Young film directors

Naples has a long-standing cinema tradition: early Lumière productions were screened in the Neapolitan concertcafès and the first Italian film-making companies (Partenope, Vesuvio Film) were born precisely in the Neapolitan area.
The production of films directed by Neapolitan film directors and set in Naples and surroundings is experiencing a period of great importance and fame which started 20 years ago.
Some speak of a “new southern wave”, of a new film movement involving famous names such as Capuano, Martone, Corsicato, Gaudino, Incerti, Dionisio, Di Majo, Marra, Sorrentino, Marrazzo, and many others.
Actually, as Capuano and Martoni themselves maintain, it is not so much a movement but rather the fact that a solid production machine is making a name for itself in Naples, involving artistic and technical professionals, places, and facilities, allowing stylistically diverse authors to produce their films on Neapolitan territory. We interviewed Antonio Capuano to learn more about the timing and features of his film productions.

ONE YEAR AGO MARTONE WROTE THAT THE NEAPOLITAN ARTISTIC “REVOLUTION” BROKE OUT AT THE TIME OF THE EARTHQUAKE, WHEN A “NEW GENERATION OF ARTISTS STARTED DEFINING THE OUTLINES OF A TOWN THAT HAD CHANGED DRAMATICALLY”. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
I am fond of metaphors and images, but I don’t think we can refer to it as a proper “artistic revolution”. Painting was already present before the eighties, as were writing and good theatre productions. As a matter of fact, cinema itself was already present: though only very few important personalities like Piscicelli or Romebased film directors such as Rosi worked in the sector.
For any phenomenon to become wellestablished, you need numerical texture: even if it happens by chance, a certain number of talented people must rise and grow professionally in the same city.
Luckily, this is what has been happening with cinema in Naples for the past 20-30 years, and it is almost as if the earthquake did shake talents, awakening them, bringing their works to the fore in the years that followed.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO MAKE FILMS?
My personal “earthquake” took place in 1989.
To tell the truth, once again, it wasn’t actually an earthquake: for years I had been working as a painter and in show business.
I worked as a stage-designer for 25-30 years and moving into film directing was natural.

PERFORMING ALSO OTHER “FORMS OF ART” (PAINTING, MUSIC, STAGEDESIGNING) IS A COMMON TRAIT AMONG MANY FILM DIRECTORS FROM THE NEAPOLITAN AREA. IN YOUR OPINION, IS IT POSSIBLE TO SEPARATE CINEMA FROM THE OTHER FORMS OF ART?
You are right, many of us have devoted themselves to painting, theatre or music.
To us, cinema means extending our search.
However, there are some excellent authors who began their artistic career with cinema and refer exclusively to that world, such as Paolo Sorrentino. In their case, they have a completely different style and approach.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TEMPTED TO CHECK ALL THE ASPECTS OF A FILM ON THE GROUNDS OF YOUR BROAD AND VARIED SKILLS? TO WHAT EXTENT ARE YOUR SETTINGS, DIALOGUES AND PLOTS PLANNED OR IMPROVISED?
I’m obsessed with checking everything, I’m a nightmare for every stagedesigner, editor, costume-designer, light and sound technician.
There is no such thing as improvised settings in my films. Instead, it is fundamental to the kind of work that is done with the actors, which consists of long rehearsals, trials, flashes of personal inspiration. Improvising during this stage of the job is an indication of an atmosphere of diffused creativity, which is precisely what a film needs to be successful.

MANY DIRECTORS START THEIR CAREER WITH SHORT FILMS, SMALL PRODUCTIONS THAT ARE EASIER TO EDIT, SIMPLER TO PRODUCE. SHORT FILMS, HOWEVER, ARE IN A WAY MATURE WORKS WHICH DO NOT ALLOW SENSELESS TALK. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?
Short films are both easy and difficult, like everything else. Apart from being economically advantageous, another benefit is that they are greatly flexible in terms of their duration. There is no minimum duration: they can last 3′ or 12′, ending precisely when the film director feels that he has succeeded in conveying his message.
Feature films normally last at least 90′, during which time the public’s attention must be kept constantly aroused.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOU AS A “FILMGOER”: WHAT MOVIE GENRE ARE YOU PARTICULARLY FOND OF?
When I was a young boy, like all my friends, I liked adventure and war films.
It was like a “diktat”: boys weren’t supposed to be fond of love films which, by the way, at that time were chaste and romantic.
Then, when I was a student at the Art School, I discovered the so-called “art” films or “cinéma d’auteur” and since then this has been my favourite genre. This doesn’t mean that I don’t watch other types of movies, but there are some movies that I watch only if they happen to be on my screen at home.

THIS BRINGS US TO AN INTERESTING TOPIC, I.E. “WHERE” TO VIEW MOVIES OR, AS IT WERE, THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “SCENOGRAPHY” OF THE PLACE OF SCREENING. AN OLD RESTORED CINEMA DOWNTOWN OR A MULTIPLE CINEMA LOCATED OUT OF TOWN – WILL THE SAME FILM BE VIEWED SIMILARLY IN BOTH SETTINGS?
To me there is no fundamental difference between the two settings.
The cinema has to be designed properly, the screen must be properly sized and positioned at the right distance, the seats should be comfortable, the images and sounds clear and well-defined. When everything is perfect the film becomes really enjoyable, regardless of where it is screened.

WHEN AND HOW DOES THE TIME COME TO MAKE A NEW FILM?
The time to make a new film normally comes when you are still shooting the previous one.
Often enough, there are various projects growing at the same time in the mind of a film director, a mind which should be lively and constantly packed with new creatures.
Production time, instead, is governed by other types of conditions and it rarely matches the amount of time spent to conceive the film.