original title:
Il viaggio
directed by:
cast:
screenplay:
Alfredo Arciero, Alessio Billi
cinematography:
editing:
set design:
Morena Nastasi
costume design:
music:
Antonio Di Iorio
producer:
production:
country:
Italy
year:
2017
film run:
90'
format:
colour
aspect ratio:
16:9
festivals & awards:
Five people get the train of Carpinone-Sulmona railway before the disappearing of the line, that goes through enchanting and uncontaminated areas of Molise. There is a pure mind politician, who hates his rural roots and accepts black money from a shady entrepreneur for his electoral campaign. There is an oenologist who does not believe in himself and regrets a youthful love far away. There is an actress who dreams of straightening up her modest career and despises her homeland where she did not set foot for years. There is a university assistant who has an affair with the Chair holder head but she is tired of compromising. There is finally an entrepreneur who lost everything and feels a loser even with his son and his wife. Through the eyes of our five protagonists we will catch the beauty of nature that rises around the so-called "Italy’s Trans-Siberian". Through their words we will find out portions of their lives. Will the politician overcome the temptation of corruption? And what about the oenologist? Will he be able to regain trust in himself? Can he forgive her sister, the actress who came back to reveal an intimate secret? Will the young assistant find the courage to win the subjection to the powerful professor? And why the businessman got on board with a gun? Small and big conflicts will evolve along the way that will be full of surprises and "magic" encounters. The protagonists will cross Alfredo, a senior conductor on his last day of work who is suffering from the closure of the railway . There is also space for Palma, a volcanic and nice conductress, eternally unsatisfied, who falls in love with a darkened clandestine Arabic who came on board without a ticket. There are also Patrizia and Paola, two litigious girls who would like to get married and have a son, who confronts an enigmatic and silent priest. Another protagonist of the movie is the train and its wagons full of people who instead of surfing with tablets and smartphones, decide to talk to each other, to confront, to quarrel. Accompanied by the train’s slow gait, each of them will be able to reveal something of themselves, forgetting the starting point of their journey to find a common road. Deepest. Traveling together.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
From the "short" to the movie: realized 3 years ago as a support to the historical railway Sulmona-Carpinone, the short movie "IL VIAGGIO", on the occasion of many screenings, was welcomed by the audience, affected by the beauty of landscapes crossed by the railroad as well as by the intensity and authenticity of the story, despite its short breath. It’s a story that in my opinion deserved to be expanded and structured in the most articulated dimension of a feature film. So the initial idea was developed and we made the film. The first entirely shot in Molise. The journey is therefore an opportunity to look closely at today's Italy, a lost country, inhabited by men and women looking for a conductor wire; a common road to follow. So our errant train is in my opinion the metaphor for the inner journey of an entire nation, a community that faces the onset of the economic crisis, rediscovers the strength and simplicity of ethical and spiritual values: love, friendship, solidarity, the ancient relationship with nature. Essential values, as Aristotle said, are invariable and permanent human aspects, and – let me add - fundamental to react and project to the future with renewed hope.