At War for Love (In guerra per amore)

Showings

Film Info
Category:Competition
Country:Italy
Year:2016
Running Time:99 min.
Language:Italian
Credits
Director:Pierfrancesco Diliberto
Producer:Wildside
Rai Cinema supported by MiBACT
Screenwriter:Michele Astori
Marco Martani
Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif
Cinematographer:Roberto Forza
Editor:Clelio Benevento
Music:Santi Pulvirenti
Cast:Andrea Di Stefano
Pierfrancesco Diliberto aka Pif
Sergio Vespertino
Maurizio Bologna
Miriam Leone
Samuele Segreto
Stella Egitto
Antonello Puglisi
Vincent Riotta
Maurizio Marchetti
Mario Pupella
Aurora Quattrocchi
Rosario Minardi

Description

The year is 1943; the Allies are preparing to invade Southern Italy and loosen Mussolini’s fascist hold on the country. Meanwhile, a bumbling waiter named Arturo (Pif) is in love with Flora (Miriam Leone), his employer ’s niece. She’s being married off to a Mafia chieftain’s son unless Arturo can ask her father for her hand... only Dad lives in Sicily. So, our hapless hero joins the Army to find him, only to be recruited on a mission involving an MIA soldier carrying sensitive information in the region. Thus, begins a wild romp through WWII’s greatest hits, complete with cameos from FDR, Lucky Luciano, and a host of other historical figures. The latest from the writer-director-star Pierfrancesco Diliberto, better known as the popular entertainer/TV personality “Pif,” offers a little something for everyone: broad slapstick, swooning romance, childlike wonder, a Mob drama, dueling Mussolini-vs.-Madonna statues, and the unforgettable sight of a man singlehandedly saving the day by flying into Sicily on a donkey. It’s also a throwback to the sort of raucous comedies that the country used to export in bulk—a whimsical, ironic story of a charming dolt, a beautiful girl, and love, Italian style. –David Fear

Co-presented by Museo Italo Americano and San Francisco Italian Athletic Club.

Additional Information

Best known by his showbiz nickname “Pif,” Pierfrancesco Diliberto was born in Palermo, Italy, and studied filmmaking in London. He later became an assistant to THE BEST OF YOUTH director Marco Tullio Giordana and became famous for creating and hosting IL TESTIMONE, a pioneering investigative-reporting TV show. His directorial debut, THE MAFIA ONLY KILLS IN SUMMER (2013), ended up winning a slew of awards on the Italian festival circuit and quickly established him as one of Italy’s premiere comic filmmakers.