Don’t Be Bad (Non Essere Cattivo)

Showings

Vogue Theatre Fri, Nov 18, 2016 9:00 PM
Film Info
Category:Competition
Country:Italy
Year:2015
Running Time:100 min.
Language:Italian
Credits
Director:Claudio Caligari
Producer:Paolo Bogna
Simone Isola And Valerio Mastandrea
Screenwriter:Claudio Caligari
Francesca Serafini
Giordano Meacci
Cinematographer:Maurizio Calvesi
Editor:Mauro Bonanni
Music:Paolo Vivaldi
Cristiano Balducci
Cast:Luca Marinelli
Alessandro Borghi
Silvia D'Amico
Roberta Mattei

Description

Don’t Be Bad bursts off the screen with the tale of best friends Cesare (Luca Marinelli) and Vittorio (Alessandro Borghi), two volatile young men from Ostia—a place where narrow employment opportunities lie between the building trades and dealing drugs. The late cult director Claudio Caligari (Toxic Love, The Scent of Night) creates a searing portrait of friendship between men who consider themselves brothers. Set in the very town where Paolo Pasolini gave life to his characters in all their suffering, this Pasolini-esque drama follows Cesare and Vittorio as they snort, drink, and rut their days away. They are jealous of their girlfriends and trust no one but each other. After a drug trip, Vittorio confronts the depth of his self-loathing; he then tries to leave behind his career as a petty criminal and picks up a trowel instead of a gun. In Cesare eyes, Vittorio’s efforts at self-improvement are a betrayal, but Vittorio's attempt to improve his lot is a matter of survival. Against all odds, Vittorio strives to leave behind the hedonistic, drug-fueled life of the street, and desperately tries to bring Cesare with him—away from a macho-infused bravado that is sure to give way, with the years, to death or despair. Winner of eight awards at the 2015 Venice International Film Festival, including the Francesco Pasinetti Award for Best Actor (Luca Marinelli) and the NuovoImaie Talent Award for Best Italian Actor (Alessandro Borghi).

Copresented by the California Film Institute

About the filmmaker

Claudio Caligari was born in Arona (Novara) in 1948. After producing four documentaries between 1976 and 1978, he made his feature-length debut with Toxic Love (1983), which quickly became a cult movie. He turned back to directing fifteen years later in 1998 with The Scent of the Night, adapted from Dido Sacchettoni’s novel. After editing his last film, Don't Be Bad (2015), produced by Valerio Mastandrea, he passed away on May 26, 2015 after a long illness.