L'aria serena dell'Ovest

by Silvio Soldini

Set in Milan in 1989, this is the story of four people – an expert in market research, a nurse, a university professor and a pharamceutical researcher – whose destinies intertwine through a lost diary in a city which seems, by its very nature, unsuitable for establishing human relationships.

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DATA SHEET

Orginal title:

L'aria serena dell'Ovest

Year:

1990

Length (min.):

110'

Original language:

Italiano

International Title:

The Peaceful Air of the West

Production:

Monogatari

Co-Producers:

Pic Film (Lugano), SRG SSR, Radio Televisione Svizzera Italiana

Distributors:

Dolmen/Cecchi Gori HE

With the support of:

Ministero del Turismo e dello Spettacolo

Facts & Figures:

World premiere, 8 August 1990 at Locarno Film Festival

Prizes
(selection):

Winner of the David di Donatello

Festivals
(selection):

International Film Festival Rotterdam, 1991
Locarno International Film Festival, 1990

SYNOPSIS

Four people live in a western city in the late eighties. They lead different lives, are different ages, have different situations. They do not even know each other and do not seem to have anything in common, except for the certainty and the "peacefulness" of their own habits. But suddenly something happens to overpower them, to hit them. Struck by the events they are forced to be involved, their roads cross - as if fate itself is giving them the chance to change. Which is probably what they are looking for. A choral story about that mysterious instant in which opportunities are born, the instant when they must be availed of. Four stories in one to describe the variations of contemporary life.

LOCATION

Lugano and surroundings

COLLECTIONS

Cinémathèque suisse

CAST & CREW

Direction:

Silvio Soldini

Film script:

Roberto Tiraboschi, Silvio Soldini, Paola Candiani (story)

Cast:

Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Antonella Fattori, Ivano Marescotti, Patrizia Piccinini, Barbara Valmorin

Director of photography:

Luca Bigazzi

Scenography:

Daniela Verdenelli

Costumes:

Daniela Verdenelli

Makeup:

Esmé Sciaroni

Sound:

Barbara Flückiger

Editing:

Claudio Cormio

Music:

Giovanni Venosta

Producers:

Giovanni Saulini

HIGHLIGHTS

Cesare Noviti works for an important company and spends his time conducting bizarre market surveys, while he dreams of leaving for ethnographic research in Central America. Veronica is a nurse and lives alone: the metropolis offers her the possibility of a different club every night where she can find a new lover. Tobia, a pharmaceutical chemist embittered by disagreements with his colleagues, tries to get away from the work environment and the boredom of routine with his wife Clara. Irene has just started working as a translator but - unhappy with her recent move to Milan and her long relationship with Mario - she's thinking of leaving both her job and her boyfriend. Change is in the air, but until the end we won't know if the changes will happen or if the protagonists will somehow retrace their steps. Filmed mainly in Milan (but also a little in Lugano) with Italian actors such as Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Ivano Marescotti and director of photography Luca Bigazzi, the first feature film by Swiss-Italian director Silvio Soldini was co-produced by Pic Film of Lugano and RSI and counts many local and national technicians among its collaborators. The film premiered in competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1990.

Frédéric Maire, Director Cinémathèque Suisse

L'aria serena dell'Ovest

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