Veteran Italian cult director Marco
Bellocchio said he hoped Pope Francis sees his new film Rapito
(Kidnapped) premiering in Cannes Tuesday based on a true story
of a Jewish boy abducted by Catholic Church authorities in 19th
century Bologna after a servant said she had secretly baptized
him as a seemingly fatally ill baby.
"I've written a letter to Pope Francis, I hope he has a desire
to see my film Rapito, he has so many more important things to
do but who knows he might find the time for an enjoyable and
interesting evening among friends," said the eternally youthful
83-year-old director, fresh from a David di Donatello best
director win for his latest work on the Moro kidnapping, Esterno
Notte (Exterior, Night).
"Some priests have seen Rapito and they were moved and
thoughtful, but the most significant feedback was that of the
Jewish leaders who also saw it in a preview," said the openly
atheist director.
"Noe of us is Jewish and so we risked with this story but in the
end they were very moved, and I was pleased".
Rapito, which is competing for the Golden Palm in Cannes, is set
to come out in Italian cinemas on Thursday, and the opening
night's takings will be devolved by producers to those affected
by the deadly and devastating Emilia Romagna floods that have
claimed 14 lives.
Esterno Notte, Bellocchio's David winner, is about the
kidnapping of former Italian premier and Christian Democracy
bigwig Aldo Moro, who was murdered by Red Brigades terrorists in
1978 after being held captive for 55 days.
It is Bellocchio's second film about the Moro kidnapping after
the 2003 picture Buongiorno, Notte (Good Morning, Night).
Last year the Cannes Film Festival paid tribute to the cult
engage' director with a three-day event culminating in the
presentation of a lifetime achievement award, after his latest
film Marx Can Wait was shown there.
Bellocchio whose films include Fists in the Pocket, The
Prince of Homburg, The Nanny, The Religion Lesson, Win, Dormant
Beauty and The Traitor, received the award along with Jodie
Foster on the final evening of the 74th edition of the iconic
French film fest.
A friend of late cinema great Pier Paolo Pasolini, Bellocchio's
other films include China is Near (1967), Sbatti il mostro in
prima pagina (Slap the Monster on Page One) (1972),
Nel Nome del Padre (In the name of the Father - a satire on a
Catholic boarding school that shares affinities with Lindsay
Anderson's If....) (1972), Victory March (1976), A Leap in the
Dark (1980), Henry IV (1984), Devil in the Flesh (1986), and My
Mother's Smile (2002), which told the story of a wealthy Italian
artist, a 'default-Marxist and atheist', who suddenly discovers
that the Vatican is proposing to make his detested mother a
saint.
In 1991 he won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize at the
41st Berlin International Film Festival for his film The
Conviction.
In 1995 he directed a documentary about the Red Brigades and the
kidnapping of Aldo Moro, entitled Broken Dreams. In 2003, he
directed the feature film on the same theme, Good Morning,
Night.
In 2006 his film The Wedding Director was screened in the Un
Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2009 he directed Vincere (Win), a biographical drama based on
the life of Benito Mussolini's first wife, Ida Dalser.
He also finished Sorelle Mai, an experimental film that was shot
over ten years with the students of six separate workshops
playing themselves.
He was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the
68th Venice International Film Festival in 2011.
In his 2012 film Dormant Beauty, Bellocchio condemned the
Catholic Church's interference in politics over the high-profile
euthanasia and right-to-die case involving Eluana Englaro.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
