Interview with Emma Dante, director and screenwriter of the movie "Misericordia", interviewer Massimo Iannetti
"Dante is a truly talented writer, who has left a mark of her gift for words in many art forms. Although most of their work is made up from theater as a dramaturg, director and actress, she’s also a prolific writer and librettist. Of late, the medium of choice has been film, “Misericordia” being her third feature and based on a play by Dante. Her characteristic themes are family and minorities, taking center stage in “Misericordia” as well.
It is a film about a ruthless world and Dante writes about it with equal merciless, not letting any softness into the gaze as she observes a castaway village cobbled together on the wasteland. Violence remains violent and pettiness remains petty. The story focuses on Arturo, a feeble-minded youth being raised by three prostitutes living in the village— three mothers who all love him in their way. The film’s title in Italian is made up from words for “poverty” and “heart” to symbolize the love that finds a way under the rampant violence and destitution.
“Poverty is not a reason to not be a family and I believe that “Misericordia’s” family works even without the natural and established rules,” notes Dante.
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