Successful screenwriter Gianni Di Gregorio made Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di Ferragosto, 2008) as his belated directorial debut, and he once again stars in his second feature. This time around, aging Gianni must deal with his elderly mother and with the fact that to his own family he has become invisible. Luckily, his friends let him in on a little secret: retirement has its own special pleasures. Even though he can’t match their successes, Gianni doesn’t give up hope.
From the moment he retired, Gianni has been put to work in his household as a sort of girl Friday: his wife sends him shopping and checks how much he spends, his daughter and her boyfriend request various services, and no one is interested in his opinion about anything. His old and highly egocentric mother spends most of her time at her luxurious home playing poker with her girlfriends while squandering her son’s money on a live-in caretaker and champagne. Gianni bares everything with patience, takes the dog out for walks, and resignedly accepts the prospect of old age. But then one day two of his male peers confide that retirement has unexpected pleasures: they both have young lovers, confirming the fact that one’s erotic life needn’t end despite growing older. Gianni listens to their advice somewhat naïvely and accepts his friends’ help, but despite their large acquaintance of available women he fails to achieve their successes. But things aren’t over yet....
90 min / Color, 35 mm
Director Gianni Di Gregorio
/ Screenplay Gianni Di Gregorio, Valerio Attanasio
/ Dir. of Photography Gian Enrico Bianchi
/ Music Gianluca Costamagna
/ Editor Marco Spoletini
/ Producer Angelo Barbagallo
/ Production BIBI Film TV s.r.l.
/ Cast Gianni Di Gregorio, Aylin Prandi, Valeria De Franciscis Bendoni, Alfonso Santagata
/ Contact Fandango Portobello Sales
Gianni Di Gregorio (b. 1949, Rome) studied literature and acting. He worked in the theater as an actor and assistant director but quickly moved over to film. In 1986 he contributed to the script for the comedy He Looks Dead, but He’s Only Fainted (Sembra morto, ma è solo svenuto, dir. Felice Farina), which won the FIPRESCI Prize at Venice in 1987. Other screenplays include Carefree Giovanni (Giovanni Senzapensieri, dir. Marco Colli, 1987), Affetti speciali (dir. Felice Farina, 1991), and Long Live the Monkey (Viva la scimmia!, dir. Marco Colli, 2000). In 2000 he began working with director Matteo Garrone, eventually co-authoring the script for Gomorrah (2008). He debuted as a director with Mid-August Lunch (Pranzo di Ferragosto, 2008), winning a David di Donatello for Best New Director. In 2009 the movie was presented at the Karlovy Vary IFF, where this year Di Gregorio will present The Salt of Life.
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