Veteran Italian director Marco Bellocchio has revealed details of his new drama series Portobello, which is based on the real-life story of Enzo Tortora, the Italian TV celebrity journalist falsely accused of being a Mafia member and drug runner in the early 1980s.
“He [Tortora] was convicted and sentenced to prison because of a huge judiciary mistake,” Bellocchio said of his subject who hosted hit TV show Portobello but ended up receiving a 10 year prison sentence. “They [the authorities] literally destroyed his family, his life, his professional career – and he died out of sheer grief.”
Bellocchio didn’t know Tortora personally but remembers following the scandal very closely at the time. It was a scandal that exposed Italian society. It was headline news in all of the major newspapers.”
The director sees parallels between the Tortora story and the events he depicted over 50 years ago in Slap The Monster On Page One (1972), his satirical thriller about the excesses of the Italian newspaper industry. The film screened in Cannes Classics last month in a restored version and is showing this week at the 38th edition of Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna.
“Enzo Tortora was treated as a monster. He was accused of drug trafficking, of conspiring with the Mafia, and of using drugs, which wasn’t true. Financing and casting details are expected to be announced shortly.
True stories
Bellocchio’s recent movies have dealt in dramatic form with other notable episodes in Italian history. His entry for the 2019 Cannes competition,
TheTraitor told the story about Mafia boss Tommaso Buscetta, who turned evidence against colleagues in a celebrated trial against the Mafia. His 2023 movie, Kidnapped, which also screened in Cannes competition, was about the notorious case of a Jewish boy Edgardo Mortara seized from his family by the Vatican in the 1850s and raised as a Catholic.The new drama, though, is being made as a series. Bellocchio said, “I prefer making films but Enzo Tortora’s story is so complex and vast that it needed to be divided into six episodes.” “It was a necessity
in order to embrace the full breadth of the story.”[to make it as a series]Bellocchio is 84-years-old but still as prolific as ever. His debut feature
Fists In The Pocket (1965) is currently being re-made by Brazilian director Karim Ainouz with a cast led by Kristen Stewart, Josh O’Connor and Elle Fanning. His debut feature Fists In The Pocket
(1965) is currently being re-made by Brazilian director Karim Ainouz with a cast led by Kristen Stewart, Josh O’Connor and Elle Fanning.Speaking to Screen
, the Italian auteur struck a philosophical note about the current state of the Italian movie industry and about the reforms to the tax credit system which generated a post-pandemic boom in production in the country.[because of the tax credit]”The season of Italian film abundance’ is about to end. Bellocchio explained that the season of Italian film abundance is about to end. This is because the Italian government faces a large deficit. “Many films have been produced
. A lot of then were bad but some of them were also quite good!”Bellocchio will be discussing his life and career with fellow director Sergio Castellitto during an “in conversation” event on June 27 at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna (June 22-30). Pierre-Henri Gibert’s new documentary about him, The First Image – Marco Bellocchio, is screening at the festival as is the restored version of Slap the Monster on Page One
.01 Distribution in collaboration with Minerva Pictures is re-releasing Slap The Monster
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in Italy on July 4.
Reformed Italian tax credit will open “before summer”, with focus on local talent and locations 01001010
