L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano " When I was offered the part, I said yes i n l e s s t h a n 2 4 hours," well-known a c t r e s s P a t r i c i a Clarkson tells with enthusi- asm about the day her agent called her about the possibili- ty to star in the upcoming movie Monica by director Andrea Pallaoro. Clark- s o n , w h o i n h e r l o n g t i m e career won two Emmys and one Golden Globe award, has been meaning to work with the Los Angeles-based Italian director for a long time. "Andrea is such a beautiful and character-driven direc- tor. As an actor, you have to navigate with so few words, and you have to be so pre- sent. He took me on a very different journey. I worked with so many directors in this industry, but Andrea brought me to a new place," Clarkson said. Monica is now finally set to open in US theaters fol- lowing its world premiere at last year's Venice Film Festi- val. The film starring trans- gender actor Trace Lysette (Transparent) as a woman w h o r e t u r n s h o m e t o t h e Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title. The film was shot in only 30 days in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its producers are Christina D o w , E l e o n o r a G r a n a t a - Jenkinson, Andrea Pallaoro, and Gina Resnick. Monica is produced by Italian firms P r o p a g a n d a I t a l i a , F e n i x Entertainment, and RAI Cin- ema, alongside US outfits Varient Pictures, Solo Five P r o d u c t i o n s , M e l o g r a n o Films, and Alacran Pictures. Andrea Pallaoro, who was born on 6 February 1982 in Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, is a film director and screen- w r i t e r . P a l l a o r o h o l d s a n MFA in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts and a BA from Hamp- shire College. His first film Medeas pre- miered at the 70th annual Venice Film Festival in Oriz- zonti, the section for first and second-time directors. Pal- laoro won Best Director at The Marrakech Film Festival f o r M e d e a s a n d t h e N e w Voices/New Visions Award at the 2013 Palm Springs Inter- national Film Festival. Han- nah, Pallaoro's second feature film, starring Charlotte Ram- pling, also world-premiered in the Official Competition of the 74th Venice Film Festival, where Ms. Rampling won the C o p p a V o l p i f o r b e s t actress. Hannah went on to r e c e i v e m a n y p r e s t i g i o u s international awards and r e c o g n i t i o n , i n c l u d i n g a César nomination for best foreign film. M o n i c a m a r k s y o u r t h i r d f e a t u r e , a f t e r M e d e a s i n 2 0 1 3 , a n d Hannah, starring Char- lotte Rampling, who won Venice's Coppa Volpi for best actress in 2017. Is it an intentional trilogy? Yes, it is. I am fascinated by the traumas that come from abandonment. When I say "abandonment," I also mean not being accepted or recognized for who you really are – especially by your par- ents. It's something that every human being experienced to a certain extent, some much more than others, and we can all understand how it feels. That's what makes Monica's story so universal. Through Monica, maybe people will come to terms with their own complicated family dynamics. In terms of aesthetics, the movie is very striking v i s u a l l y . H o w d o y o u think the movie's format h e l p s c o n v e y i t s m e s - sage? My director of photogra- phy, Katelin Arizmendi, and I spent a lot of time crafting and choosing the cinematic language and articulating it in the most eloquent way possi- ble. And for us, the use of the 1 : 1 a s p e c t r a t i o w a s v e r y i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s e i t enhanced this sense of suffo- cation and codependence, which is such an important part of Monica's inner life. The aspect ratio of this film is very squared and it's very similar to the aspect ratio of portraits. It privileges the body and the face. And it also allowed us to work a lot with t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n what is inside the frame and what is outside. It's a tool that stimulates the audience's imagination, by often hiding some information. So as a director and w r i t e r , w h y d i d y o u c h o o s e t o t a k e t h a t approach? What was the appeal? As a cinephile, I adore the moments in cinema where you can penetrate the emo- t i o n a l a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l world of a character. And that often happens not only while observing or following them. Those are the moments that I've always been drawn to. That's why it comes natural to me to recreate them on screen as a filmmaker as well. One of the most extraordi- nary things about cinema is the ability to photograph the thoughts and emotions of a character. Did you make any vari- ations of shots? N o , w e d i d n ' t . M a n y scenes were already in our minds. And I really didn't give myself a lot of options in the editing room. I knew how I wanted this to be and we spent a lot of time creatively c o m p o s i n g t h e i m a g e s through the use of colors, l i g h t , b u t a l s o u s i n g t h e actors' bodies, how they play w i t h o n e a n o t h e r a n d , o f course, allowing the perfor- mances to guide us. It feels like the first real connection Monica had throughout the film was with the children. And that seemed to be one time when the char- acter was really able to j u s t b e h e r s e l f o r j u s t e x p r e s s j o y . W a s t h a t intentional? Yes. For me, it was always crucial for Monica to be the expression of a woman who returns home and truly con- nects. The movie ends with t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n Monica and her nephew, per- haps the most genuine rela- tionship she has ever had. But it is also a way to look at the future, with the hope that he might not have to endure t h e s a m e d i f f i c u l t i e s , t h e same obstacles she had. How did you want to s h o w t h e c h a r a c t e r o f Monica? I wanted to reveal Monica little by little, I didn't want to consume her right away. The opening shot is a little bit like an instruction manual for what the film is going to be, for what kind of film you're about to watch. I felt that with those little elements, we can really understand the t y p e o f e x p e r i e n c e w e ' r e about to go through. SILVIA NITTOLI All the women of director Andrea Pallaoro Andrea Pallaoro (Photo: Beniamino Barrese) LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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