War The Desired War with Miriam Leone, Edoardo Leo

From left to right Edoardo Leo, Giuseppe Battiston and Miriam Leone in War The Desired War

The protagonists of the war (comedy) The Desired War directed by Gianni Zanasi are Miriam Leone and Edoardo Leo, but without Giuseppe Battiston the film would not be the same. The film anticipates damn – conceived in 2019 – the conflict and the tenor of the stories that come to us from Ukraine. Of course, the Italianization of the war could only be a bit or maybe all of a joke.

In 2019, indeed, imagining that there was conflict at the heart of Europe could only be good fiction. Then the news took precedence over fiction, not to mention the signs of the pandemic. In fact, shooting the film during lockdown likely aided the post-war scenic rendering of the city of Rome itself. The synopsis imagines that Italy, because of a controversial or perhaps distorted news item, enters the war, attacked by Spain, the latter supported by France.

From left to right Edoardo Leo, Giuseppe Battiston and Miriam Leone in War The Desired War

War The Desired War is an Italy-France co-production Pupkin Production, Vision Distribution, Éloïse Film, in collaboration with Sky and Amazon Prime Video; hits theaters on November 10.

A Choir War: Zanasi anticipates an unexpected reality

War The Desired War is a choral film: it is by recounting the preparation – and the tension – of the military with a set of tracked vehicles, soldiers and paramilitaries, guided by the latter by the character (co-protagonist), masterfully interpreted by Giuseppe Battiston. The choir is made up of different voices that all refer to the two main characters: Edoardo Leo and Miriam Leone. On the one hand, the one who represents those who are so taken by his family drama (with clams) that he does not notice the situation and therefore Tom, a graduate in literature with a thesis in Romance literature, joins the paramilitary brigade so as not to be alone.

Photo credits @Teresa Comberiati

On the other hand, there are those who try to stop the war: Miriam Leone and her friends. Léa is, one could say, Thomas’ psychologist for a piece of paper (the one that would reauthorize him to have a driving license), she is the daughter of a soldier (Massimo Popolizio), but she was brought up as such, formed. See, feel the general conflict, a bit in what his family is going through. The father is Undersecretary of Defense and is first kidnapped by the same girl at the head of a commando of freaks formed among others by Carlotta Natoli, Stefano Fresi. Then he hands it over to French hands. With a fun last act – complete with an assault on the SPA – in which Tom and Lea will be together, because conflicts also accelerate the formation of couples. Even if they last the space of a kiss in the neighborhood of Via del Corso, in front of an advancing crawler. It is the war of beauty that should be paraphrased.

Photo credits @Teresa Comberiati