Italiano
Astolfo by Gianni Di Gregorio, distributed by Lucky Red, will be released in Italian cinemas on Thursday, October 20th, 2022. The film was presented in the section Grand Public of the 17th Rome Film Fest.
ASTOLFO
Director
Gianni Di Gregorio
Nations
Italy
Year
2022
Duration
97′
Cast
Stefania Sandrelli
Gianni Di Gregorio
Alfonso Santagata
Astolfo, a pensioner who has used up all his dreams, is evicted from his Roman apartment and retreats to his old family home in a small town in central Italy. He gets used to the provincial life, coasts along, reunites with an old friend, and puts up a couple of good-for-nothings like himself. Then he meets Stefania, a woman of his own age, and falls in love. A new life awaits: complicated, but far more genuine.
COMMENTARY
Throw in a spiteful priest, the offbeat roommates, some presumptuous youths, and the electricity cut off, and you have a film that puts things right from Gianni Di Gregorio, after the romantic mishaps in The Salt of Life, co-written with Marco Pettenello and directed with Di Gregorio’s usual humerous flair. Stefania Sandrelli positively glows.
GIANNI DI GREGORIO
Gianni Di Gregorio lives and works in Rome, where he was born in 1949. He received a degree in acting and directing from the Accademia di arti sceniche in Rome. In 1995, he started working with Matteo Garrone as an AD, and in 2007, he was a writer on the film Gomorrah. In 2008, he made his directorial debut with Mid-August Lunch, followed by The Salt of Life (2011), Good for Nothing (2014), and Citizens of the World (2019), the last of which won a David di Donatello for best adapted screenplay.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
I feel that Astolfo is my most entertaining and carefree film. There’s no doubt that the long stretch of isolation during Covid-19, plus a little health problem I had, triggered an amazing, uncontrollable reaction, considering I started talking about love at my age! Still, it is true that love comes along at all ages, and being able to still believe in love, empathy, and friendship is really important for the quality of our lives. I found some formidable actors and developed a close bond with them. And then I met the marvelous Stefania! Every film is demanding to make, but this time I have to say that we all had a fantastic time doing it.
