''April'' ( it, Aprile, link=no) is a 1998

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

semi-autobiographical film directed by

Nanni Moretti Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His films have won accolades including a Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear at the ...

. Moretti also played the central character, a filmmaker who has to deal with Italy's political situation, his own goals as an artist and becoming a father. The French director

Claire Denis Claire Denis (; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film ''Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s, as well as of all time. Other acclaimed works include '' Trouble Ev ...

described the film thus, "He wants to make a musical comedy but he can't get started. So instead he talks about his life, his new baby, his desires and fears. Finally in the very last scene he begins." Moretti's wife, son and mother appear as themselves.

Plot

Following the general election of 1994, won by the centre-right coalition led by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

, Moretti is encouraged by a journalist friend to make a documentary about the current political situation in Italy. Two years pass, another election is held, and Moretti has still made no progress with his documentary. He begins shooting another project, alluded to in '' Dear Diary'', a musical about a Trotskyist pastry chef set in the 1950s, but he becomes disillusioned and is distracted by his wife Silvia's pregnancy, which preoccupies him more and more. His son Pietro is born, and the centre-left coalition

Ulivo The Olive Tree ( it, L'Ulivo) was a denomination used for several successive centre-left political and electoral alliances of Italian political parties from 1995 to 2007. The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi ...

wins the election. Moretti continues to try to shoot his documentary in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, but the film is never finished. On his 44th birthday he realises that he must stop hesitating and he finally begins shooting his musical in earnest.

Cast

as Himself *

Silvio Orlando Silvio Orlando (born 30 June 1957) is an Italian actor. Orlando was born and raised in Naples, where he started acting in theatre in 1976. He made his film debut in 1988 with a supporting role in the comedy '' Kamikazen: Last Night in Milan'', ...

as Himself * Silvia Nono as Herself * Pietro Moretti as Himself * Agata Apicella Moretti as Herself * Nuria Schoenberg as Herself * as Herself * Quentin de Fouchécour as Himself *

Renato De Maria Renato De Maria (born 1958) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than ten films since 1991. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Maria, Renato 1958 births Living people Italian ...

as Himself * Claudio Francia as Himself * Jacopo Francia as Himself * Matilde Francia as Herself *

Daniele Luchetti Daniele Luchetti (; born 25 July 1960) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor. Life and career Luchetti was born in Rome. He debuted as assistant director for Nanni Moretti in ''Bianca'' (1983) and ''The Mass Is Ended'' (1985). Lu ...

as Himself * Giovanna Nicolai as Herself * as Himself

Awards

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). There are 26 award cat ...

1998: Best Supporting Actor (Silvio Orlando) *

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

(nominated)

References

External links

* 1990s political comedy films 1998 films Films directed by Nanni Moretti 1990s Italian-language films Italian political comedy films Self-reflexive films Films scored by Ludovico Einaudi Films set in Rome 1998 comedy films 1990s Italian films {{1990s-Italy-comedy-film-stub