IT WAS THE SON

PASSIONE and RAI CINEMA
present
TONI SERVILLO
in
IT WAS THE SON
A film by DANIELE CIPRÌ
Adapted from "È STATO IL FIGLIO " by ROBERTO ALAJMO published by ARNOLDO
MONDADORI
With GISELDA VOLODI, ALFREDO CASTRO, FABRIZIO FALCO
An Italy/ France coproduction PASSIONE and BABE FILMS
in collaboration with RAI CINEMA and in collaboration with PALOMAR
in association with ALETEIA COMMUNICATION pursuant to tax credit regulations
and in association with FARO FILM
with the contribution of Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Direzione Cinema
and with support from the APULIA FILM COMMISSION
International distribution
The film’s materials are available at www.fandango.it
1
IT WAS THE SON
CREW
DIRECTED BY
STORY
SCREENPLAY
IN COLLABORATION WITH
PHOTOGRAPHY
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
SET DESIGNER
COSTUME DESIGNER
SOUND
EDITOR
WITH THE COLLABORATION OF
MUSIC
LINE PRODUCER
EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION
PRODUCED BY
COPRODUCED BY
A COPRODUCTION
IN COLLABORATION WITH
AND IN COLLABORATION WITH
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
DANIELE CIPRÌ
ROBERTO ALAJMO
MASSIMO GAUDIOSO
DANIELE CIPRÌ
MASSIMO GAUDIOSO
DANIELE CIPRÌ
MIRIAM RIZZO
DANIELE CIPRÌ
MIMMO CAIULI
MARCO DENTICI
GRAZIA COLOMBINI
ANGELO BONANNI
FRANCESCA CALVELLI
ALFREDO ALVIGINI
CARLO CRIVELLI
FRANCESCO TATÓ
FARO FILM
ALESSANDRA ACCIAI
GIORGIO MAGLIULO
with CARLO DEGLI ESPOSTI
FABIO CONVERSI
PASSIONE and BABE FILMS
RAI CINEMA
PALOMAR
ALETEIA COMMUNICATION
pursuant to tax credit regulations
IN ASSOCIATION WITH FARO FILM
DISTRIBUTED BY FANDANGO DISTRIBUZIONE
RUNNING TIME
90 minutes
YEAR 2011
Non-contractual credits 2
IT WAS THE SON
CAST
TONI SERVILLO
NICOLA CIRAULO
GISELDA VOLODI
LOREDANA CIRAULO
ALFREDO CASTRO
BUSU
FABRIZIO CASTRO
TANCREDI CIRAULO
AURORA QUATTROCCHI
NONNA ROSA
BENEDETTO RANELI
BENEDETTO RANELI
PIERO MISURACA
MASINO
GIACOMO CIVILETTI
GIOVANNI GIACALONE
ALESSIA ZAMMITTI
SERENELLA CIRAULO
PIER GIORGIO BELLOCCHIO
DEAF MAN
Non-contractual credits 3
IT WAS THE SON
SYNOPSIS
The story is told in a future time, inside a post office – a day like any other. A scruffy man named Busu
introduces the story of the Ciraulo family, like the other mini-stories he tells day after day to kill the time
that consumes his loneliness. Some listen, and some, instead, at a certain point, grow tired and walk
away, leaving him alone on that endless winter day.
But Busu devotes more time to the Ciraulo family, recounting even its details almost as if they belonged
to him.
There are six people in the Ciraulo family: Nicola, the head; his wife Loredana; plus their son Tancredi and
their younger daughter Serenella. Nicola’s parents, Nonno Fonzio and Nonna Rosa, also live with them, on
the outskirts of Palermo. Nicola ekes out a living to maintain the whole family by selling the iron
scavenged from scuttled ships. But even in this very hard environment, their lives go by in relative
tranquillity – that is, until when, upon returning from a trip to the sea with their friends and neighbours
the Giacalone family, a stray bullet fired in a settling of accounts between rival gangs strikes and kills
young Serenella. Their grief is immeasurable. But a glimmer of hope for an economic upturn appears
when Giacalone tells Nicola he should apply for the compensation the State pays to victims of the Mafia.
The mirage of receiving an enormous sum induces the family to spend the money before it is collected;
they incur debts with everyone, believing that payment from the State is imminent. But months go by and
the debts continue to mount, causing Nicola to fall into the hands of a loan shark who is great friends with
Giacalone. When the money finally comes in, once the debts are paid off the amount has shrunk
considerably.
The family then meets to decide how to invest the money, and everyone has their own dreams they
would like to see come true. Nicola promptly knocks down each request with one argument after another,
and only at the end does he set out his own idea: a luxury automobile, a Mercedes. And little by little, he
manages to convince his obviously perplexed audience, by arguing that choosing the car means choosing
dignity. That car is a symbol of wealth, and the only status people – particularly in their neighbourhood –
respect. With this mirage of eternal honour, he manages to persuade them.
For the Ciraulo family, the Mercedes becomes more than a symbol of wealth: it becomes the symbol of
the Misery of Wealth, an instrument of ruin and defeat.
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
I had just finished the film of Vincere by Marco Bellocchio as director of photography, when I
received a proposal to direct the novel by Roberto Alajmo, E’ Stato il Figlio. I hadn’t read the book
even though I was familiar with Roberto’s work. I was taken by the plot immediately, it was full of
tragic irony but the setting was so realistic that I couldn’t envision how I could narrate it in images. I
was about to answer that I couldn’t do it when the producers told me they had thought of me because
they were afraid of someone making a conventional film, one of the various Sicilian stories seen many
times on the screen. So I decided to think about it a little more.
One day, while I was at the Post Office to pay an overdue tax, I noticed a man sitting and
inanimately staring at the illuminated number display waiting for his turn. I imagined that he had been
there a long time and that the illuminated and acoustic display marked the time, moments in which
this person (who had already become a character) could narrate a lot of stories and one in particular,
the one narrated in the novel. Maybe it was his expressionless face, melancholy or the way he kept his
hands crossed on the plastic bag on his knees, but at that moment I began to see a succession of
images, faces and settings that stimulated my imagination.
Suddenly everything was clear, even though at the time, only in my mind. So I had to find the
right collaborators that could share this vision and realize what I had imagined.
The screenwriter Massimo Gaudioso, together with Miriam Rizzo, who is also my companion,
were with me for all of the phases and shared all my moods and together we reinvented the plot of
the book which already had a Sicilian expressiveness: we transformed it into a tragic-comedy closer to
my own way of interpreting my birthplace.
At this point, I had to find the right faces that were fundamental in interpreting the characters I
had in mind. After having seen Tony Manero, I fell in love with Alfredo Castro. And then Fabrizio Falco,
Giselda Volodi, Rori Quattrocchi, Benedetto Raneli, Giacomo Civiletti, Alessia Zammiti, Manuela Lo
Sicco besides all of the minor characters which were entrusted to my usual actors, aided in this
research by Lucille Cristaldi and Miriam Rizzo.
Toni Servillo is another story. Nicola was the most difficult and important character. We had
various auditions and all the actors were extraordinary but my producers, Alessandra and Giorgio
weren’t convinced. They reminded me of the character Nicola when his family tried giving him advice
on how to invest his money. They had their mind set on someone, the prefect Nicola, Toni Servillo.
Obviously according to them. I couldn’t see him in this role. Besides I didn’t think he even knew me
and then I didn’t think he could become Nicola Ciracaulo; a “cannavazzo” (a rag). For me Toni Sevillo
was like Laurence Olivier, Edoardo De Filippo, Marcello Mastroianni and I was certain he wouldn’t
even take my call. Just like the fox and the grapes, I was terrorized that he would say no. And then we
met, talked and read the script together, he was fascinated by the film. It was eternal love, meaning
complicity, respect and great friendship.
The setting was also fundamental and I had no doubts on who I wanted for the production
setting, Marco Dentici. I owe him and his keen vision a lot and he knowingly visualized my ideas.
Another one of my certainties was Mimmo Caiuli, my head electrician for so many years, who
was my precious assistant photographer.
Cameraman Luigi Andrej was precise and infallible and as they say, the first spectator of the film.
Grazia Colombini, my costume designer, surprisingly invented that indefinite space of time that
I imagined.
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
For years I’ve wanted to work with Carlo Crivelli and I thank him for realizing my dream. And
what can I say about Francesca Calvelli…….together with Alfredo Alvigini, they patiently and
passionately edited the film.
This marvelous adventure has ended. It was made possible due to the stubbornness, resistance
and steel nerves of Alessandra Acciai and Giorgio Magliulo, my producers and naturally Miriam Rizzo,
who were with me in every phase and every moment with logical madness and great passion. They
protected me and supported me even during the most difficult times which were not few. Long live
madness and cinema!
Daniele Ciprì
DANIELE CIPRÌ – DIRECTOR – SCREENWRITER – DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniele Ciprì was born and grew up in Palermo. It was in his family-run photography studio that he took
the first steps that were to determine his profession. His father Francesco repaired cameras, his mother
Raia Rosalia worked the register, and his brother Antonio, his elder by one year, took wedding
photographs. Films and cels were thus immediately to become his favourite toys. When he was seven, he
accidentally injured his brother with a spring-activated device whose mechanism he was trying to figure
out. Thereafter, Daniele specialized in Super-8 films immortalizing wedding ceremonies.
In the mid 1980s, he met Sergio Gianfalla and Giovanni Massa, former collaborators of Giuseppe
Tornatore for the Palermo cooperative C.L.C.T., for which he made numerous documentaries, short
subjects, and montages, also using stock materials.
In the late 1980s, at Palermo broadcaster TVM, he met Franco Maresco, marking the beginning of a long
artistic association with him. Together, in 1990, they made the Cinico TV shorts, broadcast on Enrico
Ghezzi’s Fuori Orario on Raitre, which made them popular. They also shot three feature-length films,
which they wrote, directed, and photographed together, relying also on the collaboration of Luca Bigazzi,
who edited and also composed the soundtrack. His association with Franco Maresco came to an end in
2006. Since that time, Daniele Ciprì has lent his collaboration to many films as director of photography,
working with such directors as Roberta Torre, Ascanio Celestini, and, above all, Marco Bellocchio.
He took a number of prizes for the film Vincere, including the David di Donatello, Nastro D'Argento,
Golden Globes, and Gianni Di Venanzo awards.
In 2010, he met such producers as Alessandra Acciai and Giorgio Magliulo, with whom he decided to take
on his first solo directing project, also directing the film’s photography.
DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER, DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
2011 THE CRICKET, directed by Stefano Lorenzi - director of photography
2010 IL TESTAMENTO DI MARIO MONICELLI (TV), directed by Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter
2010 LA PECORA NERA directed by Ascanio Celestini - director of photography
2009 VINCERE, directed by Marco Bellocchio - director of photography
2007 AI CONFINI DELLA PIETÀ (TV series), directed by Ciprì and Maresco – screenwriter – director
of photography
2006 THE DARK SEA, directed by Roberta Torre - director of photography
2006 I MIGLIORI NANI DELLA NOSTRA VITA (Serie TV), directed by Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter
- director of photography
2004 COME INGUAIAMMO IL CINEMA ITALIANO - La vera storia di Franco e Ciccio, directed by
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IT WAS THE SON
Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter-director of photography
2003 THE RETURN OF CAGLIOSTRO, directed by Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter - director of
photography
2002 ANGELA, directed by Roberta Torre - director of photography
2000 SOUTH SIDE STORY, directed by Roberta Torre - director of photography
2000 TO DIE FOR TANO, directed by Roberta Torre - director of photography
2000 AI ROTOLI directed by Daniele Ciprì
2000 ARRUSO (TV), directed by Daniele Ciprì
1999 ENZO, DOMANI A PALERMO! directed by Daniele Ciprì
1999 NOI E IL DUCA, quando Duke Ellington suonò a Palermo (doc.) directed by Ciprì and Maresco
1998 TOTO WHO LIVED TWICE, directed by Ciprì and Maresco screenwriter 1997 TO DIE FOR TANO, directed by Roberta Torre
1997 INCERTAMENTE! CINICO TV 1991-1996, by Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter - director of
photography
1996 IL MANOCCHIO, directed by Ciprì and Maresco - screenwriter - director of photography
1996 RISATE DI BOIA - Corti, visioni e cinismo (1996) (V), directed by Ciprì and Maresco screenwriter - director of photography
1995 THE UNCLE FROM BROOKLYN, directed by Ciprì and Maresco – screenwriter
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
TONI SERVILLO – NICOLA CIRAULO
Toni Servillo was born in Afragola in 1959 and in 1977 he establishes the Teatro Studio of Caserta. In
1987, after having collaborated with the Falso Movimento Group, he is among the founders of Teatri
Uniti and acts and directs various classics and contemporary works by De Filippo, Moscato, Pirandello,
Viviani, Molière, Marivaux, Homer, Marcoaldi, Trevisan, Goldoni both in Italy and abroad. In 1999 he
debuts as a director of a musical with the first staging in modern times of La Cosa Rara by Martin &
Soler. He then directs works by Mozart, Cimarosa, Musorgskij, Strauss, Beethoven for the Fenice
Theater of Venice, the San Carlo theater of Naples and the São Carlos Theater of Lisbon up to the
Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. He has worked in the cinema since 1991
with Mario Martone, Antonio Capuano, Paolo Sorrentino, Elisabetta Sgarbi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio,
Andrea Molaioli, Matteo Garrone, Nicole Garcia, Stefano Incerti, Claudio Cupellini, receiving various
awards among which the Silver Ribbon, the David of Donatello and the Golden Grolla. In 2008 he
received the European Film Academy award for his roles in Gomorra and The Deity.
CINEMA
2011 THE JEWEL by Andrea Molaioli
2010 A QUIET LIFE by Claudio Cupellini
2010 WE BELIEVED by Mario Martone
2010 GORBACHEV by Stefano Incerti
2010 A VIEW OF LOVE by Nicole Garcia
2008 THE DEITY by Paolo Sorrentino
2008 GOMORRA by Matteo Garrone
2007 DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME JOHNNY! by Fabrizio Bentivoglio
2007 THE GIRL BY THE LAKE by Andrea Molaioli
2004 SABATO, DOMENICA E LUNEDÌ by Paolo Sorrentino
2004 NOTTE SENZA FINE by Elisabetta Sgarbi
2004 THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE by Paolo Sorrentino
2001 RED MOON by Antonio Capuano
2001 ONE MAN UP by Paolo Sorrentino
1998 REHEARSAL FOR WAR by Mario Martone
1993 RASOI by Mario Martone
1992 DEATH OF A NEAPOLITAN MATHEMATICIAN by Mario Martone
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
GISELDA VOLODI - LOREDANA CIRAULO
Born in Tangiers to an Irish mother and Italian father, both artists, Giseld Volodi studies the classics
and architecture and then receives her diploma at the Fersen Studio in 1991. She specializes in body
language studying with Gustavo Frigerio, Sergeij Yssaev, Peter Clough, Kenneth Rea, Anna Paola
Bacalov, Jurij Alshitz, Pippo Di Marca, Elena Mainoni, Arthur Penn and Danio Manfredini. She debuts
on stage in 1992 as Allison Porter in John Osborne’s “Look Back in Rage” directed by Diego Roberto
Pesaola. She continues her research in the theater working with such directors as Alessandro Mengali,
Dario D’Ambrosi, Paolo De Falco, Salvo Piro, Leone Monteduro and Ninni Bruschetta. In 2006 she
directs and stars in La Ruggine e l’Oro by Gioia Costa. She also stages Come lo zucchero durante la
rivoluzione, a play she writes and stars in and directs with the collaboration of Anna Paola Bacalov.
