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2/12/2003

SILVIO SOLDINI

AGATA IN THE STORM

[by Stefano Stefanutto Rosa]Agata e la tempesta, the new film by Silvio Soldini, produced by Albachiara, Amka Films and Mercury in association with Lumière & Co., now being edited, will be released in February. The writer and screenwriter Francesco Piccolo joined the duo tandem Soldini and Doriana Leondeff, that since Le acrobate (1997) signs the screenplays. The title is inspired by a poem by Alda Merini. Agata e la tempesta tells the story of three characters, fun and deep at the same time, in search of a life they can fully invent.

After the drama in “Burning in the wind" you return to comedy?
First of all it is a return to a choral structure, such as that of L’aria serena dell’ovest but with a different touch and tone to it. The same light touch of Bread and Tulips, in which laughter and dramatic moments coexist. Agata e la tempesta is a far more dynamic film, for its filming style, for the continous camera movemebts from a location to another, from a character to another, and also for the continous narrative changes.

The title would make one think it is only the story of Agata?
No, I needed to make a choral film. Bread and Tulips and Burning in the Wind had a main character around which revolved the stories of all the other characters. I thus worked on a more open structure, rich of characters, narrative jumps and spaces.

Licia Maglietta returns to your side?
In the role of Agata, a woman over 40, with a good culture, depicted in a peculiar emotional moment and with an almost surreal element, the light bulbs she burns due to her emotions. It all seems to stem from her or go towards her.

We also see Giuseppe Battiston again?
He is Romeo, the clothing representative who wanders around the straight roads of the plain with his orange Volvo. His dream is to open a trout farm. And he manages to involve Agata and Gustavo, interpreted by Emilio Solfrizzi, in his dream. Gustavo is an architect who tries to escape a life he feels doesn’t belong to him any more. Agata and Gustavo become his two brothers.

Before shooting did you reherse with the actors?
Like in the last films, I managed to reherse for two weeks, with all the interpreters and the screenwriters. Such works is fundamental to me. It helps me understand what sort of ‘music’ a scene needs, to verify dialogues and lines, sometimes ch’ange them, improevise, start working concretely on characters, check make-up and costumes… build a common grounds from which the work on set can begin.

Why choose Genoa as the location of the story?
In the end, I choose a city I don’t know, I am fascinated in discovering them. Furthermore, I wanted a city by the sea, from which sight could see the blue sky, but which could also represent a city’s life as we know it, even if in a non-realistic way.

And the Po Valley?
The Valleys of Comacchio, where Romeo lives. It is a world separated from time, somewhat hanging in space, in which the traditional culture still resists.

The composer Giovanni Venosta was again next to you.
This is the sixth film we do together and every time it is a new adventure. In this case we are thinking, about guitars, percussion instruments and an accordion... but also moments with an orchestra. This film will be richer with music with respect to my earlier ones: there will be three bands who play live and many music themes that characterise the different locations in which the story develops.

Will you bring “Agata e la tempesta" to Berlin or Cannes?
I would rather be on set for another film, rather than accompany my film to Cannes or Berlin, if it was possible. Taking part of a festival is like being in a dish-washer’s whirlpool for 48 hours.

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