Italy / 2024 / 120 min / Italian & Flemish with English subtitles / True Suspense Drama
At the start of WWII, Salvatore Todaro commands the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini. One dark night in October 1940, while navigating in the Atlantic, he comes upon an armed merchant ship sailing without lights. He shoots at the ship and sinks it. The Commander then makes a decision that was destined to go down in history.
It is most unusual to see films depicting the Italian Navy during World War II, even more so with a story surrounding a submarine crew (name another). Edoardo de Angelis captures the loneliness in a haunting ethereal fashion that is frightening. This true story stars Italy’s Pierfrancesco Favino, who over the past five years has appeared in more FLIFF films than any actor from any country.
COMANDANTE was the Opening Night Film of the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
DIRECTOR: Edoardo De Angelis was born on 31 August 1978 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is a writer and director, known for Indivisible (2016), The Vice of Hope (2018) and Perez. (2014). He is married to Pina Turco. They have one child.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT: I wanted to make a film about strength. I was irritated by the way in which strength is often portrayed in relation to oppression and violence. Todaro represents another idea of strength, of an individual holding out their hand to the defenseless.
There was also another theme related to the questions I’ve asking myself about what it means to be Italian.
We’re a nation made up of people of all different origins, but in recent years, an idea has emerged that being Italian is somehow a privilege and an identity that is not open to others. I don’t agree with this. A nation born as a melting pot should be welcoming to others.
Contact: mike@darkstarpics.com
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