Italian box office hit sparks debate about domestic violence – The Hollywood Reporter

There’s still tomorrowthe new film that just surpassed Greta Gerwig’s Barbie To become the most watched film in Italy this year, it starts on the local scene. Delia, played by actress-turned-director Paola Cortellesi, wakes up next to her husband, Ivano (Valerio Mastandrea). “Bongiorno!” she says brightly. Without a word he slapped her. difficult. Then, as the soundtrack swells with a romantic 1940s tune, Delia wakes up to start her day. Violent abuse appears to be as much a part of her routine as combing her hair and dressing for work.

It’s a shocking scene. At first, it seems so There’s still tomorrowshot in black and white, will be a tribute to Italian neorealist classics such as Bicycle thieves And Open City of Rome. But this is no kitchen sink social drama. First up are the lines: “All the trouble started when people stopped marrying their cousins!” Ivano’s father-in-law complains to Delia. “My wife lived like a queen!” Delia reminds him that she killed herself by jumping from the fifth floor. She adds sarcastically: “And that’s true.”

“When I was a child, I remember the stories my grandmother and great-grandmother would tell me about other women who lived in the same courtyard in their neighborhood, women like Delia who were subjected to violence, perhaps beaten by their husbands or relatives,” Cortellisi says. “What shocked me was how this was viewed.” The tragic thing is normal. For these women, this was everyday life. But they always tell these stories with a touch of sarcasm and humor. It’s a Roman thing, we Romans, even when we talk about the most tragic events, we tend to tell them with a smile and a joke.

When Delia leaves her house, the screen, which until then has been a very narrow 4:3 aspect ratio typical of neorealistic films, expands to a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. The ’40s soundtrack gives way to the rocking beat of the 1998 song “Calvin” by John Spencer Blues Explosion.

“This is a contemporary film. The film is set in the past, but it’s about the female condition, and the roots of this patriarchal culture run deep,” Cortellisi says. “They are rooted in the past, but they are still very present today.”

The film certainly struck a chord. There’s still tomorrow The film has been a huge success at the box office, earning more than €30.5 million ($33.4 million) to date, making it the second most successful film of the year in Italy, behind Greta Gerwig’s pink-themed blockbuster. Barbie With a value of 32 million euros. Sort by acceptance There’s still tomorrow It is actually number one, with 4.49 million tickets sold for Barbie4.39 million. Cortellese’s film is the sixth most successful Italian film of all time, and by the end of its run, it will overtake Roberto Benighi’s film. Life is beautiful (1997) – another landmark film that blends comedy and serious drama – ranked fifth overall.

There’s still tomorrow It has also revived discussions about domestic violence, femicide and women’s rights in Italy, discussions that have dominated public discourse since last month’s shocking kidnapping and murder of 22-year-old student Giulia Cecchetin, and the arrest of her boyfriend for the crime.

“I would attend screenings, introduce the film and talk about it with the audience afterwards, and people would come up to me and share their stories of violence and abuse, or just discrimination and unfair treatment,” Cortellisi says. “There is this willingness and desire to discuss a topic that has been there waiting to be talked about. This film has sparked controversy.”

The film was screened on November 25 in the Italian Senate on the occasion of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There were performances for school children all over the country.

“So far, about 300,000 high school students have gone to see the film,” says Andrea Scrosati, COO and CEO of Continental Europe at Fremantle, the media group that owns the Italian company Wildside that produced the film. There’s still tomorrow. “Schools use it as a way to discuss domestic violence and empower women.”

They are topics that, Cortellisi says, have been “revolving around” her entire career. One of Italy’s best-known and most recognizable film and television stars, she cut her teeth as a comedic actress on radio and television, doing impressions of politicians, celebrities and musicians, before moving to the big screen, writing and acting in some of the country’s states. The most successful romantic comedies and family dramas. Her films, many of which were directed by her real-life partner Riccardo Milani, are mainstream entertainment that, beneath the surface, address difficult issues, including social inequality, domestic violence and Italy’s strong patriarchal culture.

There’s still tomorrow Full of situational comedy, visual gags — a romantic interlude involving chocolate-stained teeth is particularly sweet — and even a stunning musical score. But the laughs are always in service of a deeper social message. An early scene in the film shows Ivano lying to Delia after a perceived humiliation. Spanking is represented in the form of a dance, with both partners making movements, re-enacting a pattern passed down from generation to generation.

“Paola is one of the most sophisticated and intelligent artists but also sympathetic,” says Scrosati. “She addressed relevant issues, political issues throughout her career, but she never lectured.”

Delia is not a perfect feminist. At the beginning of the film, all she hopes for is a good marriage for her daughter and money to buy her wedding dress. Ivano, though violent, is shown to be comically pathetic and stupid. Less monster than Buffon.

“We wanted to make him goofy so there was no risk of anyone imitating or imitating him,” Cortellisi says. “It’s a way to take the fear out of the monster. When you laugh at someone’s stupidity, your fear of them disappears.”

There’s still tomorrow It is set against a particular political history. The film takes place in 1946, before the referendum in which Italians were asked to vote to remain in the monarchy or become a republic. For the first time in the country’s history, women were granted the right to vote. Politics bubbles in the background — there are posters and graffiti, characters spouting lines about democracy and socialism — but even local audiences, Scorsati says, ignore the history and get caught up in the story of Delia’s liberation.

“In reality, the film is a bit of a sham,” Cortellisi says. “We plant clues throughout the film but because we use these different genres, the romantic comedy, a little bit of action, a little bit of music, people focus on Delia and start thinking, like all those other movies, that she’s going to be set free by another man, a man… righteous.”

She says the audience only realizes this in the end There’s still tomorrow It is a love story, “but it’s not about romantic love, it’s about a mother’s love for her daughter… I wanted to tell this story to my daughter, who is 11 now, and to children of her generation.” says Cortellesi.

The film’s success has transcended domestic politics, with Italy’s far-right government and left-wing opposition joining the domestic violence controversy sparked by the film.

“It has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with people who are fed up with the current situation, where every 72 hours in Italy a woman is killed just because she is a woman, by her boyfriend or partner,” says Cortellisi. “This is not a new statistic, but it is a statistic that has been consistent through different governments, left and right. People are tired of hearing the same story over and over again. They want to do something to help change the culture. To break this cycle of violence.”