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The first date is a theatre of managed anxieties, a performance where every line and gesture is scrutinized. Paolo Genovese’s film Madly takes this internal drama and places it directly on screen. The picture follows the initial romantic encounter between Piero and Lara, a seemingly simple dinner at her apartment. Yet this is no simple two-hander.

Genovese splits the screen and the story, inviting the audience into the minds of his protagonists. Here, a boisterous committee of personified emotions debates every choice, from flirtatious remarks to wardrobe selection.

The premise is a high-wire act of narrative architecture, promising to expose the chaotic mechanics of attraction. We watch Piero and Lara attempt to connect, all while knowing the puppet masters pulling their strings are in plain sight.

The Divided Self on Display

The film establishes its psychological territories with stark visual contrast. Piero’s mind is a spartan, industrial storage room,...

Of Paolo Genovese’s 2016 Italian phenom “Perfect Strangers,” the original Variety review warned “remakes will be rampant,” and sure enough, Guinness World Records made it official last fall: The hooky dramedy — about a dinner party where a group of friends agree to read their private text messages aloud — has since become the “most remade” film in the world, with no fewer than two dozen versions popping up everywhere from South Korea to Azerbaijan.

The success of that model seems to have gone straight to Genovese’s head, as the writer-director treats his latest feature, “Madly,” more like a format than a proper film: The high-concept romantic comedy — which personifies the conflicting thoughts a man and a woman experience during the course of their first date — is ripe for reinvention in a diverse range of languages and cultures. If and when that happens, however, one hopes each new filmmaker will make...

‘Perfect Strangers’ director Paolo Genovese has done it again with a new concept comedy titled “Madly” that is set to hit the global market after scoring mightily in Italy.

“Madly” – which is titled “FolleMente” in Italy – depicts a first date between a man and a woman in Rome and features all the voices that live in their brains which oscillate between embarrassment and laughter, each played by a different actor. The romance-tinged comedy has scored more than 2 million admissions and grossed more than $18 million at the Italian box office since it’s Feb. 20 local release via Rai Cinema’s 01 Distribution — and is still going strong.

Genovese co-wrote the screenplay with Isabella Aguilar, Lucia Calamaro, Paolo Costella and Flaminia Gressi.

“We are getting remake requests from all over the world,” producer Raffaella Leone tells Variety, adding that this time around “we want to manage things a bit differently” from what happened with “Perfect Strangers,...

Shot in radiant black and white and set in post-World War II Rome, Paola Cortellesi’s There’s Still Tomorrow is a darkly comedic drama about the experiences of one woman, Delia Santucci (Cortellesi), trapped in an abusive marriage. It’s a film about domestic violence that, while clearly intended as an homage to Italian neorealism, finds levity through choreographed musical numbers and moments of light magical realism.

The story begins with Delia’s husband, Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea), slapping her after she wishes him a good morning inside the cramped apartment they share with their children and Ivano’s bedridden father, Ottorino (Giorgio Colangeli). We see from the onset that Delia is treated like a maid, as she gets scolded by Ivano and Ottorino for her domestic shortcomings. Through it all, Marcella (Romana Maggiora Vergano), Delia’s teenage daughter, resents her mother’s helplessness. Set to a nostalgic song about Delia’s daily routine,...

In the Antico Teatro in the Sicilian town of Taormina, the 70th edition of the Taormina Film Festival got off to a lively start, with the Nastri d’Argento Awards ceremony, amid a mix of comedy and controversy.

The comedy was on hand with the loudest applause of the evening going to Carlo Verdone and Christian De Sica (above), two “pillars of Italian comedy” as they were introduced by Pilar Fogliati, star of “Confidenze,” and “Romeo Is Juliet.” Pilar herself was a recipient of her first Nastro d’Argento. The Nino Manfredi awards were given by the late actor’s son and film director Luca Manfredi to Emanuela Fanelli, last seen in Paola Cortellesi’s box office hit “There’s Always Tomorrow” as well as to Claudio Bisio, the actor-director who sent a video message of thanks.

Other absent awardees were Margherita Buy and Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore who received a special career prize.

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama “Io Capitano,” about the odyssey of two young African men who decide to leave Dakar to reach Europe, and Paola Cortellesi’s feminist dramedy “There’s Still Tomorrow” were both the big winners at Italy’s 69th David di Donatello Awards.

“Io Capitano” won Davids for best picture, director, producers, editor, and cinematographer, among other prizes, while “Still Tomorrow,” which is about the plight of an abused housewife in post-war Rome and had 19 nominations scored six statuettes, including best directorial debut, actress, non supporting actress, screenplay, and audience award.

“Still Tomorrow,” which marks the directorial debut of popular Italian actor Paola Cortellesi, who also stars, is shot in black-and-white and riffs on Italy’s neorealist past, albeit with a contemporary female empowerment angle.

