Nanni Moretti becomes an actor for Francesca Archibugi- Corriere.it

Nanni Moretti is more noticeable if … he comes or does not come, speaks or does not speak? His praetorians were wondering lost. He is the analyst, “the deus ex machina”, as Francesca Archibugi, the director of The Hummingbird which yesterday opened the Film Festival, from today in theaters for 01 in a good 460 copies. She reveals that it took “ten lunches to convince Nanni to join the film. When he’s there, any film moretizes, every role he plays is what makes the characters special ». He, in a red sweater, is keen to point out that «it is the sixth time that Francesca has asked me to play a role and at a certain point I wanted to say yes. It’s nice to be just an actor ».

A platonic love (there are other themes: regrets, guilt, euthanasia) which moves from 1970 to a possible future, to 2030. The protagonist of a choral story about a bourgeoisie that is not scrambled for once and smells of Capalbio, about a platonic, unconsummated love that chases each other for a lifetime, is Pierfrancesco Favino, who says of his ophthalmologist: “He is a man like there are many, who if they do not fall in love do not get excited, he is a masculinity not often told, which does not revolve around the obsession with sex and I feel in harmony”. The wife is Kasia Smutniak, the woman of the dream is Bérénice Bejo. An important issue, behind there is the novel by Sandro Veronesi, it was not easy to translate it into images: «Here the bourgeoisie is told with tenderness and pity»; there is fidelity to the leaps of the narrative, “he does not tell straight and has taken greater risks than mine, it must always be taken into account that the spectator pays and has every reason to say I don’t understand”.

The Witch won us in 2020, and the halls continue to be deserted. “I am apprehensive – says Archibugi – we have duties and no rights, if it does not go well it will only be our fault, we have lost the habit of going to the cinema, the other night we were alone and my husband, what a collective event Is it, if the halls are not full, if it remains a toy for thirteen year olds? Seeing a movie, for me, is still like reading a book. I wish all this would not die ». Favino joins in: «Film education should be supported in some schools, we don’t necessarily intend to teach cinema but films add understanding to subjects». And then Nanni Moretti takes the word «He»: «I continue to prefer the dining room, since I have one that struggles to be alive. In France there is a gap of 15 months between release and platforms: in Italy zero. We need a climate and laws ». The splendid Laura Morante, mother of Favino piccolo, forgotten at the meeting: “I’m the only one who hasn’t read the book, I like this woman because I prefer the selfish to the altruistic, they are less harmful”