Translated by Angela Tagliafierro
After the Italian works of art of the last period, I did such a strange thing that I have not been doing for a long time: I watched the TV.
I did, because when I read Gigi Proietti and Marco Giallini, I smiled, and I decided to give them my time, especially for the skilled Proietti, who has moved me and has made me smile for years. No offence intended to the latter.
“I am Santa Claus” (Io sono Babbo Natale) is an Italian film dating to 2021 written and shot by Edoardo Falcone. The film is known for bringing the last interpretation of the Roman actor, who passed away on November 2nd of the year before, to the big screen.
The film deals with Ettore, son of complicated parents and ex prisoner, who tries to rebuild his life after having been condemned for robbery. The film director decides to immediately explain the reason for the hate Ettore feels for Christmas: it seems that Santa Claus, the one everyone is waiting for, forgot him. When freed, the past boss abandons him moneyless and his ex-partner Laura and their daughter refuse to see him again. Broken by the situation, coincidences will bring him to meet a particular, old man.
The easy and linear story let every kind of audience enjoy the film, especially after the limitless feasts on the Christmas’ Eve dinner and on Christmas lunch.
The comedy plunges its roots in the tradition of the American Christmas movies dating to the ‘80s and ‘90s, mixing magic with a plot anchored to reality. The film triggers edifying messages, like the possibility to change one’s life and the importance of altruism. Such themes that, to be really critic, would define like “common” and “predictable” but that, actually, must be highlighted in the Christmas period.
The direction and the script by Edoardo Falcone are well done, even though they may show some mistakes for a more attentive audience.
Massimiliano Sturiale, through the scenographies and the special effects, lets us fly over Rome, Paris and London, moving us with wonderful European landscapes. The film is a mixture of fairy-tale atmospheres, American comedies and the Italian humour, with a bit of magic realism which warms the public’s heart.
Despite some casual illogicality and mistakes of continuity, “I am Santa Claus” offers a pleasant Christmas film experience for all the family. The recitation of the two greats of the Italian cinema and theatre intersects in a performance able to make you forget how many mistakes the technicians made.
I hope you have witnessed like me this jump in the Italian acting, and you felt well at home with your family, too.
Mondo Internazionale APS - Riproduction Reserved ® 2023
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L'Autore
Jacopo Cantoni
Laureato in Cinema presso l'Alma mater Studiorum di Bologna, mi cimento nella scrittura di articoli inerenti a questo bellissimo campo, la Settima Arte. Attualmente frequento il corso Methods and Topics in Arts Management offerto dall'università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
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Marco Giallini Gigi Proietti I am Santa Claus famiglia game actors