PIANO SOLO

original title:PIANO SOLO
directed by:Riccardo Milani
cast:Kim Rossi Stuart, Jasmine Trinca, Michele Placido, Paola Cortellesi, Sandra Ceccarelli, Roberto De Francesco, Claudio Gioè, Corso Salani, Mariella Valentini, Alba Caterina Rohrwacher
screenplay:Claudio Piersanti, Ivan Cotroneo, Riccardo Milani, Sandro Petraglia
cinematography:Arnaldo Catinari
editing:Marco Spoletini
set design:Paola Comencini
costume design:Sonoo Mishra
music:Lele Marchitelli
producer:Carlo Degli Esposti
production:Palomar, Rai Cinema, supported by MiBAC, Hugo Film (Paris)
distributor:01 DISTRIBUTIONworld sales:ADRIANA CHIESA ENTERPRISES
country:Italy/France
year:2007
film run:104'
format:35mm - colour
release date:21/09/2007

festival & awards:

AUSTRALIA - ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008: Panorama
FESTIVAL CINÉMA MÉDITERRANÉEN À BRUXELLES 2008: Closing Film
LINCOLN CENTER - OPEN ROADS 2008: Panorama
PANORAMA OF EUROPEAN CINEMA - FILM FESTIVAL 2008: Avant Premieres
SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2008: Panorama
STOCKHOLM ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008: Focus On
VILLERUPT'S ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008: In Competition



"Piano Solo" is the passionate and haunting true story based on the life of jazz pianist Luca Flores. A tragic destiny already awaits Luca on a road in Africa when, at a very young age, he sees his mother perish in a car accident. The boy’s obsessive feeling of guilt for the terrible loss, as inexplicable as it is unfounded, plants the seed of a torment that will pursue the fragile musician for the rest of his life. The family is shattered by the tragedy. Luca and his sister return to Italy where the boy begins to study music. At the conservatory in Florence, Luca’s exceptional and precocious gift as a pianist soon becomes evident. However, the inspired rhythms of his boyhood Africa soon turn Luca from a conventional classical career and lead him to jazz. Luca Flores becomes an acclaimed figure on the Italian and international jazz scenes, appearing with legendary greats such as Chet Baker and Dave Holland. The beautiful pianist’s music is spellbinding, irresistible, as inescapable as an obsessive theme. Seemingly golden years, he enjoys tremendous success, the warmth of a reunited family, a woman he loves even to devastating possessive rage. Yet, the unbearable sorrow and feeling of guilt for his mother’s death when he was just a child, also grow to obsession. Each day, as he withdraws further into their prison, not even Luca’s music has the power to redeem him.
From the novel by Walter Veltroni "Il disco del mondo – Vita breve di Luca Flores, musicista".

(Filmitalia.org)





Milani returns to cinema with moving biopic

Out September 21, Piano, solo marks Riccardo Milani’s return to cinema after numerous television projects that followed The Soul’s Place (2003).
Having proven he is as comfortable with literary adaptations (from his first features, Auguri professore and La guerra degli Antò) as he is relating true events (the inspiration behind The Soul’s Place), the native of Rome here combines the two to tell the story of jazz musician Luca Flores, previously the subject the book Il disco del mondo – Vita breve di Luca Flores, musicista, written by Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni.
The idea for the film came from the pages of the biography, says Milani, “because the book has the insight to speak about a boy who is both normal and extraordinary”: a pure talent of the piano but above all a fragile man profoundly marked by his childhood in Africa spent following his geologist father, and feelings of guilt over the death of his mother, through to his dramatic suicide in 1995 on the eve of this 40th birthday.
Thus, Piano, solo (the title comes from the Rachmaninoff piece, which opens the film) does not aspire to be “about jazz, but about a man who with the piano spoke to others”. Milani (who wrote the script with Ivan Cotroneo, Claudio Piersanti and Sandro Petraglia) focuses on the person more than on the musician, with “a sense of measure, and an ethic that is indispensable for such a painful story”. To the point where “for the first time I renounced almost entirely the comical tones of my first films”.
The actors also felt a sense of responsibility towards the memory of Flores and his family (which actively participated in the shoot), from his “father” Michele Placido to his “girlfriend” Jasmine Trinca and “siblings” Paola Cortellesi, Corso Salani and Mariella Valentini.
However, it is above all lead actor Kim Rossi Stuart, once again grappling with schizophrenia as in 1994’s No Skin, who was very passionate about lending his face and body to the real Luca Flores: “The emotional pull that convinced me to make this film was reading his letters, seeing the amateur movies shot with his family and at concerts”.
Piano, solo ends on an emotional note with one of these home movies, reuniting in the grainy Super 8 images the entire Flores family: those who have passed away alongside those who painfully continue to remember them.
An Italian/French co-production (Palomar and RAI Cinema with Hugo Films), Milani’s latest film is being distributed on 130 screens by 01 Distribution.

