Revolutionary and dreamer. Giuliano Montaldo, one of the masters of Italian cinema, at 92 still is. Enough to agree to shoot a short film by a young director, who talk about love and technology.
Seeing him wearing a multi-sensory suit and a VR headset is not only bizarre, but tells much more. One Hour Onlythis is the title of the short that will be presented to the public in a special and free event at the Troisi Cinema in Rome next December 6th and which is making a good journey through the festivals winning prizes and special mentions, talks about a young couple in Rome, in the Sixties.
Looking for a magical place to make love, two young sweethearts flee the city and seclude themselves by the sea. But nothing in this romantic gal is really as it seems. “We all love to lose ourselves in a beautiful memory. Bringing back the most intense experiences reassures us. – explains the director Serena Corvaglia – It confirms that we have lived. But what happens when the past appears to us better than the present? Where do we find the courage to carry on, when we realize that some emotions have been lost forever?”
Questions to which One Hour Only gives a romantic answer.
Un’ora Sola, in the short film about love and virtual reality, a surprising Giuliano Montaldo
On the set, the director told us, Giuliano Montaldo participated actively and passionatelynoting and rejoicing in the fact that the troupe was mostly made up of female figures, even behind the camera.
“After agreeing to act, he gave me a hard time in the pre-production phase. He wanted to contribute to the script and in particular he made sure that the love scene between the two protagonists (Filippo Scicchitano and Sofia Iacuitto) was shot in an extremely delicate and modest way. Giuliano was very keen not to pass for a reckless man. Once on the set, however, he behaved impeccably and was extremely helpful. For my part, I often went long with the clapperboards, allowing myself the luxury to see him improvise”.
“The first scene we shot – continues Corvaglia – was the walk of Giuliano Montaldo and his wife Vera Pescarolo on the Lungotevere at sunset. It was a several minute walk and we repeated it three times. It was very sweet listening to Giuliano cheering on Vera to keep walking: they are both of an age and filming required considerable physical effort, which they coped with admirably.Vera Pescarolo, who was assistant director and is a woman of cinema, also took matters into her own hands in a scene where we had a technical problem. For me, having them on set was an unforgettable experience.”
The short film, finalist for Best Italian Short 2022 for Fabrique du Cinema, has already won a special mention at Trieste Science+Fiction and the AIC Best Photography award and AIM Best Editing at the Accordi e Disaccordi Film Festival, as well as the nomination for Best Direction and Best Film at the Madrid Indie Film Festival and the Piceno Cinema Festival.