Greta Gerwig's Barbie is the most commercially successful film ever directed by a female director and could become the highest-grossing film of 2023. However, it lost out at the Italian box office to another film that was also made by a woman and made a more direct statement. About women's experiences.
Ms Colteledge told BBC News she still couldn't believe its success.
“No one could have predicted the wave of audience participation and love for this film,” she says.
“I have been an actress for almost 30 years, writing screenplays for the last 10 years and making my first film at the age of 50. And sharing the screen and box office with a blockbuster movie like Barbie. “That should be a good thing because it also deals with women's experiences.'' ”
However, one of the reasons why There's Still Tomorrow caused such a sensation in Italy is that the heroine, Delia (also played by Cortellesi), is subjected to violent physical and emotional abuse by her husband. There is a particular thing. In the film, Delia is a housewife and her mother living in poverty in post-war Rome in 1946, when Italian women first gained the right to vote.
However, the film's story resonates with modern Italian audiences. According to recent police statistics, 120 women will be murdered in Italy in 2023, a rate of approximately one every three days. Just over 50% of them were killed by a partner or ex-partner, the report said. A quarter of them were killed by children, 89% of whom were sons.
Her funeral was attended by thousands of people, and her death sparked massive protests and calls for greater protections for women.
Cortellesi said her films seek to explore, in part, a cultural spirituality that she claims has “been going on for thousands of years.”
So-called “crimes of passion” were criminalized in Italy in 1981, and in July 2023, a judge in Rome decided to sexually assault a 17-year-old schoolgirl for fewer than 10 consecutive sexual assaults. The school's administrator was acquitted, making global headlines. seconds. “Brief molestation” is trending on Instagram and TikTok in Italy, along with the #10 seconds hashtag.
“Unfortunately, the topic of femicide is very topical, especially in Italy,” Cortezzi explains.
“But femicide is often the tragic end of something that didn't start that way. What we don't know is the history of Italy's horrific acts of violence and the death of a woman every 72 hours. That's all we can do: speculate on the history of violence that often doesn't even get brought to the authorities before it escalates.”
The director says the theme of violence against women has long been a part of her screenplay writing and in her stage and film work as an actor, but she says she has never experienced it firsthand. .
“I wanted to make a contemporary film set in the past to compare what has changed and what has stayed the same,” she explains.
“While we may now have certain rights and security as women, what hasn’t changed in society is this psychology that distorts love and turns it into property. We need education.”
There's Still Tomorrow is set in 1946, shot in black and white (a nod to the classic Italian filmmakers of the time), and tackles subjects such as domestic violence, but still A sarcastic humor permeates the story, which the filmmakers say they believe helped the audience. related to that.
“I've used similar language when writing screenplays in the past,” she says. “It's not a comedy per se. It's using the language of comedy to talk about some very serious topics. I think using humor can help guide these topics. I know that if I go, I'll empathize and side with your heroine, without being confrontational in my film language. ”
When There's Still Tomorrow premiered in Italy, with English-language trade publication Screen Daily calling it “a sentimental tale of suffering and self-sacrifice,” adding that Cortellesi “acts with style.” .
Screen Daily critic Alan Hunter said that “domestic violence…is sometimes choreographed into a grotesque and startling dance” and that “the bombastic romantic moments…are marred by dry humour”. added.
The film owes its longevity and financial success to good old-fashioned word of mouth, as well as the fact that the filmmakers took the film to local towns and cities and held large Q&A sessions to coincide with the film's screenings. has also been evaluated.
Cortezzi claims that 45% of the Italian audience was male, which he calls “a great pleasure”.
“This was never a movie against Italian men. It was an invitation to share our lives and walk the same path together. This movie is not alienating men or criticizing Italian men. I really didn't want to think of them.
“Because of the tone of the film and the portrayal of the various characters, men really identified with the female characters, and you could see that in their reactions throughout the film.
“Many men felt able to speak up and share their stories in the Q&A session afterwards, which I often found really moving.”
But in the end, the actress and director called her 11-year-old daughter the film's “muse” and said it could be described as a “mother-daughter love story.”
“This whole project happened because I was reading a book about women's rights. My daughter couldn't believe there was a time when our rights weren't enshrined in law. That's when I realized that we need to talk to young people and understand that their rights cannot be taken for granted,'' she says.
“Just because you accomplish something doesn't mean it stays with you forever. In a way, I wanted to start passing the baton to the younger generation.”
There's Still Tomorrow will be released by Vue Cinemas in the UK and Ireland on April 26, 2024.