Often literature meets cinema in search of a voice that investigates the most intimate, sometimes uncomfortable, nuances of characters who need to reach the general public with a version different from the best known.
The new work by Sardinian director Paolo Zucca, Gospel according to Mary , draws its path from the work of the same name, considered subversive, published for the first time in 1979, by the writer Barbara Alberti who with her pen reinvented the story of Mary of Nazareth , giving her word.
Here, from the offbeat pages of the novel, the figure of young Maria knows the secrets of nature and defends her life, pursues knowledge and her truth about the world.
The film
<< If I had to identify the beating heart of this cinematic story I would say that first of all it is a love story. An asymmetrical, fragile love that is born and evolves in unpredictable and unprecedented circumstances >>, Paolo Zucca who writes and directs, expresses the vision of the Sky Original feature film.
The director portrays female strength, a woman's self-determination and the influence of love.
Released on May 23rd in national cinemas, the product boasts a great production LA LUNA, INDIGO FILM, VISION DISTRIBUTION in collaboration with PARADIS FILMS and the contribution of the AUTONOMOUS REGION OF SARDINIA and the Sardinia Film Commission Foundation.
The story that the director tells is one of education, like the novel of the same name. Mary is a little girl from Nazareth, to whom everything is forbidden because she is a woman, who dreams of freedom and wisdom. He finds in Giuseppe a teacher and an accomplice. Their marriage is chaste, he secretly educates her, preparing her to escape. And then the unexpected: Mary and Joseph fall in love. They are about to abandon themselves to passion, when the Angel of the Annunciation messes up every plan.
Sardinia
The direction moves within the universal narrative of the Bible, yet a distinctive approach lies in the choice of the geographical context: Sardinia.
<< We have never thought of faithfully reconstructing the presumed historical reality of Galilee two thousand years ago. Rather, we tried to evoke, through the extraordinary archaeological and anthropological heritage of Sardinia, the common Mediterranean matrix of ancient agro-pastoral civilisations >>, reports the director from Cagliari. The poetry of the authenticity of the environment is expressed by the many places on the Sardinian island that the director chooses for filming. An immersion in the territory of Sardinia as if time had never violated space.
And here are some of them: the early Christian basilica of San Giovanni di Sinis , in Cabras (in the province of Oristano), the park of Colle di San Michele , a green area of Cagliari , but also Villa Sant' Antonio , in Marmilla , in the Oristano area. Still in the heart of Marmilla, scenes involving some temple merchants were filmed in Siddi . And then Montiferru , the largest complex of volcanic origin in Sardinia which overlooks the gulf of Oristano, and the wooded plateau of Abbasanta .
For the river scenes we stopped in the Gadoni area and the Nuragic complex of Tamùli , an archaeological area dating back to the Bronze Age in Macomer , was of great impact.
The cast
Gospel according to Mary , after the big screen, will be broadcast exclusively on Sky and streaming only on Now.
In the roles of the protagonists the versatile Benedetta Porcaroli (who gives the face to Maria) and the solid and intense Alessandro Gassmann (Giuseppe, her teacher, strong and fascinating, different from the old man in the sacred paintings), with Lidia Vitale in the role of Anna, and again Leonardo Capuano, Andrea Pittorino, Giulio Pranno, Maurizio Lombardi and Fortunato Cerlino. The cinematic story highlights simplicity as enchantment. A delicate symphony alternates the sacred and the prosaic and in the cinematic story one captures the purest wonder in all its aspects, from scenography to direction, from music to costumes in an unprecedented mix of past and visionary impulse.
Gospel According to Mary , premiered out of competition at the 2023 Torino Film Festival , is in theaters from May 23, 2024.