The new Pupi Avati film Il papa di giovanna has just been released in Italy to moderate success, taking just under a million euros over the weekend. Set in 1938, it follows Michele Casali (Silvio Orlandi), whose daughter Giovanna (Alba Rohrwacher) is sent to a psychiatric institution for the duration of the war after killing her best friend. Kept in virtual isolation, she forms an increasingly close relationship with her father, which only acts to further exclude her mother, Delia (Francesca Neri).
Avati really churns out his films, normally making at least one a year and flirting with a number of genres while retaining a singular vision. I guess you could look at him as being an Italian John Sayles or Micheal Winterbottom (his films have more variety than the likes of Mike Leigh, Cassavetes, Woody Allen etc). Which makes it a shame that he doesn’t get more attention, really. His last film, the Hideout, has come out in Italy… but with any English subs or audio. Which is a crying shame as you’d have thought – being a horror film and starring the likes of Treat Williams and Burt Young – it would have had some decent sales.