Veteran auteur Mario Martone, whose Naples-set drama “Nostalgia” launched last year from Cannes, has quite a lot in common with Massimo Troisi, Italy’s beloved late comic actor-director who is best known internationally as the star of Oscar-winning film “Il Postino.”
Which is why Martone was well-suited to direct the multi-layered doc about Troisi’s legacy “Somebody Down There Likes Me” that is screening in the Berlinale Special sidebar.
For starters, they are both Neapolitan, and were born only a few years a part. Troisi – who in “Il Postino” played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on a sandy Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda – died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
Martone in Berlin spoke to Variety about capturing Troisi’s combination of humor,...
Which is why Martone was well-suited to direct the multi-layered doc about Troisi’s legacy “Somebody Down There Likes Me” that is screening in the Berlinale Special sidebar.
For starters, they are both Neapolitan, and were born only a few years a part. Troisi – who in “Il Postino” played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on a sandy Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda – died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
Martone in Berlin spoke to Variety about capturing Troisi’s combination of humor,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Italian director Mario Martone, who has been on the festival and awards circuit over the past year with Oscar submission and Cannes title Nostalgia, is at the Berlinale with his passion project Somebody Down There Likes Me.
The documentary pays tribute to late Italian actor and fellow Neapolitan Massimo Troisi who died tragically young at the age of 41 in 1994, just hours after filming wrapped on Michael Radford’s Il Postino (The Postman).
Selected for the Berlinale Specials sidebar, the documentary plays at a sold-out screening on Saturday, on the eve of what would have been the actor’s 70th birthday on February 19. Deadline can reveal a trailer.
Martone says he wants to shed light on the popular actor who he believes has never been properly celebrated.
“Massimo has always remained alive in the collective consciousness because he was a great actor and a great artist,” says the director.
Il Postino,...
The documentary pays tribute to late Italian actor and fellow Neapolitan Massimo Troisi who died tragically young at the age of 41 in 1994, just hours after filming wrapped on Michael Radford’s Il Postino (The Postman).
Selected for the Berlinale Specials sidebar, the documentary plays at a sold-out screening on Saturday, on the eve of what would have been the actor’s 70th birthday on February 19. Deadline can reveal a trailer.
Martone says he wants to shed light on the popular actor who he believes has never been properly celebrated.
“Massimo has always remained alive in the collective consciousness because he was a great actor and a great artist,” says the director.
Il Postino,...
- 2/18/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Italian auteur Mario Martone, who was recently in Cannes with “Nostalgia,” is set to direct a high-profile doc about the late Massimo Troisi, one of Italy’s most beloved comic actors who starred in the Oscar-winning film “Il Postino.”
Troisi, who played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on the sandy terrain of an Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
The film directed by Michael Radford, which also starred Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Philippe Noiret, became an arthouse sensation one year later when it opened in the U.S. distributed by Miramax.
“Il Postino” went on to win an Oscar in 1996 for best dramatic score, having earned five nominations, including for best film, as well as best director for Radford,...
Troisi, who played the simple postman who rides his bicycle on the sandy terrain of an Italian island to deliver mail to his sole client, the Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, died tragically of congenital heart failure at age 41 in June 1994, the day after “Il Postino” finished shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà studios.
The film directed by Michael Radford, which also starred Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Philippe Noiret, became an arthouse sensation one year later when it opened in the U.S. distributed by Miramax.
“Il Postino” went on to win an Oscar in 1996 for best dramatic score, having earned five nominations, including for best film, as well as best director for Radford,...
- 7/28/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Antonio Banderas, Toby Sebastian and Jordi Molla have signed on to star in Michael Radford’s The Music Of Silence.
The films is based on the life of singer Andrea Bocelli.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi of Ambi Group and Roberto Sassa of Picomedia are producing. Ambi is also financing and handling world sales.
Anna Pavignano and Michael Radford wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Bocelli.
Principal photography will begin this month in Rome.
This film will feature songs that Bocelli composed when he was young but have never before been released.
In his memoir The Music Of Silence, Bocelli tells his own story in the form of an autobiographical novel, naming his alter ego Amos Bardi.
Sebastian will play Amos while Banderas will play the role of Maestro, and Molla will star as Amos’s father. Luisa Ranieri will play Bocelli’s mother and Ennio Fantastichini his uncle.
The story covers his years as a young...
The films is based on the life of singer Andrea Bocelli.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi of Ambi Group and Roberto Sassa of Picomedia are producing. Ambi is also financing and handling world sales.
Anna Pavignano and Michael Radford wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Bocelli.
Principal photography will begin this month in Rome.
This film will feature songs that Bocelli composed when he was young but have never before been released.
In his memoir The Music Of Silence, Bocelli tells his own story in the form of an autobiographical novel, naming his alter ego Amos Bardi.
Sebastian will play Amos while Banderas will play the role of Maestro, and Molla will star as Amos’s father. Luisa Ranieri will play Bocelli’s mother and Ennio Fantastichini his uncle.
The story covers his years as a young...
- 11/11/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Antonio Banderas, Tony Sebastian and Jordi Molla have signed on to star in Michael Radford’s The Music of Silence.
The films is based on the life of singer Andrea Bocelli.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi of Ambi Group and Roberto Sassa of Picomedia are producing. Ambi is also financing and handling world sales.
Anna Pavignano and Michael Radford wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Bocelli.
Principal photography will begin this month in Rome.
This film will feature songs that Bocelli composed when he was young but have never before been released.
In his memoir The Music of Silence, Bocelli tells his own story in the form of an autobiographical novel, naming his alter ego Amos Bardi.
Sebastian will play Amos while Banderas will play the role of Maestro, and Molla will star as Amos’s father. Luisa Ranieri will play Bocelli’s mother and Ennio Fantastichini his uncle.
The story covers his years as a young...
The films is based on the life of singer Andrea Bocelli.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi of Ambi Group and Roberto Sassa of Picomedia are producing. Ambi is also financing and handling world sales.
Anna Pavignano and Michael Radford wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Bocelli.
Principal photography will begin this month in Rome.
This film will feature songs that Bocelli composed when he was young but have never before been released.
In his memoir The Music of Silence, Bocelli tells his own story in the form of an autobiographical novel, naming his alter ego Amos Bardi.
Sebastian will play Amos while Banderas will play the role of Maestro, and Molla will star as Amos’s father. Luisa Ranieri will play Bocelli’s mother and Ennio Fantastichini his uncle.
The story covers his years as a young...
- 11/11/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Simon Brew Nov 11, 2016
The Music Of Silence is a film set to tell the story of Andrea Bocelli - with some help from Antonio Banderas...
Now this should be interesting. Antonio Banderas has landed his next film role, and he’s going to be taking on the story of superstar tenor, Andrea Bocelli.
See related Looking back at Disney’s Beauty And The Beast Beauty And The Beast: see Angela Lansbury sing the title song Top 10 films of 2013: Frozen
Bocelli is, of course, a tenor who has sold over 80 million records to date. His story is extraordinary for many reasons, not least becayse he went blind at the age of 12. The film of his life, The Music Of Silence, will see Banderas in the lead role, with Tony Sebastian, Jordi Molla, Luisa Ranieri and Ennio Fantastichni also on board.
The film will also feature some early songs that Bocelli composed,...
The Music Of Silence is a film set to tell the story of Andrea Bocelli - with some help from Antonio Banderas...
Now this should be interesting. Antonio Banderas has landed his next film role, and he’s going to be taking on the story of superstar tenor, Andrea Bocelli.
See related Looking back at Disney’s Beauty And The Beast Beauty And The Beast: see Angela Lansbury sing the title song Top 10 films of 2013: Frozen
Bocelli is, of course, a tenor who has sold over 80 million records to date. His story is extraordinary for many reasons, not least becayse he went blind at the age of 12. The film of his life, The Music Of Silence, will see Banderas in the lead role, with Tony Sebastian, Jordi Molla, Luisa Ranieri and Ennio Fantastichni also on board.
The film will also feature some early songs that Bocelli composed,...
- 11/11/2016
- Den of Geek
Manuel here. Much of the conversation following the nominations has deservedly been about the way this year’s nominees function in many ways as a litmus test for the larger pitfalls of the Academy and the industry at large. Take the screenplay categories. As Phyllis Nagy urged us, we should be celebrating the fact that four female screenwriters were nominated for four different films. It sounds like a cause worth celebrating until you realize a total of twenty screenwriters were cited overall. You have to admit, those are appalling (if yes, unsurprising) numbers. Actually, in the past ten years, only 17 out of 156 nominated screenwriters have been women. Three quick stats about this year's categories and how they may show we might be turning a corner.
01 The last time we had two female nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category was in 2011 when Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo earned a nomination for their Bridesmaids script.
01 The last time we had two female nominees in the Best Original Screenplay category was in 2011 when Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo earned a nomination for their Bridesmaids script.
- 1/28/2016
- by Manuel Betancourt
- FilmExperience
It would take a lot to squander the talents of Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer, but Elsa & Fred comes awfully close to doing so. Without much to recommend beyond the merits of the veteran actors, the inconsequential romantic drama swerves from being pondering to pleasant and back again. During the scenes of the couple’s impromptu running around the bustling city, trying to find a spark through more delinquent pleasures, the film finds its pulse. When we are locked in their apartments, watching their strained attempts at finding friendship, Elsa & Fred is dragged down by the screenplay’s inactivity.
Indifferently directed by Michael Radford of Il Postino fame, the drama focuses on two seniors living in adjacent, golden-lit New Orleans apartments. Elsa Hayes (MacLaine) is a bit of a troublemaker, trying to get out of paying for damaging a sports car by playing up her oblivious senior citizen qualities. Divorced...
Indifferently directed by Michael Radford of Il Postino fame, the drama focuses on two seniors living in adjacent, golden-lit New Orleans apartments. Elsa Hayes (MacLaine) is a bit of a troublemaker, trying to get out of paying for damaging a sports car by playing up her oblivious senior citizen qualities. Divorced...
- 11/11/2014
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
Starring Christopher Plummer, Shirley MacLaine, Marcia Gay Harden, James Brolin, Scott Bakula, Chris Noth and George Segal, here’s a look at the new trailer for the delightful Elsa & Fred.
Elsa & Fred is the story of two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it’s never too late to love. After losing his wife, Fred (Christopher Plummer) feels disturbed, confused and alone, so his daughter (Marcia Gay Harden) helps move him into a small apartment where he meets Elsa (Shirley Maclaine).
From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa bursts into Fred’s life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live – be it more or less – is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.
This film is filled with previous Oscar winners. In addition to Marcia Gay Harden’s Best Supporting Actress win for Pollock, Plummer...
Elsa & Fred is the story of two people who, at the end of the road, discover that it’s never too late to love. After losing his wife, Fred (Christopher Plummer) feels disturbed, confused and alone, so his daughter (Marcia Gay Harden) helps move him into a small apartment where he meets Elsa (Shirley Maclaine).
From that moment on, everything changes. Elsa bursts into Fred’s life like a whirlwind, determined to teach him that the time he has left to live – be it more or less – is precious and that he should enjoy it as he pleases.
This film is filled with previous Oscar winners. In addition to Marcia Gay Harden’s Best Supporting Actress win for Pollock, Plummer...
- 9/19/2014
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
• Together again! Matt Damon is in talks to sign up with The Monuments Men, George Clooney’s next directorial effort, based on the true story of a crew of art historians and museum curators who infiltrate into Nazi Germany during the end of World War II in the hopes of recovering priceless works of art before the Nazis obliterate them. Clooney, who penned the script with writing partner Grant Heslov, will also star in the film, alongside a pack of unknowns like Daniel Craig, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) and Bob Balaban (Moonrise Kingdom...
- 12/5/2012
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW - Inside Movies
Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Shirley MacLaine (The Apartment) will co-star in Elsa and Fred, THR are reporting.
The film, which is a remake of writer-director Marcos Carnevale’s hit Spanish-Argentine film, centers on a lively retiree (MacLaine) who gets an unwanted neighbour when straight-laced widower Fred (Plummer) moves into her apartment building.
Michael Radford is attached to direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with his Il Postino partner Anna Pavignano. Elsa and Fred is scheduled to shoot in New Orleans and Rome in December.
Plummer will next be seen in Stephen Frears’ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Flight, while MacLaine has a role in the Ben Stiller-starrer The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
The post Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine Join Elsa and Fred Remake appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The film, which is a remake of writer-director Marcos Carnevale’s hit Spanish-Argentine film, centers on a lively retiree (MacLaine) who gets an unwanted neighbour when straight-laced widower Fred (Plummer) moves into her apartment building.
Michael Radford is attached to direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with his Il Postino partner Anna Pavignano. Elsa and Fred is scheduled to shoot in New Orleans and Rome in December.
Plummer will next be seen in Stephen Frears’ Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Flight, while MacLaine has a role in the Ben Stiller-starrer The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
The post Christopher Plummer and Shirley MacLaine Join Elsa and Fred Remake appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 11/2/2012
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
At ages 78 & 83 respectively, you'd think Oscar winners Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer would be headed toward retirement. But with Plummer becoming the oldest actor to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Beginners last year, and MacLaine appearing in Bernie earlier this year, it doesn't look like they're slowing down any time soon. In fact, Deadline reports that they've signed to topline the cast of Elsa & Fred, a remake of a 2005 Argentinian film that centers on a romance between the outgoing Elsa and the reclusive widower Fred who moves into her building. Read on. Michael Radford is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Anna Pavignano, based on the original movie. Romantic comedies certainly aren't my favorite films, but with talented actors on board like this and a legitimate story that isn't just "let's throw a bunch of famous people together ...
