THEbased on the true story of a Hungarian soldier named Peter Panthis evening at 9.20pm on Rai 5 goes on air Private Peter. With Ondina Quadri in the role of the protagonist, it is set a few days after the end of the Great War. A touching and poetic work: a soft song against all wars that continue to bleed the world.
Private Peter: the plot of the film tonight 19 May, time and where to see it
Aired on first TV, Private Peter is a film inspired by the true story of a Hungarian soldier named Peter Pan. Set in 1918, on the Asiago Plateau, a few days before the end of the Great War, it tells the story of a young Austro-Hungarian soldier (Ondina Quadri) who deserts and crosses enemy linesarriving in Italy.
Alone, scared and on the run, the boy doesn’t meet anyone during his journey except for a patrol of Italian soldiers which includes Captain Don Quixote with his squire (Peppe Servillo and Sergio Bustric) who however barely notice him. In this solitude, the horrors of the trenches constantly alternate with his childhood memories: his mother (Benedetta Barzini), his peaceful life as a shepherd and his friend Maty (Franz Stefani), who tragically died in the war.
These are the rare moments of serenity, then Peter resumes his journey: the desire is to find an island in the middle of the sea which doesn’t exist. His journey thus transforms into a progressive stripping away of everythingin an intimate reunion with the flow of nature and the mountains. The wooded territory allows him to cancel the boundaries imposed by men and to return to being, internally, the boy he was before being torn from his land.
Ondina Quadri in a scene from “Soldier Peter”. (Rai Press Office)
An anti-militarist and touching story, the review
Taking inspiration from the surprising correspondence between the name of a soldier who actually existed and the character in JM Barrie’s novelthe film directed by Gianfelice Pedote and Giliano Carli chooses the path of the fantastic story. To question war and its intrinsic link with dominant ideologies and thoughts.
The protagonist is a candid soldier who distrusts the adult world as much as Barrie’s literary character. The co-protagonist of the film is undoubtedly nature, filmed by Matteo Calore without aestheticism or rhetoric in the beautiful locations of the Asiago plateau, in Veneto, that was one of the bloodiest fronts of the first war. Made by mixing super 8 shooting and the pictorial technique of live-painting, Private Peter can also count on a narrative structure that is coherent, compact and engaging for the emotions it manages to convey.
The film also stands out for its dreamlike and contemplative approach. Abandoning the rhetoric of war, the directors choose the path of silence and nature. Influenced by the cinema of Ermanno Olmi and Michelangelo Frammartino, Pedote and Carli create a small and delicate film where they invite the viewer to abandon themselves to the vision. Letting yourself be guided by the lost gaze and magnetic eyes of Ondina Quadri, an absolutely apt choice to convey the innocence and candor of Peter’s broken age.
Who is Ondina Quadri, protagonist of Private Peter
Taking on the role of soldier Peter is Ondina Quadri, an actress who, although very young, he has already “worn” various variations of sex on the big screen. She was hemaphroditic in Love and metamorphosisintersex in Ariadne by Carlo Lavagna (with which he won the Golden Globe), trans in Small Bodyby Laura Samani.
Born in 1994 in Fiesole, but raised in Rome, Ondina is the daughter of the Milanese editor Jacopo Quadri, as well as granddaughter of the famous journalist and theater critic Franco Quadri. During my high school years he founded a rock-blues band who performs in various clubs and social centers in the capital where the future actress plays the drums.
His film debut came in 2015 with Ariadne. In the following years he also acted for Paolo Virzì (Magical nights) and Mario Martone (Capri Revolution).
Also active in the theatre, Ondina will fly to Cannes in the next few hours to present her latest film: Elastic Rome directed by the Frenchman Bertrand Mandico. Story of an actress (Marion Cotillard) who arrives in the capital to shoot her latest film. Inspired by the imagery of Italian cinema and the ancient Roman sets of Cinecittà, the film plays between nostalgia, homage and meta-cinematic reflection. The cast also includes Isabella Ferrari, Tea Falco, Ornella Muti and Franco Nero.
