Country: Italy, France
Year: 1962
Duration: 115'


Tommaso Puzzilli is a young, instinctive and violent boy, from the underclass of a Roman neighbourhood, who grew up among shacks and temporary accommodations. He got used to live surrounded by violence, attacks and robberies. When Tommaso meets Irene, he falls in love with her. With the help of a few friends he tries to perform a serenade, which unfortunately ends up in a fight where he hurts a man with a knife. He gets arrested and spends a few months in prison. Not so physically strong, Tommaso is just about to leave when he gets ill and is hospitalized in the sanatorium. This means additional humiliation. But right here, at the hospital, Tommaso discovers a new reality: the desperate struggle of the inpatients to improve their lives. The clash between them and the police reignites in Tommaso a human willingness he was unaware of. Once he leaves the sanatorium he knows he has changed. But there are not many hopes of a better life. When he sees a woman drowning in the cold waters of the Aniene, he jumps in to save her. That is going to be the first and last selfless act of his existence. A recurrence of the disease, because of that jump in the water, leads him to death.
Traduzione in inglese Francesca Sala – English translation Francesca Sala

Biography

film director

Brunello Rondi

FILMOGRAFIA

1962: Una vita violenta (co-regia Paolo Heusch). 1964: Il demonio. 1967: Domani non siamo più qui. 1968: Più tardi Claire, più tardi. 1970: Le tue mani sul mio corpo. 1972: Valeria dentro e fuori. 1973: Racconti proibiti... di niente vestiti; Tecnica di un amore; Ingrid sulla strada. 1974: Prigione di donne. 1976: I prosseneti; Velluto nero. 1982: La voce.

Paolo Heusch

Declaration

film director

Ergas maybe felt the need to put next to Heusch a person who was more into artistic cinema than he was, but he was still a great professionist. Heusch told me right away: “If you want, considering that it is going to be a tough film, I accept”. We had the huge chance to have Pasolini as co-screenwriter, Pasolini gave us parts of the screenplay taken from his novel, which he wrote by himself; I don’t remember for what sort of productive reason we didn’t make them and that was a serious fault. The film wasn’t inspired in any way to Accattone because, even if I don’t really remember the dates, we had not seen it yet. There was a coincidence in time that totally played against us. Maybe when we shot Una vita violenta, Pasolini hadn’t started Accattone yet.

Traduzione in inglese Francesca Sala – English translation Francesca Sala

Cast

& Credits

Director: Brunello Rondi, Paolo Heusch.
Plot: dal romanzo omonimo di Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Screenplay: Paolo Heusch, Brunello Rondi, Franco Solinas, da una riduzione cinematografica di Ennio De Concini, Franco Brusati.
Fotografia (vistavision): Armando Nannuzzi.
Art director: Luigi Scaccianoce.
Costume designer: Danilo Donati.
Editor: Nella Nannuzzi.
Music: Piero Piccioni.
Cast and characters: Franco Citti (Tommaso Puzzilli), Serena Vergano (Irene), Enrico Maria Salerno (Bernardini), Alfredo Leggi, Angelo Santi Amantini, Benito Poliani, Enrico Salvatore, Paolo Petrini, Giorgio Santangelo, Piero Morgia, Titta Storff, Micaela Dazzi, Bruno Cattaneo.
Production company: Zebra Film Roma-Aera Film Parigi.
Italian distribution: Variety Film.
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