- 11/1/2012
- by Ben Pearson
- firstshowing.net
Michael Radford ("Il Postino") is set to direct the English-language remake of Spanish-Argentine rom-com "Elsa & Fred."
Set in New Orleans, Shirley MacLaine plays a gregarious fun-loving retiree, who takes a shine to a stick-in-the-mud widower (Christopher Plummer) who moves into her apartment building, but just wants to be left alone.
Radford and Anna Pavignano co-wrote the script, while Ed Saxon, Ricardo Kleimbaum, Matthias Ehrenberg, Nicolas Veinberg and Jose Levy will produce. Shooting kicks off in December 3rd in New Orleans and Rome.
Source: Variety...
Set in New Orleans, Shirley MacLaine plays a gregarious fun-loving retiree, who takes a shine to a stick-in-the-mud widower (Christopher Plummer) who moves into her apartment building, but just wants to be left alone.
Radford and Anna Pavignano co-wrote the script, while Ed Saxon, Ricardo Kleimbaum, Matthias Ehrenberg, Nicolas Veinberg and Jose Levy will produce. Shooting kicks off in December 3rd in New Orleans and Rome.
Source: Variety...
- 11/1/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
• Benedict Cumberbatch (or, as I’ve unadvisedly taken to calling him, Benny Batch) will star in an untitled biopic about Brian Epstein, the troubled manager for the Beatles, a closeted gay man who died in 1967 from an accidental overdose. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman are producing the film, which will be helmed by Paul McGuigan (a frequent director of Cumberbatch’s acclaimed BBC series Sherlock). Todd Graff (Joyful Noise, Bandslam) penned the script. #BennyBatch #MakeItHappen [THR]
• Yes: Christoph Waltz is in talks to star in the sequel to The Muppets, as an Interpol inspector. While star Jason Segel won’t reprise his role,...
• Yes: Christoph Waltz is in talks to star in the sequel to The Muppets, as an Interpol inspector. While star Jason Segel won’t reprise his role,...
- 11/1/2012
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW - Inside Movies
Academy Award winners Shirley MacLaine (“Terms of Endearment”) and Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”) are ready to fall in love in the romantic comedy “Elsa & Fred.” The film centers on a lively retiree named Elsa (MacLaine) who takes a liking to a quiet widower named Fred (Plummer) who moves into her apartment building and just wants to be left alone. Oscar nominee Michael Radford (“Il Postino”) is directing the film, based on the popular Spanish-language film of the same title. The film was adapted by Radford and Anna Pavignano. Principal photography begins December 3, and will take place in New Orleans and Rome. ...
- 10/31/2012
- by Dave Lewis
- Hitfix
One of Italy's leading screenwriters, he worked on 140 films
One of Italy's most respected and prolific screenwriters, Furio Scarpelli, who has died aged 90, worked on the scripts of about 140 films, sometimes without a credit, and received three shared Oscar nominations, for I Compagni (The Organiser, 1963), Casanova '70 (1965) and Il Postino (1994). Scarpelli enjoyed a lengthy writing partnership, from 1949 until 1985, with Agenore Incrocci, also known as Age. The pair collaborated on the 1958 film I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), about a team of makeshift thieves, which owed much of its success to the brilliant comic characterisations. The film, starring Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, helped to launch the genre of commedia all'italiana ("comedy Italian-style").
Scarpelli was born in Rome. His Neapolitan father, Filiberto, was a satirical writer who founded a humorous magazine, Il Travaso delle Idee. Furio began his own career as a cartoonist. It was after the second world war,...
One of Italy's most respected and prolific screenwriters, Furio Scarpelli, who has died aged 90, worked on the scripts of about 140 films, sometimes without a credit, and received three shared Oscar nominations, for I Compagni (The Organiser, 1963), Casanova '70 (1965) and Il Postino (1994). Scarpelli enjoyed a lengthy writing partnership, from 1949 until 1985, with Agenore Incrocci, also known as Age. The pair collaborated on the 1958 film I Soliti Ignoti (Big Deal on Madonna Street), about a team of makeshift thieves, which owed much of its success to the brilliant comic characterisations. The film, starring Vittorio Gassman and Marcello Mastroianni, helped to launch the genre of commedia all'italiana ("comedy Italian-style").
Scarpelli was born in Rome. His Neapolitan father, Filiberto, was a satirical writer who founded a humorous magazine, Il Travaso delle Idee. Furio began his own career as a cartoonist. It was after the second world war,...
- 5/17/2010
- by John Francis Lane
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.