''The Soul's Place'' (, also known as ''The Soul's Haven'') is a 2003 Italian romantic

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

, written and directed by

Riccardo Milani Riccardo Milani (born 15 April 1958) is an Italian film and television director and screenwriter. Life and career Born in Rome, Milani began his career in 1985, as assistant director of Mario Monicelli in ''Let's Hope It's a Girl''. After bei ...

. For his performance

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'', ...

was awarded best actor at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.Premio Flaiano The Premi Flaiano (English: Flaiano Prizes) are a set of Italian international awards recognizing achievements in the fields of creative writing, cinema, theatre and radio-television. Established to honour the Italian author and screenwriter Enn ...

for best director.

Plot

At the port of

Vasto Vasto ( Abruzzese: '; , ) is a ''comune'' on the Adriatic coast of the Province of Chieti, in southern Abruzzo, Italy. During the Middle Ages it was called ''Guastaymonis'', '' Vasto d'Aimone'' or ''Waste d'Aimone''. Fascist Italy called the city ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

city, the "Carair" car tire factory is about to close, for fraudulent bankruptcy. The factory workers are Tonino, Salvatore and Mario, who struggle with all their strength to prevent layoffs. Tonino does not know that he has a tumor since he has been exposed for many years by the tires of the wheel covers, and he thinks he is happy to live with Nina, a girl who lives in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, with whom she runs the weekend in the Abruzzo mountains, looking for the rare bear of

Marsica Marsica is a geographical and historical region in Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise, National Par ...

. The workers' protest attracts political opinion, so Tonino, Marco and Salvatore get a meeting in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and then in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where the Carair multinational is located, getting to work. But right now, Tonino's tumor gets worse...

Cast

as Antonio, aka "Tonino" *

Michele Placido Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Belloc ...

as Salvatore * Claudio Santamaria as Mario *

Paola Cortellesi Paola Cortellesi (; born 24 November 1973) is an Italian actress, comedian, film director, screenwriter and producer. She has starred in about 20 movies as well as a number of theatrical, television and radio shows. In 2023, she made her director ...

as Nina * Imma Piro as Maddalena * Flavio Pistilli as Giannino * Maria Laura Rondanini as Manuela

References

External links

* 2003 comedy-drama films 2003 films Italian comedy-drama films Films directed by Riccardo Milani 2000s Italian-language films 2000s Italian films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub