by Grandesso Federico
VENICE, Italy, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Italian director Claudio Noce, whose film "Padrenostro" (Our Father) won the best actor award at the 77th Venice International Film Festival, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the film amounts to a letter written to his father, with words changed from private terms to more universal ones for the public to understand.
In the story which takes place in Rome in 1976, the life of Valerio, a ten-year-old boy, is turned upside down when he, along with his mother Gina, witnesses a failed assassination on his father Alfonso by a terrorist group.
From that moment on, fear and a sense of vulnerability leave a dramatic mark on the feelings of the whole family, while a brave, determined father tries to protect his household, coping with the daily challenges of being a target.
At the closing ceremony of the film festival on Sept. 12, Pierfrancesco Favino, who plays the father in the movie, won the best actor award.
The film, based on Noce's real experiences, places the focus on the archetypal role of the father in the "old society"-- the son in the film sees his father as a "wounded hero," said the director, adding that on the son's path of personal growth, to recognize a wound in that hero is a starting point.
"We designed a man from a generation that is now gone, a man who thinks that emotion is a weakness, a man that communicates with the boy in a very peculiar way, a man that doesn't speak about or admit being afraid of anything," Noce explained.
While working on this film, Noce discovered something new about his own family. "For years, we thought the communication in my family was perfect, but it was not like that. We thought that our family was full of love, but in reality, we only removed our trauma, and there was an unwillingness to speak to each other."
Talking about the role of contemporary fathers, he believes that they are very different from their predecessors: "I think the fears that our parents were hiding behind an illusory barrier are now unveiled."
Noce finds that fathers nowadays are discussing their weaknesses to their sons in an open way. "Some filters have disappeared," he said. "For sure, fathers are a less charismatic figure, and they are not a stereotyped hero anymore." Enditem