La Sapienza
Architect Alexandre and social scientist Aliénor retreat to Stresa, Italy, intent on climbing out of the emotional malaise that has trapped their marriage
La Sarraz Pictures
La Sarraz Distribuzione
- Rai Cinema, MiBACT, CNC, Film Commission Torino Piemonte, Roma Lazio Film Commission
(selection):
- Missing Film Festival, 2014
- 32 Torino Film Festival, 2014
- Vladivostok International Film Festival, 2014
- Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, 2014
- Festival Nouveau Cinema Montreal, 2014
- BFI The Times London Film Festival, 2014
- 52nd New York Film Festival, 2014
- Vancouver International Film festival, 2014
- Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, 2014
- Sevilla Festival De Cine, 2014
- Toronto Film Festival, 2014
- 67 Locarno Film Festival, 2014
La Sarraz Pictures
http://www.lasarraz.com
At 50, Swiss architect Alexandre Schmidt has had a brilliant career, but is starting to have doubts about the meaning of his work. For her part, his wife Aliénor has similar issues about her own profession as a behavioral specialist with the under-privileged. Yet a wall of silence exists between the two of them. Wanting to pursue a long cherished desire to write about Francesco Borromini, the Baroque architect, Alexandre decides to go to Ticino then Rome and Aliénor chooses to accompany him. In Stresa, where they plan to spend a few days, the couple meets two adolescents, a brother and a sister. The boy is about to begin studying architecture, and the girl is suffering from a strange nervous illness. Aliénor decides to stay to look after the girl and offers to pay for the boy to take a research trip, which means that Alexandre is obliged to take him with him to Rome.
Yet another film that should have been from Ticino but wasn’t. And yet... A great director and writer based in France, Eugène Green won the Pardo d'Oro Cineasti del Presente with Memories (co-directed by Pedro Costa and Harun Farocki) in 2007 and was back in competition in 2009 with A religiosa portuguesa. During his time in Locarno, he became interested in the life and work of the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini, who was born in Bissone. Hence, the project for a film was created in which a famous contemporary architect, Alexandre Schmidt, travels to Ticino and Rome in the footsteps of the great Baroque artist. In spite of the remarkable figure of Borromini (represented, as a reminder, on 100 franc notes!) and the notoriety of the filmmaker, no Ticino support was forthcoming at the time. So, the possibility of enhancing a cultural treasure of Ticino was lost. Result: without Swiss support, the "Ticinese" part was essentially shot on the Italian side of Lake Maggiore. Another missed opportunity for a film that would have considerable success all over the world.
Frédéric Maire, Director Cinémathèque Suisse
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