Laggiù qualcuno mi ama

Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me
If ever there was an Italian artist who was underrated as an actor and, above all, director (who is still waiting to be discovered), it is Massimo Troisi (1953–1994). Dying young at only forty-one after playing the lead in Il postino, he was a brilliant stage actor before becoming an astonishing film director. His understanding of comedy, his fragile and melancholic character, and his keen observations of the intimate and political relationships between men and women have been a source of inspiration for an entire generation.
Mario Martone’s documentary explores the personality of Troisi in frank conversations with his contemporaries about his films. Martone listens to the accounts of friends and colleagues, finds unexpected points of contact with the French New Wave and, for the first time, analyses extraordinary unpublished documents that reveal Troisi’s secret laboratory – the place where his ideas, jokes and truly poetic writing came to life.
by Mario Martone
with Francesco Piccolo, Anna Pavignano, Valeria Pezza, Goffredo Fofi, Paolo Sorrentino, Salvo Ficarra, Valentino Picone, Michael Redford, Roberto Perpignani, Sentieri Selvaggi
Italy 2023 Italian 128’ Colour Documentary Form

With

  • Francesco Piccolo
  • Anna Pavignano
  • Valeria Pezza
  • Goffredo Fofi
  • Paolo Sorrentino
  • Salvo Ficarra
  • Valentino Picone
  • Michael Redford
  • Roberto Perpignani
  • Sentieri Selvaggi

Crew

Director Mario Martone
Screenplay Anna Pavignano, Mario Martone
Cinematography Paolo Carnera
Editing Jacopo Quadri
Sound Design Silvia Moraes
Sound Maricetta Lombardo, Emanuele Cecere
Production Design Carmine Guarino
Assistant Director Luca Federico
Production Manager Aide Camarda
Producers Fabrizio Donvito, Mauro Berardi, Benedetto Habib, Marco Cohen, Daniel Campos Pavoncelli, Giampaolo Letta, Massimiliano Orfei
Executive Producers Gaetano Daniele, Kim Gualino

Mario Martone

Born in Naples, Italy. His debut film Morte di un matematico napoletano won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1992 Venice International Film Festival. Many of his subsequent films have also premiered at Venice or Cannes. As a director, he not only makes feature and short films but also documentaries and works in the theatre and opera. For his project La Bohème, which he made during the pandemic, he filmed opera and vocal performances in venues which were closed to the public at that time. The piece won the Grand Prix at the 59th Golden Prague International Television Festival in 2022.

Filmography

1992 Morte di un matematico napoletano (Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician) 1993 Rasoi 1995 L’amore molesto (Nasty Love) 1997 La salita; short film, episode of I vesuviani (The Vesuvians) 1998 Teatro di guerra (Rehearsal for War) 2004 L’odore del sangue (The Scent of Blood) 2010 Noi credevamo (We Believed) 2014 Il giovane favoloso (Leopardi) 2018 Capri – Revolution 2019 Il sindaco del rione Sanità (The Mayor of Rione Sanità) 2021 Qui rido io (The King of Laughter) 2022 Nostalgia 2023 Laggiù qualcuno mi ama (Massimo Troisi: Somebody Down There Likes Me)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023