Gabriele Barcaro
Cineuropa.org





Piano, Solo review

Luca Flores (played with due subtlety by Kim Rossi Stewart) is a gifted pianist, schooled in the classical tradition. Infected by the rhythms of jazz, his career takes off and he tours with many prominent musicians, most notably Chet Baker. His love life also fares well, as waitress Cinzia is drawn to his talent and aloof grace. Unfortunately, burdened by memories of his mother's death, which he feels responsible for, he is slowly coming to pieces. His sister Baba bears being the focus of emotional support. While there are many around who attempt to help him, there is no sense that he will pull through.

As a jazz fan, I would ordinarily be wary of lengthy musical passages wearing thin on audience members without this interest (much as they did in Robert Altman's KANSAS CITY, with its similar combination of Jazz and narrative). I highly doubt this will be problematic here, however, because the music is masterfully combined with the story elements. The combination of childhood memories with adult struggles gives Luca's journey a personal touch. Like any good jazz club, you may come for the music, but you'll stay for the atmosphere.

Jules Garnett, Festival Daily





Making a movie about a nut case is always risky. Creative folk do seem to love to give it a go, however, perhaps because of the fine line said to exist between the artist and the lunatic. There's such opportunity for drama, passion, psychosis, plus the ever-popular prospect of winning awards that "playing crazy" often offers. The downside arrives in convincing the viewer that our round-the-bend hero or heroine is actually worth that much of our time. Bad behavior from someone who can't control it may grow tedious. It's a big help, however if he/she is/was famous, and it's here that Piano, solo (inspired use of the comma!) proves on target.
Pianist/composer Luca Flores (1956 - 1995) was one of Italy's great jazz musicians. Since I don't follow jazz, I had never heard of him, but this movie about Flores, directed and co-written by Riccardo Milani (from a book by Walter Veltroni, Rome's recent Mayor and noted film buff), did pull me in and hold me in thrall - even though it does fall prey from time to time to the aforementioned downside. It's hard to distill any single life into 100 minutes, and when the life in question seems filled with more crazy moments than sane, it's even more difficult.
Milani, who four years ago at Open Roads gave us the truly wonderful Il Posto dell' anima, gets a number of things right, starting with his lead actor Kim Rossi Stuart. Together, the actor and director bring this character beautifully to life, without overdoing a single moment yet making clear how disturbed - and aware of it, too - this talented and hugely creative young man really was. Rossi Stuart is not yet 40, and already he's acted in nearly that many film and TV productions, as well as having written/directed his first film, Anche libero va bene, seen at last year's Open Roads.
Because of the immense beauty of his face, I've always thought that this was the actor, maybe the only one of his generation, who could easily slip on the mantel of Alain Delon. But Rossi Stuart's choice of projects has ranged far and wide (from Crime Novel to The Keys to the House, TV's Uno bianca to Antonioni's Beyond the Clouds), requiring both acting chops and a decision not to continually fall back on popular mainstream choices. In Piano, solo, he delivers on his promise: He's as profound and real as he is gorgeous. (Flores himself was a very good-looking guy, so this is not one of those cases in which the moviemakers have cast a god to play a dog.)
If everything else were as fine as this performance (and many of the supporting roles are indeed handled well), the movie might have been a winner, rather than simply okay. But what the writers and director have chosen to offer us from Luca's life is not enough. We see the character as a child, clearly a bit disturbed, even before the accident that disturbs him even more, and then suddenly he's an adult with deeper and more apparent problems. Perhaps the poor fellow never experienced much normal life. But since he had a career - and a good one - this seems a bit suspect. In any case, we watch the descent, as expected, with sadness and a little too much ability to predict. (The single great scene in the movie, worth the entire watch, is the one in which Luca auditions for music school. Combining music, acting, editing, the works, this is a can't-take-your-eyes-off-the-screen series of moments, convincing us that Luca Flores was indeed some kind of genius.)
In the supporting cast, Michele Placido gives yet another fine performance as the protagonist's father, with Sandra Ceccarelli (less seen) as his mom.

Daily.greencine.com