Marco Tullio Giordana on His New Film 'La vita accanto'

Marco Tullio Giordana discusses his new film 'La vita accanto', based on Mariapia Veladiano's novel that won the Premio Calvino in 2012. The film is set between the 1980s and 2000s, a period Giordana describes as dominated by euphoria and unconscious optimism, with Italy and its manufacturing seeming invincible—illusions destined to crash with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the First Republic. The story centers on love, redemption, judgment, difference, and the hell of family relationships. The protagonist Rebecca is marked by a facial birthmark, a choice Giordana attributes to Marco Bellocchio's idea, avoiding the grotesque of films like 'Freaks' or 'The Elephant Man'. Rebecca is played by three actresses: Viola Basso (age 5), Sara Ciocca (11/12), and Beatrice Barison (18/20), all pianists, with Barison at a professional level. The film explores themes of body, identity, and others' judgment, especially during adolescence. Water is a strong symbolic element, representing amniotic fluid and purification. The film was shot in Vicenza, a city between three rivers. Key locations include Villa Valmarana, where a legend about a dwarf princess is recounted, and the Teatro Olimpico by Andrea Palladio, where a piano concert was filmed. The music includes live performances and a score by Dario Marianelli, an Oscar-winning composer. Giordana reflects on his 44-year career, now seeing filmmaking as a craft rather than self-affirmation.