Gabriele Salvatores returns to the cinema with a fairy tale born after coming into possession of a story written by Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli, at the end of the 40s, about which little or nothing was known. An 80-page ‘screenplay treatment’ that the director turned into ‘Napoli New York‘, in theaters from November 21st with 01 Distribution. In the immediate post-war period, among the rubble of a Naples bent by poverty, the little Carmine (Antonio Guerra) and Celestina (Dea Lanzaro) try to survive as best they can, helping each other.
One night, they embark as stowaways on a ship bound for ‘New York’ to go and live with Celestina’s sister who had emigrated months earlier. The two children join the many Italian emigrants in search of the long-awaited ‘American dream’ and land in an unknown metropolis that rejects them amidst racism and hatred. After numerous vicissitudes, they learn to call home thanks to the help of the purser, Domenico Garofalo, played by Pierfrancesco Favino. “It’s my fairy tale about solidarity”, says Salvatores, who recalls the Neapolitan saying ‘we’re ruciuliando’, ma adda come ‘the landing’. According to the director, “today it’s a bit like that, we’re rolling hastily waiting for the landing.” And ‘Naples New York’ “is a kind of landing to catch your breath from fears, uncertainties, distrust, resentment and, at times, hatred”, Salvatores points out.
QThis film “does not claim to teach anyone anything”, underlines Favino, “but wants to tell about two people, Fellini and Pinelli, who looked at America as a dream and immigration as a coming-of-age tale” for show that “if people made themselves available for the good of others, perhaps the future generation will be able to make choices different from ours”. Also in the cast is Anna Ammirati, in the role of Garofalo’s wife: “in this moment of darkness, Gabriele tells a story that we need”, says the actress, who compares this film “to the smell of biscuits freshly baked by her grandmother or from the mother, who are the best”, he concludes.
