes a living singing at poor people's weddings, Father Borrelli delivers rousing sermons, urging his flock to reject the dishonesty and violence around them. Inevitably, his preaching angers the Camorra, the secret, criminal society that has blackmailed and extorted its way through Neapolitan history since roughly 1820. Knowing it would create a martyr if Borrelli were, say, to be found stabbed in an alley, the Camorra decides to discredit him, and sees Nunzio as its way to get to the priest.
On Nunzio's part, his relationship with the priest is the first time he has felt wanted; the first time he has been part of an alliance that has not involved him in violence. He refuses to bow to Camorra pressure to betray the priest, nor will he answer the questions of the police, whom he knows are in the pay of the Camorra. His silence makes him dangerous as well and the Camorra adds him to its hit-list. With Nunzio about to pay the ultimate price for protecting him, Borrelli searches his own soul, realising that he must find a way to save Nunzio before the Camorra takes him out.
Pianese Nunzio was produced by Rome-based AMA Film, which has built a reputation for launching first-time and young directors. Along with producing films for more experienced directors like Pupi Avati (Una gita scolastica, 1983) or Nanni Loy (Mi manda picone, 1983), AMA has also backed upcoming exponents of what is heralded as New Italian Cinema. Giuseppe Bertolucci and Luciano Manuzzi are amongst the purveyors of Nuovo Italianismo on its slate, as is Gabriele Salvatores, whose 1990 outing, Mediterraneo, collected three much coveted David Awards, an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and a Silver Ribbon for Best Director.
For Pianese Nunzio, AMA Film collaborated with Istituto Luce, which provided 30% funding, and the nascent production company GMF. Mediaset pre-bought Italian TV rights, while Medusa picked up domestic cinema rights.
At the heart of the production lies Pianese Nunzio's essential realism. Described by producer Gianni Minervini as both 'picturesque and fantastic,' its grand-scale, naturalistic setting allowed Capuano to manage both budgetary concerns and take his inspiration from the traditional tenets of neo-realism, as exemplified by De Sica's seminal Ladri di biciclette. His film's selection for competition testifies to both Capuano's ability to get films made and his promise as an artist. Adam Minns
Prod co: AMA Film srl
Prod: Gianni Minervini
Dir/Scr: Antonio Capuano
Ph: Antonio Baldoni
Prod des: Mario Di Pace
Costumes: Loretta Calvanese
Ed: Giorgio Franchini
Cast: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Emanuele Gargiulo, Manuela Martinelli, Tonino Taiuti
Running time: 115 mins
Int'l sales: Adriana Chiesa Enterprises
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