She has been starring in films since 1990 and has worked in over thirty films and about fifteen shorts,
documentaries and TV movies. She was nominated for a David of Donatello in 2004.
CINEMA
2011 SOTTO IL VESTITO NIENTE - L’ULTIMA SFILATA by Carlo Vanzina
2009 CE N’È PER TUTTI by Luciano Melchionna
2009 PURPLE SEA by Donatella Majorca
2009 L’IMBROGLIO DEL LENZUOLO by Alfonso Arau
2008 MIRACLE AT ST. ANNA by Spike Lee
2007 SONETAULA by Salvatore Mereu
2007 I VICERÈ by Roberto Faenza
2006 SECRET JOURNEY by Roberto Andò
2005 PASSO A DUE by Andrea Barzini
2005 NEVER AGAIN AS BEFORE by Giacomo Campiotti
2004 THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE by Paolo Sorrentino
2004 AGATHA AND THE STORM by Silvio Soldini
2004 OCEAN’S TWELVE by Steven Soderberg
2003 IL RONZIO DELLE MOSCHE by Dario D’Ambrosi
2003 PONTORMO by Giovanni Fago
1999 BREAD AND TULIPS by Silvio Soldini
1998 I DREAMED OF AFRICA by Hugh Hudson
1998 I FOBICI by Giancarlo Scarchilli
1998 VIOLA by Donatella Majorca
1998 LIBERO BURRO by Sergio Castellitto
1998 THE HONEST COURTESAN by Marshall Herskovitz
1997 STELLA’S FAVOR by Giancarlo Scarchilli
1996 SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN by John Hough
1994 MARIO AND THE MAGICIAN E IL MAGO by Klaus Maria Brandauer
1993 AUGUST by Massimo Spano
1992 VERSO SUD by Pasquale Pozzessere
1991 FROM TIME TO TIME by Jeff Blyth
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
1990 HUDSON HAWK by Michael Lehmann
TELEVISION
2008 EINSTEIN by Liliana Cavani
2005 48 ORE - UNA VITA CHE NON C’È by Eros Puglielli
2004 ALCIDE DE GASPERI by Liliana Cavani
2003 LA TERRA DEL RITORNO by Jerry Ciccoritti
1999 PADRE PIO - UN SANTO TRA NOI by Carlo Carlei
1997 LA STORIA SIAMO NOI by Pasquale Pozzessere
1996 LA PAROLA AI GIURATI - Il CASO VULCANO by Antonello Grimaldi
1996 LINDA E IL BRIGADIERE - LA MORALE DELLA FORMICA TV Series by Francesco Lazotti
ALFREDO CASTRO – BUSU
Alfredo Castro begins acting in various theater companies in 1977 after having received his degree at
the University of Chile, Faculty of Dramatic Arts. He establishes his own company, The Theater of
Memory, where he begins his experience as a theater director. He is often invited abroad and receives
many grants including one by the French government to promote the theatrical works of three great
directors: George Lavelli, George Lavadaunt and George Lasalle. The British Council gives him a
scholarship and he studies acting for a year at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
He writes and stars in various films by the Chilean director Pablo Larraín, including Fuga and Tony
Manero, for which he wins the best actor award at the Turin Festival in 2008 and Post Mortem,
presented at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
CINEMA
2011 NO by Pablo Larraín
2010 VENTANAS by Rodrigo Susarte
2010 POST MORTEM by Pablo Larraín
2008 TONY MANERO by Pablo Larraín
2008 LA BUENA VIDA by Andrés Wood
2007 CASA DE REMOLIENDA by Joaquín Eyzaguirre
2006 FUGA by Pablo Larraín
FABRIZIO FALCO – TANCREDI CIRAULO
Fabrizio Falco received his diploma at the Silvio D’Amico School in 2010 and has worked in the theater
with maestros such as Carlo Cecchi, Luca Ronconi and the theatrical company Societas Raffaello
Sanzio of Romeo Castellucci.
