By Mauro Russo Rouge
With Samuele Maritan, Silvia Cuccu, Matteo Valier
A boy meets a girl. He works at the market while she is a street prostitute. They soon develop a strong complicity that will lead them to do something desperate. In the background, a decaying and desolate metropolis.
There is no specific idea or screenplay behind this film. I simply started following the two protagonists, at first individually, later together, and the story just came out. There are no filters and almost everything you see in the film has really happened. Certain situations have inevitably created huge disagreements between me and the crew. But I like the outcome. It surely is an unorthodox way of working, but this is what stimulates my imagination. Generally, I left the camera on to record everything, even the “dead” moments, because it is these moments that helped me achieve the emotions that I was looking for. The protagonists have never known about this and it will be a surprise for them as well to see themselves caught in those moments on the big screen.
The film was shot in a few weeks, between the actors’ hostility and pretty mild temperatures. Halfway through the shooting I feared the worst since the actors were determined to quit this project. There was a pretty long break, during which I tried my best to convince them to continue. All my efforts seemed to be useless until I decided to show them some sequences already edited (something I never do, but the situation required it). At this point, they decided to stay on board, although the mood around the set was cold and rigid. Nonetheless, despite many problems, we managed to complete the project.
I’m sorry. Maybe I pushed myself too far and I should have toned down certain scenes. But when you find yourself in that position, with the privilege of working with some people in their twenties, you don’t really realize how many things they would like to say. These kids belong to a generation in disarray, trying hard to prove themselves through their existential unease. Being able to follow and observe them for some weeks made me realize how much sensitivity and will to face this ruthless world there is in them.
