Bvery happy, with a Cicciolina lookValeria Golino returns to the cinema with the film I told youin the rooms from February 1st. The actress plays the role of Pupa, a former porn star in decline who tries to survive an anomalous heat wave that hits Rome on a weekend in January.
Valeria Golino in the role of a former porn star, Pupa
It’s a borderline story imagined by director Ginevra Elkann: «A film conceived in a very hot summer in which I asked myself: what would happen if the world was always like this? It reminded me of the Bible with its natural disasters: apocalyptic visions, cricket invasions, wild animals and punished sinners. It was then written during the pandemic, also through long psychoanalytic sessions on Zoom with the screenwriters” said the director. “Playing Pupa was cheerful and liberating.”
Valeria Golino aka the former porn star Pupa is not the only extravagant soul Of I told you: together with her, a grotesque humanity that comes to terms with its own demons. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi is a psychopathic mother obsessed with religion and Pupa herself, Alba Rohrwacher is an alcoholic artist who loses custody of her son to her ex, played by Riccardo Scamarcio. Danny Houston he is a priest who must spread his mother’s ashes together with his sister Greta Scacchi, Sofia Panizzi the bulimic daughter of Valeria Bruni Tedeschi.
«From despising her, I ended up loving her»
«Pupa she has her own balance, she is open towards others, she is grateful, she’s not the craziest of the group» said the actress. «Playing her was cheerful and liberatingI had fun playing with both of hers aesthetics and with his way of speaking. The things she says that are never understood, while doing it I realized that I was happy to go on her side without the usual prejudices.”
Valeria Golino, director Ginevra Elkann and Alba Rohrwacher at the photocall of the film “Te L’Avevo Detto” on January 24, 2024 in Rome (Getty Images)
And he added: «If I saw her on the street with this desire to retain her youth, I would despise being beautiful at all costs for how she is dressed, but in interpreting her I loved Pupa. These are the types of roles you always wait for, characters that make you step out of yourself and enter other realities that you may have prejudices towards, but which you then discover you feel closer to, understand better.”
For Valeria Golino, however, they were months of international commitments: last October has started filming Mary, The biopic on Maria Callas directed by Pablo Larraín and starring Angelina Jolie. Valeria is the sister of the Divine, Yakinthi Callas.
«The film is a warning towards a future climate disaster»
The film arrives in theaters now with Fandango but it has already had its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival and to Rome Film Festival in the Grand Public section. And the second attempt at directing for Ginevra Elkann (niece of Gianni Agnelli and sister of John and Lapo Elkann), who had already told the story of her family in Let’s hope: even in this film he does not fail to add some autobiographical references.
“I grew up in a house where many priests came,” Ginevra said, “and in particular there was a nice one who drank and ate, spiritual and also human in his own way.” The title I told you it is instead a reference to the warning of future climate disaster, a very irritating phrase «but I really like saying it».
The director, Ginevra Elkann
Born in London and always raised far from Italy, Ginevra Elkann today lives between Turin and Rome: she specialized in directing at London Film School and then worked for Miramax. She was assistant to Bernardo Bertolucci and Anthony Minghella, she then founded her own production and distribution company, Good Films. In 2021 she was nominated for best debut director at the David di Donatello.
Also in the cast are Alba Rohrwacher and Pierfrancesco Favino. «I said yes because I love Larraín’s style, a director of great stature and unscrupulousness. I really liked his Jackie” he declared.
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