Alessandro Preziosi in La Cura by Francesco Patierno

La Cura, shot in Naples in full confinement, is not a simple adaptation of Camus’ famous masterpiece, The Plague. It starts from the story that originally takes place in Algeria in 1947 to recount in a contemporary way the months that have changed the world and people. The times of confinement in Francesco Patierno’s film.

In the Progressive cinema – vision of the world of tomorrow section, La Cura by Francesco Patierno stands out among the sixteen titles. The feature film in competition at the Rome Film Fest – now in its 17th edition – received its first standing ovation in the auditorium where the cast was present. In La Cura, Francesco Patierno offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the classic The Plague by Albert Camus. The film shifts the setting of the novel (originally told in Algeria) to “today’s” Naples. The language is close to everyday speech. The dramaturgical structure, on the other hand, has some nice surprises in store for us, which have had their “feats” on the themes of the disaster that struck us.

Credit Press Office

Francesco Patierno with La Cura touches strings very close to us which date back to a time that is still very much alive today. “Do you think this time can make man better?”. A question that accompanied the period of confinement. The deserted streets, the separation, the empathy, were reported with respect on a film that tells a film within the film. The feature film alternates between the real events of a film crew shooting Camus’ adaptation during the most intense days of confinement and the “fictional” story of the plague which is – in fact – staged.

The remedy: Alessandro Preziosi is Tarrou

Tarrou is a character that takes up space throughout the plot. The role played by Alessandro Preziosi, at first, is hidden by a veil of mystery until his identity emerges during an intimate tale between Tarrou and Bernard, played by Francesco Leva. The depth with which Alessandro Preziosi’s character opens up in the name of friendship with an almost unknown doctor is devastating. As everything quietly crumbles, the memories that define Tarrou’s identity translate into grating verbiage. The life of the actors in Patierno’s film – shot during the first confinement – inevitably identifies with the characters he plays. Below is the feature’s synopsis and the cast that hit the Rome Film Festival red carpet.

Photo credits: Teresa Comberiati

Corso Umberto, the Sanità district, the Terme, the Mergellina station, the Hotel Oriente, the prefecture, streets, corners, for the most part deserted: Naples in full confinement. A ghostly city out of time for Francesco Patierno’s contemporary reinterpretation of The Plague by Albert Camus, where the feelings, fears, conflicts of the book slip harmoniously into the disorientation generated by the pandemic, and pieces of reality, such as desperate man screaming at night on the street, mirror text. A hospital and its doctors and volunteers, civil servants, shopkeepers, ordinary people, all mingle with a crew shooting a film about the plague, in a dry and engaging dramatic chorus. Who wants to escape. Who decides to stay. But alone you cannot resist fear. In the cast: Alessandro Preziosi, Francesco Di Leva, Francesco Mandelli, Cristina Donadio Andrea Renzi, Antonino Iuorio, Peppe Lanzetta.

Credit Press Office