L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 32 L'Italo-Americano A new Italian film, "The Truth About Love Is… (La verità, vi s piego, s ull'amore)," w as w armly received by audiences during its North America premiere at the 43 rd annual Seattle International Film Festival. This smart, snappy and thoroughly modern take on motherhood is the third and lat- est film from Italian director Max Croci. The story follows the life of a multitasking thirty-something mother called Dora, who tries to juggle a job, two children and s everal friends hips after her seven-year relationship ends. With the support of her eccentric parents, a carefree girlfriend called Sara and a likable male babysitter who is a janitor by day and a poet by night, Dora strug- gles to get her life back on track, learning more about love and relationships in the process. Croci was in town in June for the opening of his film at SIFF. Born in 1968 in Busto Arsizio, north of Milan, Croci began his film career in 1995, beginning with short films before moving on to full-length productions. His firs t comedy, "O ppos ites Attract," was released in 2015 to wide acclaim, followed by "Al Posto Tuo." SIFF's spring film festival, the largest in North America, presented more than 400 films from 80 countries in 25 days. "The Truth About Love Is…" w as one of s ix Italian films shown during the festival. We caught up with Croci after the Seattle premiere. How did you come up with the idea for this film? This is a true story taken from a blog that was very popular in Italy called Tiasmo. The blogger Enrica Tesio explored her life and what she went through after her boyfriend left her. In essence, she worked through her grief by writing about it and her blog became very famous in Italy. Unfortunately, women being left by their boyfriends happens a lot in my country. Enrica later turned the blog into a book and our producer, Guglielmo Marchetti, decided to make it into a movie. Ambra Angiolini, who plays the main character Dora, is an actress you've worked with before. Throughout the film, Dora breaks character and talks directly to the camera. Why use this technique? This technique is a blog style but for movies. It was an impor- tant artistic choice. I needed to create empathy betw een the audience and Dora right from the start. The film is very colorful— b righ tly colored cloth in g, stuffed animals, color-saturat- ed backdrops. Was that inten- tional? It's important for a comedy to choose the right "language." I tried to use a mix of languages in the film. Besides using a lot of bright colors, I also incorpo- rated video clips such as the "Gremlins" movie, and a lot of mus ic. I grew up w atching American films, and I'm a mani- ac for romantic comedies, par- ticularly from the 1940s and 1950s . I loved movies like "S abrina" and "Breakfas t at Tiffany's." They used a lot of American songs in them so I chose to use many American s ongs , too, like the clas s ic "Smile (though your heart is breaking)." There's a young boy and a baby girl in the cast. How was it working with children on the set? It's not easy to work with children. The boy who plays Pietro in the film was sensation- al. It was his first movie and we were very lucky to find him. He is older than the character that he plays but he is small for his age so that worked. He was very professional and in some ways was the best actor of all. He knew all his lines, all the time. The hardest scenes to shoot w ere the ones involving the baby who is called Anna in the film, but is Melissa in real life. When we first met her, before w e s tarted filming, s he w as happy and smiling, very cute. But from the very first day on the set, she cried nonstop. I would say: "Lights! Action!"— and that was her cue to cry. The entire movie. We tried food, we tried smiles, nothing worked. It was very challenging. What is your favorite scene in the film? At one point, Dora's friend Sara finds herself questioning her current relationship. She goes to the sea to be by herself to think. There is one scene RITA CIPALLA Director Max Croci explores love, life and Joan Crawford in a recent Seattle visit where she is walking by the sea, all alone. I love that scene. It's intense and very dramatic. It reminded me of a scene in an old melodrama w ith J oan Crawford, and in some ways that s cene w as an homage to Crawford. D o A merican au d ien ces respond to the film differently from Italian audiences? I love American audiences! I think they have responded about the same as Italian audiences, but of course with subtitles, it's a little different. Some of the same jokes or lines don't trans- late as well. We don't have a distributor yet in the U.S. but we are hopeful. How did you get your start as a filmmaker, and what is your next project? I started as an illustrator in advertising but I have always loved cinema. I have directed more than 20 short films in more than two decades, starting with "Queen Be." I did some televi- sion, sketch comedy and then finally had the opportunity to make movies. I have made three feature films in the past three years, all comedies. If everything goes according to plan, my next project will be a documentary, my first. It's a strange story but I wanted some- thing different to do after three comedies. I can't really talk about it yet but the s ubject involves dinosaurs. All I can guarantee is that it won't be another Jurassic Park. Director Max Croci and actress Ambra Angiolini, who plays Dora in the Italian comedy, "The Truth About Love Is...", accompany the movie to several film festi- vals, including Seattle in June. (Movieplayer) Max Croci's newest film, "The Truth About Love Is...", received a warm reception from Northwest movie-goers during its North American premiere at the 43rd annual Seattle International Film Festival. SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

• Cover