''The Shadow of the Day'' ( it, L'ombra del giorno) is a 2022 Italian film written and directed by

Giuseppe Piccioni Giuseppe Piccioni (born 2 July 1953) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He has directed nine films since 1987. His 2004 film ''The Life That I Want'' was entered into the 27th Moscow International Film Festival. Selected filmography ...

, starring Riccardo Scamarcio and

Benedetta Porcaroli Benedetta Porcaroli (born June 11, 1998) is an Italian actress. She is best known for her role as Chiara Altieri in the Netflix series ''Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''in ...

, set in Italy in 1938. Piccioni wrote the screenplay with Gualtiero Rosella and Annick Emdin. It is produced by Scamarcio through his Lebowski production company, in association with

Rai Cinema RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

Premise

Luciano (Scamarcio) runs a restaurant in a small Italian town. He is a decorated veteran of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but was badly wounded and walks with a limp. He seems to sympathize with the Fascist regime but he is not a member of the party, and although he reprimands his kitchen staff for political insubordination he does not report them. A young educated Jewish woman Anna (Porcaroli) arrives at his restaurant begging him for work, but things get complicated when her husband, on run from the regime, arrives.

Cast

* Riccardo Scamarcio as Luciano *

as Anna *

Lino Musella Lino Musella (born 21 October 1980) an Italian film, stage and television actor. Life and career Born in Naples, Musella studied at the Naples Academy of Dramatic Art and the Paolo Grassi Civic School in Milan. Mainly active on theater, in 2009 ...

as Osvaldo * Vincenzo Nemolato as Giovanni * Sandra Ceccarelli as Madre Corrado * Valeria Bilello as Amelia * Waël Sersoub as Emile

Production

Writer-director

wrote the screenplay with Gualtiero Rosella and Annick Emdin. Riccardo Scamarcio stars and produces. The film was made on a €2.8 million ($3.1 million) budget, and produced by Scamarcio through Lebowski in association with

RAI Cinema RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

Filming

In January 2021, principal photography was announced to be concentrated in the Italian city of

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...

. Filming began in March 2021. Filming locations include the Caffè Meletti which overlooks the Piazza del Popolo, the Via delle Stelle, the garden of Palazzo Saladini Pilastri, Tufillo Bridge and the Riserva Naturale Regionale Sentina.

Release

The film had a premiere in the city of

on 23 February 2022, and was released national wide in Italy on February 24, 2022.

Reception

Peter Bradshaw in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described it as “involving” and praised the performances of the lead actors. Bradshaw commented that it showed a “traditional kind of moviemaking, robustly made“.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shadow of the Day, The (film) 2022 films Italian drama films Films shot in Italy Films directed by Giuseppe Piccioni Films about Fascist Italy Films set in the 1930s