È stato il figlio is his cinema debut.
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
TELEVISION
Original music composed by
Published by
Recorded at
Recorded and mixed by
Assistants
violins
viola
Contrabass
Flute
Clarinet
Sax
Trumpet
Trombone
Horn
Percussions
CARLO CRIVELLI
EMERGENCY MUSIC ITALY
STUDIO CONTROFASE
PIERO SCHIAVONI
GIUSEPPE SILVI
DAVID SIMONACCI
OLGA KUZMA
STEFANO MORGIONE
ROBERTO DELLA VECCHIA
FEDERICA BACCHI
STEFANO BERTOZZI
DAVID BRUTTI
ANDREA CAMILLI
LUIGINO LEONARDI
REMO IZZI
MARCO CRIVELLI
2011 DON MATTEO 8 by Giulio Base
2010 HO SPOSATO UNO SBIRRO 2 by Andrea Barzini
2010 IL SEGRETO DELL’ACQUA by Renato De Maria
SOUNDTRACK
“CINEMA”
(Paolo Mei / Cesare Basile)
Published by EMERGENCY MUSIC ITALY
E’ Impossibile (It’s Impossible)
(Wayne / Manzanero / Evangelisti / Limiti)
© BMG Music Publishing S.A. De C.V. / Universal Musci – MGB Songs
Italian edition: Universal Music Publishing Ricordi
Performed by Massimo Greco
Arranged by Paolo Mei and Cesare Basile
“Chisa’ Si Me Pienze”
(Nino D’Angelo / Pasquale Colonna)
Edizioni Musicali Biondo di D’ Angelo Gaetano
Performed by Nino D’Angelo
(P) 1987 Sony Music Entertainment Italy
“ ‘ Nu Napulitano ”
(Nino D’ Angelo)
Edizioni Musicali Biondo di D’Angelo Gaetano
performed by Nino D’Angelo
(P) DI.ELLE.O
Non-contractual credits
IT WAS THE SON
Musical consultants and repertory tracks
WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC ITALIANA S.r.l.
coordinated by Luigi Bartolotta and Giovanni Marolla
The Apulia Film Commission, founded by the Apulia Regional Council, was set up in 2007 with the aim
of attracting film and audiovisual production companies to the area through a funding programme
which promoted Apulian locations, supported local skilled workers and provided a clear economic
impact on the local economy: this has proved to be one of the most innovative approaches in the
European market.
In just few years, the AFC has supported and funded over 160 productions by
three forms of funding available: The Apulia National Film Fund, The Apulia International Film Fund
and Hospitality Funding, providing grants totalling 3 million euros and many competitive services for
production companies.
The AFC, headed by Antonella Gaeta and managed by Silvio Maselli (unanimously elected president of
the Association of Italian Film Commissions in 2012), is a member of the Cine-Regio European
network of regional funding for audiovisual productions, the AFCI (Association of Italian Film
Commissions), the IFC (Italian Film Commission Comittee), the EUFCN (European Film Commission
Network) and COPEAM (permanent discussion group for Mediterranean audiovisual productions) and
participates regularly at ministerial conciliation talks on industry policy.
Among its initiatives which receive European regional development funding are the Puglia Experience
Screenwriters’ Workshop, the Mediterranean Co-production Forum, the Bif&st, the Festa del
cinema del Reale and the Circuito d’Autore programme, with a network of participating cinemas
throughout the region.
Non-contractual credits