''I'm Starting from Three'' () is a 1981 Italian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by, co-written by, and starring

Massimo Troisi Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, comedian, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his works in the films '' I'm Starting back from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The ...

in his film debut. The film was awarded with two

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello, bronze), 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 Cin ...

awards for Best Film and Best Actor.

Plot

Gaetano is a shy Neapolitan boy who lives in a southern-Italian city with his family: one brother, one sister, his mother and his father, an extremely Catholic man who has lost his right hand, and confides in a miracle by Madonna of the swords to get it back. Tired and bored about the excessive provincialism of his "entourage", and his alienating job in a food factory, Gaetano decides to hitch-hike to the more modern and cosmopolitan city of Florence. There he meets a beautiful girl, Marta, and they fall in love. Gaetano sets at Marta's and is later joined by his old friend Lello, a clumsy and rotund boy, albeit very funny in his friendship with the protagonist. One night at Marta's, while reading a manuscript, Marta reveals to be pregnant, and she's not sure that Gaetano is the child's father: Marta had a relationship with a teenager boy, and she sincerely tells the whole story to Gaetano, that gets sad and embittered, and goes back to Naples, officially for his sister's wedding, actually to clear his mind about the facts. There he discovers himself very in love with Marta and rejoins her back in Florence, accepting her child even if he's not sure of being the natural father.

Cast

: Gaetano * Fiorenza Marchegiani: Marta *

Lello Arena Raffaele "Lello" Arena (born 1 November 1953) is an Italian actor and comics writer. He was also an occasional film director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Naples as Raffaele Arena, he was the son of two workers in a tobacco facto ...

: Lello *

Marco Messeri Marco Messeri (born 15 December 1948) is an Italian actor, comedian, stage director, singer-songwriter and voice actor. Life and career Born in Livorno, Messeri studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and acting at the drama ...

: The Madman *

Lino Troisi Lino Troisi (4 May 1932 - 4 May 1998) was an Italian stage, film, television and voice actor. Life and career Born in Maddaloni, Troisi grew up in Rome, where he studied acting at the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. He ...

: Ugo, Gaetano's father *

Renato Scarpa Renato Scarpa (14 September 1939 – 30 December 2021) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 85 films from 1969 to 2019. Scarpa died on 30 December 2021, at the age of 82. Selected filmography * '' Under the Sign of Scorpio'' (1969) * '' ...

: Robertino *

Jeanne Mas Jeanne Mas is a French pop singer. She is well known in France, Switzerland, Canada and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the ...

: Jeanne

References

External links

* {{Massimo Troisi 1981 films Commedia all'italiana Films directed by Massimo Troisi Italian comedy films 1981 comedy films 1981 directorial debut films 1980s Italian-language films 1980s Italian films