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CARO VITTORIO
Tribute to Vittorio Gassmann
year 2004 length 8' coloure 35mm Country Italy
directed by Marco Risi
Cast Vittorio Gassmann, Angela Goodwin, Franco Giacobini
Treatment Marco Risi, Andrea Purgatori
Cinematography Maurizio Calvesi
Editing Mauro Bonanni
Art Direction Francesco Priori
Costume Design Francesco Priori
Producer Maurizio Tedesco, Marco Risi
Production Sorpasso Film Supported by Fondazione Vittorio Gassmann
synopsis
This is just one scene of what should have been a film with Vittorio Gassmann. It was to have been a film about him, in particular about the depression which began to take hold of his life when he was sixty.
The idea came to me in 1994. I had seen him enter a restaurant with such a blank look on his face that I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was painful to see him like that, and extremely difficult to believe that this was the same man I had seen on screen and stage. But it was precisely this look – a look that seemed to be saying he was sorry - that convinced me that I wanted to tell his story.
In 1998 Vittorio was well and I found the courage to ask him if he felt up to dealing with his depression in a film. I still remember my exact words: “Of course it will be difficult to recreate the intensity of that look”. Without a second thought he answered with the typical cynicism of Italian comedy: “All you have to do is pay”. I loved him!
In 1999 we were ready. Andrea Porporati and I had written a screenplay which left a lot of room for improvisation. We had also filmed this scene and in the months following, with the changing of the seasons, we would have filmed the others. I really wanted to make this film and I am sure that it would have been beautiful. I was only afraid of one thing: that that bastard would reappear and take him again. This time for good.
Marco Risi
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