Mario Martone on Why ‘Nostalgia’ Depicts Naples As a ‘Global South’
variety.comNick Vivarelli International CorrespondentProlific Italian film and stage director Mario Martone, who is a Venice aficionado, is back in competition in Cannes 27 years after his Elena Ferrante adaptation “L’amore molesto” (“Troubling Love”) launched in competition from the Croisette in 1995.
And there is a close connection between these two films that delve deep into the entrails of Martone’s native Naples.In his well-received “Nostalgia”, praised by Variety as Martone’s “most rewarding film in years,” ace actor Pierfrancesco Favino plays the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to the bustling port city after having lived in Egypt for 40 years.
Once back, he is caught up in memories of a distant life spent in his hometown, as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him.
Martone spoke to Variety about why he adapted Neapolitan author Ermanno Rea’s novel by the same title and the elements that make it “more universal than a mere Neapolitan tale.” ExcerptsLasco appealed to me because he is so outside the box in terms of what you see in Italian cinema.
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