“I made this debut at the brink of menopause,” Cortellesi, who is 50, said while accepting the statuette for best debuting director. “I hope...

Matteo Garrone’s refugee drama Io Capitano, an Oscar nominee this year for Italy in the best international feature category, was the big winner of this year’s 2024 David Di Donatello Awards, Italy’s equivalent to the Oscars, winning best film and director for Garrone.

Io Capitano also picked up prizes for best cinematography, editing, sound, and visual effects.

Paola Cortellesi’s There’s Still Tomorrow, a black-and-white feminist dramedy that became the top-grossing film in Italy last year, won Cortellesi the Donatello honors for best actress, directorial debut, and original script for the screenplay she co-wrote with Furio Andreotti and Giulia Calenda.

“I want to thank those who gave me the opportunity to write this role as I wanted it,” she said, accepting her actress honor.

Cortellesi’s film, a dramedy about an abused woman in post-wwii Rome that manages to combine serious social drama with situational comedy, sight gags and even a musical number,...

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated drama Io Capitano triumphed in Italy’s David di Donatello film awards on Friday evening, winning best film and best director.

The film about the trials and tribulations of two Senegalese teenagers as they try to make it to Europe via the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea, also won best producer for companies Archimede, Rai cinema, Pathé and Tarantula as well as best sound, special effects, cinematography and editing.

Io Capitano premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, where it won best director for Garrone and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor for Seydou Sarr.

The movie went on to enjoy a buzzy awards season, securing a Golden Globe nomination for best non-English language film and an Academy Award nomination for best international film.

“This film tells the stories of those who are not listened to,” said Garrone, on receiving the best director award.

There’s Still Tomorrow (C’è Ancora Domani), the surprise box office hit that has taken Italian cinemas by storm, has become a global sales hit as well, with international distributors snatching up the historic dramedy from actress-turned-director Paola Cortellesi.

The black-and-white feature is set in Rome in 1946, a few days before the referendum to determine whether women will get the vote. Cortellesi stars as Delia, a woman suffering from domestic abuse who longs for emancipation: Both for herself and her daughter. Valerio Mastandrea, Emanuela Fanelli, Vinicio Marchioni, Giorgio Colangeli and Romana Maggiora Vergano co-star.

Vision Distribution, which is handling international sales for There’s Still Tomorrow tells THR Roma they have closed deals for the movie for 18 countries across three continents, including with Limelight for Australia and New Zealand, Providence Filmes – Pandora for Brazil, Swallow Wings Films in Taiwan and Lev Cinema in Israel. The film has nearly sold out in Europe,...

Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains and veteran Marco Bellocchio’s Exterior Night topped the 68th edition of Italy’s David di Donatello Awards on Wednesday evening.

The Eight Mountains won best film as well as best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.

Based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Cognetti, it stars Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi as two men from different backgrounds who form a life-long bond during summers spent together as children in a remote mountain village.

The film world premiered in Competition at Cannes last year where it co-won the Jury Prize. Read the Deadline review here.

It is the second time in the history of the awards that a film by non-Italian directors has clinched the best film prize.

The last time was in 1971 when the Dino de Laurentiis-produced epic Waterloo by Russian director Sergei Bonderchuk,...

“The Eight Mountains,” Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama about friendship, mountains and growing up, scored the top prize at Italy’s 68th David di Donatello Awards.

Besides winning best picture, the film also scooped statuettes for best non-original screenplay, photography and sound.

Given that the directors are not Italian, it was a particularly significant victory for “Mountains,” which was praised as “quietly magnificent” by Variety critic Jessica Kiang. The film, which is currently playing well on the U.S. arthouse circuit, tracks the decades-long friendship between two Italian boys named Pietro and Bruno — one from the city, the other a shepherd boy from the Alps.

“It’s pretty incredible,” commented a visibly moved Van Groeningen. “Two Belgians who win this prize in Italy for an Italian movie.” “Thank you for this declaration of love,” added Vandermeersch, his partner in life. “We love Italy very much.

Sky has unveiled its Italian “Call My Agent” adaptation set in Rome featuring high-caliber Italian guest stars such as Paolo Sorrentino – in a side-splitting turn – and actor Matilda De Angelis.

The six-episode season is produced by Palomar, the Italian company controlled by France’s Mediawan which originated the hit show set at a Parisian talent agency.

In episode two Oscar-winner Sorrentino waltzes into the Rome agency called CMA with a “brilliant” new idea for a third instalment to his “The Young Pope” TV series.”

It’s “The Lady Pope” for whom the God-like director wants 1980s Italian disco queen Ivana Spagna to be cast in the titular role. And also Denzel Washington as the female pope’s chamberlain, and Madonna as her mother.

The gag was thought of by Sorrentino who spoofs himself with biting irony.

In real life De Angelis recently scored the lead role on the upcoming Italian...