Perfect Strangers

Film Info

Italy 2016 | 90 min. Director: Paolo Genovese

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Perfect Strangers

Synopsis

During the course of a dinner, which has gathered together a group of friends, at a certain point the hostess, Eva, says that she is convinced that many couples would separate if their respective spouses looked at the contents of their respective cell phones. And so begins a sort of game, and everyone must place their cell phones on the table and let their messages, chats or phone calls be witnessed by all. What at the onset seems an innocent game slowly turns into target practice and we find out that we don’t always know people as well as we think we do. As the evening proceeds, progressively, the secret sides of our players will be revealed, leading up to an unexpected ending, no doubt bitter and cynical and ready to stimulate various reflections.

Cast & Crew

Director

Paolo Genovese
Producer

Giampaolo Letta, Marco Belardi
Screenwriter

Paolo Costella, Paolo Genovese, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello, Filippo Bologna
Director of photography

Paolo Genovese
Main Cast

Giuseppe Battiston (Peppe), Anna Foglietta (Carlotta), Marco Giallini (Rocco), Edoardo Leo (Cosimo), Valerio Mastandrea (Lele), Kasia Smutniak (Eva), Alba Rohrwacher (Bianca)
Editor (Cut)

Consuela Catucci
Sound Design

Umberto Montesanti
Original Score

Maurizio Filardo
Production Design

Chiara Balducci
Costume Design

Grazia Materia, Camilla Guiliani
Makeup

Bruno Tarallo, Fabrizio Nanni

Director's comment

For some years now I had this idea for a story about the secret lives of a group of people, but I wasn’t really sure how to tell the story. A phrase by Gabriel Garcia Marquez struck a chord. It said that “we all have a public life, a private life and a secret life”. Last year, finally, I was on the right track and I knew how I wanted to bring the idea to life.
Today the secret life for all of us passes, inevitably, through our cell phones. Smartphones have become a fundamental object, perhaps the only one that we always carry with us, it’s become, as we say in the movie, our ‘black box’. It all came about from some reflections, a sort of short circuit so I started to write with the other screenwriters (Rolando Ravello, Paolo Costella, Filippo Bologna and Paola Mammini). The story poured out, the time was right and the ideas were plentiful.
PERFECT STRANGERS is a movie where nothing is what it seems, where each person can tell their own experiences, can establish the confines between right and wrong, correct and incorrect, disreputable or not, speaking of secret lives, of that which we cannot or do not want to tell.

Biography

Born in Rome in 1966, Paolo Genovese earned a degree in Economics and Business. He began to work in advertising with McCann Erickson Italiana, realising commercials that won awards at various domestic and international events. He taught “techniques and audio-visual language” at the European Institute of Design and “techniques and advertising language” at the Telecom Italia School of Communication.
In the field of advertising he directed more than 300 commercials, winning numerous domestic and international awards. Among these are: Tim, Tre, McDonalds, Buitoni, Algida, Findus, Corriere della sera, Rai, Perlana, Q8, FIAT Kelloggs, Renault, Citroen, Coop, National Geographic, Motta, Vitasnella, Cirio, Birra Moretti, Vanity Fair, Repubblica, Ferrarelle, Universal Studios, Lasonil, Volkswagen, Alleanza and Alpitour.
In 2003 he was elected best advertising director of the year by a panel nominated by magazines in the field.
With respect to movie-making, in 2001, together with Luca Miniero he wrote and directed the movie INCANTESIMO NAPOLETANO which was awarded a David di Donatello and two Golden Globes. Working again with Miniero, in 2003, he wrote and directed NESSUN MESSAGGIO IN SEGRETARIA with Carlo Delle Piane, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valerio Mastandrea. In 2006, he turned his attention to VIAGGIO IN ITALIA with Licia Maglietta and Antonio Catania, an interesting experiment of a movie “in pills”, broadcast in 20 micro-episodes by Rai Tre "Ballarò" conducted by Giovanni Floris. Three years later, in 2008, he returned to writing and directing with Miniero QUESTA NOTTE È ANCORA NOSTRA with Nicolas Vaporidis. That same year he directed AMICHE MIE, a mini-series for Channel 5 with Margherita Buy, Elena Sofia Ricci, Luisa Ranieri and Cecilia Dazzi.
In 2010 Genovese began a particularly fruitful period, making highly successful comedies each year: LA BANDA DEI BABBI NATALE (2010), IMMATURI (2011) and IMMATURI – IL VIAGGIO (2012).
In 2012 he made UNA FAMIGLIA PERFETTA with Sergio Castellitto, Claudia Gerini and Marco Giallini, which, in addition to winning the Ciak d’oro for the best comedy, received awards from numerous international festivals and was a candidate for the David di Donatello, the Nastri d’Argento and the Golden Globes.
In 2013 he wrote and directed TUTTA COLPA DI FREUD with Marco Giallini and Anna Foglietta, which was highly successful and acclaimed by the critics.
In 2014 he wrote and directed the comedy SEI MAI STATA SULLA LUNA?

Filmography
2015 SEI MAI STATA SULLA LUNA?
2014 TUTTA COLPA DI FREUD
2012 UNA FAMIGLIA PERFETTA
2012 IMMATURI - IL VIAGGIO
2011 IMMATURI
2010 LA BANDA DEI BABBI NATALE
2008 QUESTA NOTTE È ANCORA NOSTRA
2005 NESSUN MESSAGGIO IN SEGRETERIA
2002 COPPIA (O LE MISURE DELL'AMORE), short
2002 INCANTESIMO NAPOLETANO
1999 PICCOLE COSE DI VALORE NON QUANTIFICABILE, short
1998 LA SCOPERTA DI WALTER, short

Cast & Crew

Paolo Genovese
Giampaolo Letta, Marco Belardi
Paolo Costella, Paolo Genovese, Paola Mammini, Rolando Ravello, Filippo Bologna
Paolo Genovese
Giuseppe Battiston (Peppe), Anna Foglietta (Carlotta), Marco Giallini (Rocco), Edoardo Leo (Cosimo), Valerio Mastandrea (Lele), Kasia Smutniak (Eva), Alba Rohrwacher (Bianca)
Consuela Catucci
Umberto Montesanti
Maurizio Filardo
Chiara Balducci
Grazia Materia, Camilla Guiliani
Bruno Tarallo, Fabrizio Nanni

Film Info

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