Paolo Sorrentino, Isabella Rossellini Talk Pain, Joy, Fellini and Maradona in ‘The Hand of God’

As we enter the ultimate countdown to the Feb. 8 Oscar nominations announcement, Isabella Rossellini is clearly rooting for Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” which is Italy’s candidate for the Academy Award for Finest Worldwide Characteristic Movie and among the many shortlisted titles.

To assist promote the pic with Academy voters, Rossellini engaged in an internet chat with the director and younger Italian actor Filippo Scotti, who performs Sorrentino’s alter-ego Fabietto within the pic. She additionally wore a gold horn amulet that belonged to her father, the late nice Italian grasp Roberto Rossellini, for good luck.

Listed below are edited excerpts of the dialog, to which Selection has been given unique entry.

Rossellini: So right here we’re. All of the ghosts are coming [out] as a result of this movie has so many references to cinema. It’s such a love letter to Italy, and notably to Naples. For us, Italians, they [the references] even have the depth of one thing that could be very a lot a part of our tradition. For instance, I’m referring to Federico Fellini’s voice. Federico Fellini is within the movie; however he’s solely a voice, and he had a really typical, excessive pitched voice that everyone is aware of in Italy, and an accent from the a part of Italy the place he got here from, Rimini. So though he doesn’t seem, you understand, it’s the casting of an awesome genius. However for us Italians, there’s additionally that added voice, and [also] the music that you just’ve used.

“The Nice Magnificence” to me was many issues, together with an awesome homage to Rome. And this [film] is a good homage to Naples. Nevertheless it’s additionally the portrait of a younger artist. And also you made it very private. You made it very biographical, Paolo. How did you determine to make it? There are such a lot of issues [in the film] that actually occurred in your life.

Sorrentino: The choice was made progressively over a very long time. Each time I spoke with mates, and with my members of the family, about my teenage [years], about my pleasure and my ache, all people instructed me that it was a good suggestion to attempt to inform this in a film as a result of it was an uncommon story. And this was one of many causes I made a decision to do it. However there are additionally different causes. After all, the [main] purpose is that for me it was vital to attempt to change the course of issues. As a result of it’s been a very long time that I’ve been having this kind of monologue with myself about my lack of [interior] steadiness. All of a sudden, I understood that after greater than 20 years, I hadn’t solved something in any respect, [just] talking with myself. And so, the concept of creating a film about this so as to attempt to repair the issues grew to become, over time, one thing more and more vital for me.

Rossellini: You misplaced your mother and father in a tragic accident and each of them in the identical day if you had been an adolescent, and within the movie you painting this. [But] the movie could be very joyful. Within the first a part of the movie you portrayed the love between your mother and father, the household, your prolonged household. After which after that, the movie adjustments tone and it turns into very tragic and one can really feel your melancholy…I’m positive the 20 years of silence throughout which this movie was maturing inside you have got helped you make the movie and are available out of that unimaginable, unhappy accident.

Sorrentino: Sure, I feel so. Now it’s [been] greater than a 12 months since I shot the film. And sure, I’ve to say that it’s unusual as a result of now I’m sharing my ache with a giant viewers…Many individuals are talking in regards to the film. So, it’s like now my story isn’t my story anymore. It’s one thing that belongs to all people watching the film.

Rossellini: I’ve to say that typically I feel when issues are very, very private, they get to turn into common. And that was the sensation I had watching your movie. We’ve all had losses. Your circumstances had been so shocking; so uncommon to lose your mother and father if you had been so younger. You recognize, within the accident with the carbon monoxide that suffocated them. And but all of us have ache. And so now, Filippo I needed to ask you, was it tough to enter right into a story that was so private to Paolo?

Scotti: After I acquired the script, I learn it as, you understand, simply as an individual who’s studying a script, with out enthusiastic about, you understand, all the method [behind it]. So I used to be very touched by the script and I entered into it after which after I began pondering that I ought to begin getting ready myself for the function, I sort of misplaced focus of every part. So then I had enormous nervousness. And after I began capturing, I used to be very burdened. However on the identical time, I felt after the primary, or truly after the second day of capturing, I used to be like: ‘Possibly I ought to take into consideration the character [just] as a personality with out enthusiastic about Paolo’s story.’ So principally, after two days of capturing, I made a decision to learn the script once more and to consider the character as a personality. And it was that straightforward swap that helped me rather a lot, as a result of then I used to be in a position to go to Paolo and ask him questions with out [any] nervousness.