Veronesi's 'Dio Ride' to Close Venice Film Festival

Giovanni Veronesi's new film "Dio Ride" will close the Venice Film Festival on Saturday night, screening out of competition in a world premiere. The Italian director describes the project as a dramatic comedy set in the mid-17th century, and as a way of completing a circle in a career built largely on comic filmmaking.

Pierfrancesco Favino stars as Frate Leopoldo da Casamacchia, a friar who spreads the Gospel in a more joyful manner. His preaching draws thousands of followers and, in turn, the attention of church authorities. The pope assigns the case to Cardinal Maculani, played by Silvio Orlando, setting up a confrontation that tests deeply held beliefs.

Veronesi said he wanted to make a dramatic film about comedy and to show that making people laugh is, for him, a very serious matter. He argued that power across the centuries, including today, has tended to look down on comedy and to fear it, because laughter is instantaneous and democratic — something a person cannot hold back.

Favino, appearing at the festival, recalled his early visits to Venice as a young man, when he and seven friends shared a single room to afford the trip. He remembered spotting Marcello Mastroianni outside a hotel and spending four or five hours trying to summon the courage to tell him how much he had meant to his life, only to let the moment pass. On another occasion, he jumped onto a boat full of young people who turned out to be the cast of "Dead Poets Society"; they assumed he was one of them and took him into the city.

The actor also spoke about the physical transformation required for the role, saying the daily routine took a couple of hours. He said the aim was to convey the dirt, the lack of hygiene and the dust of a very particular moment in Italian history.

Orlando, who plays the cardinal, noted that this is the second time he has taken such a role. He recounted sitting in a hotel reception in costume when two Spanish tourists knelt before him and kissed his ring, convinced they had met a real cardinal.

Asked whether the film changed their relationship with faith, Orlando said he always hopes a film will work inside a person and make them better, though his wife felt that had not happened this time. Veronesi said belief in something remains good but should be periodic and momentary, adding that he believed in God for two years and felt well, and that since returning to atheism he has found his existential problems again.

Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera said the film would close the festival on a high note, praising its blend of irony and lightness applied to a traditionally serious subject. "Dio Ride" is scheduled for Italian theatrical release on October 29.