Italian director Giuseppe
Tornatore is back after three years, following 2013's The Best
Offer, with the forthcoming film The Correspondence, set for
release Thursday on 400 screens throughout Italy.
The film, which had a budget of 10 million, stars Jeremy
Irons and Olga Kurylenko in a story about eternal love, the
never-ending kind between two different generations: not an easy
task.
"Both in literature and in cinema, as Cesare Pavese said:
happy love is rare because it doesn't interest writers," said
Tornatore, explaining the nature of the film.
In fact, there's quite a bit of unhappiness in this movie,
produced by Paco with RAI Cinema, and with a score composed by
Ennio Morricone, with whom Tornatore has collaborated since his
1988 Oscar-winning film Cinema Paradiso.
Kurylenko plays Amy Ryan, a young university student who
works as a film stuntwoman in her free time, who falls in love
with her mature astrophysics professor Ed Phoerum, played by
Irons.
At a certain point the man himself disappears, but his
letters, videos, and Whatsapp messages continue.
The film poses not only the question of where he's
disappeared to, but also whether or not love can live on through
technology alone.
"I use technology and it interest me a lot, but I have to
say that thanks to its development I was able to make this film
that I'd had the idea for many years ago," Tornatore said.
"However it must be said that in romantic relationships,
technology takes away a lot. And after all, isn't the human
being perhaps the greatest technological machine," he said.
This is Tornatore's third film in English, and the director
said that although it does have certain advantages, that fact
ultimately has little bearing on his choices.
"Apart from the language, I only make films that I like,"
he said.
"Of course, with English you have a wider market. If, for
example, The Best Offer had been filmed in Italian, I don't know
if it would have had the same success abroad".
Tornatore said it was easy relegating Irons to a
digital-only role, as happens in this film, in which there's
only one scene in which he interacts with Kurylenko.
"He's a great actor who immediately understood what I
wanted".
Irons concurred.
"It's true that I'm acting a role as if in front of a
mirror," Irons said.
"I was only able to meet Olga briefly. In my mind I had the
memories of this, but I must say that it's not that much
different than being in front of an actress in real life," he
said.
The English actor said it makes little difference to him
whether the film he's in is a big-budget studio film or an
independent.
"From the beginning of my career, on the one hand I've made
interesting films, and, on the other hand, I've worked for
high-budget productions. The latter showcase you, and are useful
for getting a better budget for the independent films they ask
you to work in," Irons said.
When asked about his advancing age, Irons said, "It's true
that nowadays I get smaller roles, but on the other hand I only
have about 16 years or so left to live, and I want to truly
enjoy them," he said.
As far as being considered a sex symbol, Irons said he's
found it useful, but feels he doesn't merit the title.
"You are what you are. Of course, on screen you're
magnified eight times, you look different, but I'm grateful to
the female public that considers me watchable, and to all of my
female fans," he said.
As far as technology goes, Irons says "there's nothing like
looking someone in the eye".
"We're animals. Every communication must be made
face-to-face. The exasperated use of technology by the younger
generations concerns me, however".
Ukrainian actress Kurylenko, who starred with Daniel Craig
as Bond girl in Quantum of Solace, said she was enthusiastic
about this role.
"It's a beautiful love story; I'd never read anything like
it," she said.
"The only problem was that of sadness: staying sad for two
months, the whole time the film lasted, wasn't easy".
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