Andrea Pennacchi and the nuclear apocalypse: “At the cinema not only our fears for the planet: art can find new words”

There are more than 13,000 nuclear warheads scattered around the world. About ten states have them. The data can only alarm especially considering the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The film moves the levers on this profound concern “Pluto” Of Renzo Carbonera, a young director who since his first work, “Resina”, pays great attention to the issue of environmental protection. Even his new and powerful film deals in depth with the fear of atomic risk and becomes the transposition into images of our continuous coexistence with war.

“It almost looks like a instant movie – emphasizes the actor Andrew Pennacchifamous to the general public for his character the Buzzardregular guest of the program Live propaganda (broadcast on La7) and the protagonist of “Pluto” – conceived in the light of the new geopolitical tensions and instead when we filmed the crisis between Russia and Ukraine had not yet broken out and it was not even foreseeable”.

An intense period for Andrea Pennacchi, now at the cinema with “Pluto” and on tour in theaters with “Pojana and his brothers” (where, incredible to say, the Poiana sings, dances and drags the audience on a “made in Veneto” journey) and, finally, in the bookstore with Shakespeare and me where he tells how the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon changed him. In whatever form you meet him, Pennacchi, however, you recognize him for the brand of originality and sincerity with which he tells his story.

“Pluto” is about the renewed fear of nuclear catastrophe. How did you find yourself almost always acting alone?

“I have to confess that I didn’t have any particular difficulties being alone on the set for most of the scenes and therefore, even though from an acting point of view a lot was on my shoulders, I didn’t feel any particular pressure. My experience helped me a lot theater where, with my characters, I am alone on stage. This is probably due to the fact that with the director Renzo Carbonera, with whom I had already worked on the film ‘Resina’, we discussed at length on the meaning of the film and on the characteristics of the character that had to emerge. I experienced ‘Pluto’ as a cinematic monologue. I must also add that we discovered many nuances of the protagonist along the way. My character Franco ‘Chief’ Carling was enriched scene by scene. It was a in-depth work that we managed to do thanks to a common willingness, mine and Carbonera’s, to bring out fears, unconscious reactions and tics that had not yet been defined and in the preparatory phase. In the film, especially in the final part, the character played by Sara Lazzaro also had an important role”.

With your television and theater characters you cleared the Venetian dialect through customs. “Pluto” instead everything is filmed in English. Was there a need, given the theme, for a global dimension?
“Yes, it was a good experience. I must confess, in reality, that the use of the English language helped me to enter into that type of character who could not speak in the Venetian dialect or in ‘douggiaggese’, i.e. in an Italian set and acted. With the choice of English we thought we were giving voice to feelings of concern that have no boundaries. The other reason is more linked to the desire to show the film to as many people as possible. ‘Pluto‘ it’s a niche film and, for this reason we thought about the possibility of making it run a lot on international streaming platforms, we aimed at the many niches scattered around the world. We couldn’t address only an Italian audience even if, clearly, our desire is that the film be seen as much as possible in our cinemas. Today our story gives substance to worries that cross the whole world and that for years we have pretended were dormant”.

The dystopian genre was a rare genre in Italian cinema, now we see it more often and I refer to recent titles such as “Mondo cane” by Alessandro Celli, “La terra dei figli” by Claudio Cupellini, “Siccità” directed by Paolo Virzì. Is a new sensibility spreading among filmmakers?
“I really think so. Personally, I don’t approach problems with a sense of fear. I don’t like easy alarmism. But now I must say that the problem examined by the film and the environmental issue we are experiencing require the utmost attention and conviction that something must be done to avert what appears on the horizon. Without being pessimistic, we cannot but admit that we are going through great changes. We have realized that the way we have lived so far is not sustainable, both in the ways in which it is done politics and both in the way of consuming the world itself”.

The film between the lines also speaks of inexperience and mistakes that could be catastrophic. Will it all happen by mistake?
“The film invites you to think about how many things can go wrong, and what consequences our behaviors can have. My character in the film recalls worrying episodes, such as the one that happened on an American military base where they had mistakenly loaded six cruise missiles onto an aircraft wrong. An oversight that could have been catastrophic. So far we have been lucky. I don’t think anyone will take responsibility for starting a nuclear war, but that there are concrete risk margins linked to the most diverse factors”.

The theme of nuclear risk has often been told in films. Were you inspired by any film in particular?
“I am a devourer of old films and I really love science fiction as a genre. I saw several films before shooting ‘Pluto’. The first, by formal similarity, is ‘I am legend’ but I also saw great classics like ‘Dr. Strangelove’, which had an ingenious and very topical subtitle ‘how I learned not to be afraid and to love the bomb’ and ‘The day after’. Films, fiction, are always bearers of a collective unconscious. of us some widespread anxieties. Those who write, direct films or paint perhaps catch them sooner but in reality they are a common heritage”.

In his theatrical/television monologues he often speaks of the environment and the climate crisis. Is it a theme that has always fascinated you or a recent awareness?
“I must confess that it is a problem of which I became aware relatively recently. The moment I realized it, however, it became central. Until twenty years ago very few people spoke about these issues. Now that I have having delved into these issues, I discovered that as early as the 1970s there were scholars and environmentalists who were carrying on very important battles. I wonder who is responsible for the delay with which today we get to talking about the environmental question. The theme is crucial, and I am thinking of the kids to whom we leave a complex legacy to deal with”.

With a comic reversal, the character of Pojana in her monologues criticizes the hypothesis of a degrowth to contain consumption and speaks of Greta Thunberg as a little girl who skips school. Are environmentalists getting the message wrong?
“Let’s make an important distinction, Poiana, to elicit a bitter, critical laugh and belittles the work of those who are committed. I, Andrea Pennacchi, on the other hand am extremely grateful to the many young people who today have the strength to take on this problem. The point is, we can’t leave them alone.”

Today we see a return to denial and a strengthening of greenwashing. Man is doing everything to put the environmental problem into the background. Why?
“I think this happens for two orders of reason. The first is that when one is afraid, one can react by plugging one’s ears. It is a human reaction that I understand. It is difficult for man to understand the enormity of the power that we as a human race have today We do not realize that our behavior can be destructive towards the planet. The other reason, and for this I find no justification, is that there are those who make money thanks to harmful actions and do not hesitate to implement them, rather they try to hide them with deception, with greenwashing”.

What can art do with respect to environmental issues?
“Telling about anxieties, unease and fears but also stories that end well. Always telling the apocalypse may not help. Art can find new words, those necessary to change and regain a renewed balance”.