original title:
Velocità massima
directed by:
cast:
screenplay:
cinematography:
editing:
set design:
costume design:
music:
producer:
production:
distribution:
country:
Italy
year:
2002
film run:
111'
format:
35mm - colour
aspect ratio:
1.85:1
sound:
DTS
release date:
06/09/2002
festivals & awards:
Claudio is 17 and his one ambition in life is to be a car mechanic. His father runs a car demolition business and wants his son to take over the reins. Conflict is inevitable and violent. Stefano, 35, who owns a car workshop and needs an apprentice, hires Claudio. Stefano, a fan of nocturnal and illegal car races through the deserted streets of suburban Rome, sees the boy’s innate talent for engines. He can literally do magic with his hands.
Stefano asks the boy to soup up an old Ford, turning the car into a racing machine guaranteed to make Fischio, Stefano’s eternal racing rival, less sure of himself.
At the races, Claudio meets Giovanna, a young woman who dreams of a better life. Giovanna works in a late-night bar and barely earns enough to pay the rent. She has always fallen for tough guys but something in Claudio’s gentle shyness attracts and intrigues her.
Claudio falls in love with Giovanna and begins to neglect his job. Stefano, meanwhile, is experiencing some serious money problems, and sees his apprentice’s love affair as a serious obstacle to his (Stefano’s) achieving his goals that include winning a difficult and dangerous race and thus bringing his little business back from the edge of bankruptcy...