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Carlo Verdone • Director

"A fun film about a serious issue"

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- The Roman actor and director returns to the screens on March 2 with a tragi-comedy about divorced fathers, together with Favino and Giallini

"I wanted to make a fun film about a serious issue, looking to masters such as Mario Monicelli who teach us how irony can be more effective in portraying dramatic realities". And so, two years after Io, loro e Lara, which centres around a missionary who is having a crisis of faith, Carlo Verdone returns to cinema with another film with a delicate theme, that of divorced fathers who, in order to pay alimony to their ex-wives, fall into ruin, without a home and without a penny already after 20 months. It’s Posti in piedi in paradiso [+see also:
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, a production by Luigi and Aurelio De Laurentiis, out with Filmauro on March 2, in 650 copies.

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The Roman director and actor tackles the theme of these "new poor men" in his own way, ironically: three men who are separated decide to live under the same (rickety) roof to share costs. They are Domenico (Marco Giallini), an estate agent, avid gambler and occasional gigolo; Fulvio (Pierfrancesco Favino), a cinema critic who’s ended up doing the gossip columns; and Ulisse (Carlo Verdone), former successful DJ, now the owner of a vinyl shop, who has two customers a day. The cast also includes Micaela Ramazzotti, Diane Fleri and Nicoletta Romanoff.

"An out-and-out social emergency", was how Verdone defined it at the film’s presentation in Rome. "Mine is a simple comedy, but if it can help to make us think about the futility of wars between parents, which only bring disaster to them and their kids, that already goes a long way".

What opinion did you form of this type of divorce?
I tried not to take the male side by portraying women as henchmen. But it’s true that judges are often too strict towards men. I received many letters from separated fathers: their greatest pain is not being able to see their children. But there is also a financial tragedy: it’s a new category of poor people.

The film portrays the male solidarity which forms between people who are very different from each other and are forced to live together. How did you work with the actors?
The entire cast had a real sense of measure. We limited the comical aspects to these three strangers living together. Outside of the home, however, they meet with reality, the relationship with their ex-wives, their children, their lawyers, and there are fewer laughs. The ending is an act of faith towards the young ones, who are more mature than their parents: Domenico’s son is embarrassed by his dad, but then he is by his side when he needs him; Ulisse’s daughter falls outside the norms, she wants to keep the baby she’s carrying despite being 17 years old.

In this film you leave the role of tiger to Marco Giallini.
At this point in my career, it has to be done. In the past I often played the part of the rascal. Here I’ve carved myself out a more woeful part. There comes a moment when you get bored of going solo. Now I make more choral films. That way I can concentrate more on directing.

Talking of directing, you say you have chosen to give this film a theatrical feel. In what way?
The shots are wide, there is no abuse of close-ups. The actors move in front of the camera. There are more middle or far distance shots, so as to catch the actors’ reactions and counter-reactions more effectively.

Whom are the ‘standing room tickets in heaven’ (Ed: referring to the film’s title) reserved for?
For those who commit excusable sins, who will go to heaven, but are so jinxed that they will only find standing room. I was thinking of the word “heaven” for the title. Then one day I was queuing at the cinema and the cashier shouted:”Only standing room left!” instead of saying “Sold out!” A world opened up to me. What’s more, the cinema was called Eden.

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