Le Cento Domeniche
Antonio Riva is an early-retired factory worker who still goes to the factory to teach (for free) the trade to younger workers. He looks after his dementia-stricken mother, he’s on good terms with his ex-wife and has a married lover who “just wants to have fun”. When his daughter Emilia announces her upcoming marriage, Antonio is happy to take care of the costs of the ceremony, because it has always been his dream to walk his little girl down the aisle. So, he goes to the bank to withdraw from the account that holds all his savings, but the director advises him instead to take out a loan as his shares are doing very well. But Antonio doesn’t own shares, or rather, he didn’t realise that he had turned what he thought was savings into a risky investment. All this because he trusted the bank employees, that were like family to him, as they supported the development of the entire village on the Lake where he was born and raised. Now the bank cannot fail, because if it did, ‘everything would be chaos’.
Antonio Albanese
Sicilian by origin, Antonio Albanese is a graduate at the Civica Scuola d’Arte Drammatica in Milan. He made his debut as a cabaret actor at the Zelig theatre in Milan, working as a comedian on the small screen at the “Maurizio Costanzo Show” (1992), “Su la testa…!” (1992) and above all with “Mai dire gol” (1993) hosted by the Gialappa’s Band, which quickly brought him incredible fame.
His intention in this movie is to describe an old way of life in the process of disappearing, prey to the ruthless logic of the market and the unscrupulousness of banking institutions, which rotate staff in local branches so that no one can build a relationship of trust with customers.
And Cento domeniche is precisely about Trust: the trust with which Antonio puts his future in the hands of people who should protect his interests, and not only their own. Because good people like him belong to an ancient world in which solidarity and mutual aid were common currency, and an handshake was binding.
Day: Friday, 30 August 2024
Hour: 19:00 for 19:30
Where: Dante Alighieri Society, 62a Houghton Dr, Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, 2198
Entry: R50 with popcorn and a drink – bookings here https://www.quicket.co.za/events/274237-italian-movie-night/#/