Alla rivoluzione sulla 2CV
Film affiches | Locarno 2001 | Film | Story | Photos | Chatter
Film affiches
|
64st International
Film Festival Locarno
|
 |
 |
 |
||
|
To the Revolution in a Deux Chevaux |
|
||
| "I made this film [To The Revolution] to remember what the spirit of the '70s was really like," director Maurizio Sciarra told TALK CINEMA. "I always dreamed of making a road movie, because it is the essence of cinema—taking a journey." The film has been submitted to major North American festivals, including New York, and coming into Locarno Sciarra's producer were already negotiating with key US distributors for a now greatly-increased chance at US release. | |||
|
|||
| OFF
TO THE REVOLUTION BY 2CV
(Alla Rivoluzione Sulla Due Cavalli) Director: Maurizio Sciarra Italy, 2001, 98min Format: 35mm |
Synopsis
It is dawn on morning of 25 April 1974 when Marco, a young Italian man of roughly 25 years of age, and his Portuguese friend Victor leave Paris in a yellow Citroen 2CV automobile (in American terms, picture a VW bus crossed with a Model A Ford). Their curiosity to get to know different places and people lead the two young men towards this new adventure to Lisbon, which that very night, has been freed from one of Europe's longest lasting dictatorships. But the adventure would not be complete without Claire, who was Victor's girlfriend back in their student days in Paris. Claire is willing to take a short vacation from her day-to-day life, from her husband and her son, if it means bringing back together, even for a short period of time, a trio that once shared unforgettable experiences. Each brings to the journey personal ideals and feelings. Their arrival in Lisbon, their contact with the idea of freedom transformed into reality, represents for the three young people the transition between an adolescence and their real live as adults. |
|||||
|
||||||
|
Biography Maurizio Sciarra was born in Bari in 1955 and first worked as a press photographer. In 1974, he was one of the founding members of the ARCI - Apulia Audiovisual group, for which he made many video documentaries, especially on Italian political life. His documentaries include The Taccone Neighbourhood: A History(1977), So Many Things to Say and Do(1996), Journey in Italy(1996) and Malpensa 2000(1998). His directing credits include several telefilms and The Room of the Desert Wind(1997), a feature film honored in several festivals. |
||||||
| Festivals
(Prizes)
Locarno 2001 (Best Film, Actor: Gracia, Youth Jury First Prize, CICAE Special Mention), Ravenna 2001, Sulmona 2001, London 2001, Huelva Latin 2001: Opening Night, Punta Del Este 2002, Göteborg 2002, Cartagena 2002, Brooklyn 2002: Opening Night |
||||||
| It is dawn of
April 25 1974 when Marco, a 25-year old Italian and Victor, his Portuguese
friend leave Paris in a yellow Citroen 2CV for Lisbon. The Portuguese capital
was liberated the night before after one of the most durable dictatorships
ever seen in Europe. Urged on by a pressing need to take part in a unique
historical event and meet new people, the boys decide that the journey
cannot be completed successfully without Victor’s ex, Claire also taking
part.
She is willing to take a short vacation from her day-to-day life that includes a husband and a small child and so the trio depart. The 2CV is a vehicle that over the years has taken on almost mythical connotations. They pass through wonderful countryside and a million difficulties while the radio is playing the film’s musical score: all the ingredients for an unforgettable experience. Each member of the party brings his and her own ideals, feelings and motivations for this journey that also becomes an internal one of discovery. When they get to Lisbon and see the desire for freedom becoming reality inspires these three that the time has finally come to pass from a prolonged adolescence to full adulthood. From the novel "Alla rivoluzione sulla due cavalli" by Marco Ferrari. |
 |
| Off
to the Revolution by a 2CV
A longtime
resident of Paris, Portuguese expat Victor (Andoni Gracia) wants to head
home immediately when he hears that his country's right-wing dictatorship
is about to fall. Soon the romantically obsessed and previously aimless
Victor and his womanizing Italian roommate, Marco (Adriano Giannini)—as
well as the latter's Citro‘n 2CV—are driving south. They stop in Bordeaux
to pick up Claire (Gwena‘lle Simon), Victor's obsession-worthy ex, who
takes leave of her husband and young son for a revolutionary romp. Cue
such songs as "Something in the Air," "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," "Layla,"
and "Love the One You're With"—it's 1974, after all—as Victor's nationalist
pilgrimage turns into just another road trip, complete with clandestine
border crossings, eccentric aristocrats, car trouble, skinny-dipping, and
revolutionary sex. Once Victor and his pals manage to reach Portugal, they
help knock down a few signs and rename a square for Salvador Allende. The
Portuguese have started the revolution without them, though, leaving the
movie—one of Filmfest's "Politics in Film" entries—without much political
content. Still, Italian director Maurizio Sciarra conjures an aura of youthful
freedom that keeps this lightweight vehicle on the road.
—Mark Jenkins
|
