Gianni Schicchi, il filmopera

The film-opera Gianni Schicchi is based on the homonymous one-act play by Giacomo Puccini on a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, inspired by canto XXX of Dante's Inferno. The film, shot in the province of Siena, a few kilometers from the real setting of the opera, tells the story of Gianni Schicchi, a clever Tuscan businessman who, with a clever stratagem, manages to pocket the rich inheritance of Buoso Donati, an elderly collector of 'arte as soon as he died, fending off the assaults of the numerous relatives of the deceased, who flocked en masse to Donati's house to obtain their share of the bequest. This is the first film by Damiano Michieletto, which features the Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna directed by Stefano Montanari and makes use of the creative production of Elisabetta Bruscolini, the sets of Paolo Fantin, the costumes of Nicoletta Ercoli and Alessandra Carta. Live sound is curated by Giandomenico Maria Petillo, editing by Fabrizio Franzini and cinematography by Alessandro Chiodo (a.i.c.).

Michieletto declared: «From the first moment I said: I'll only make this film if we can shoot it all live. And so, it was! Only in this way did the interpreters can be able to express themselves in front of the camera in the most engaging, human, and direct way possible. This was what I was looking for: to bring an opera into cinema. I chose Puccini because his way of composing is already cinematographic and the story invented by Forzano is a perfect narrative plot, worthy of an Italian comedy by Monicelli. Following this inspiration and letting my intuition guide me, I created this first musical film of mine that lives thanks to the skills of a fantastic crew who embraced the project and supported it with great passion».

The protagonists of the film are the baritone Roberto Frontali in the title role and Giancarlo Giannini, who plays the unpublished part of Buoso Donati, wanted by Michieletto in the prologue of the film. With them Federica Guida as Lauretta, Vincenzo Costanzo as Rinuccio, Manuela Custer as Zita, Giacomo Prestia as Simone. And again Caterina Di Tonno as Nella, Marcello Nardis as Gherardo, Guglielmo Angeloni as Gherardino. Veronica Simeoni plays La Ciesca and Roberto Maietta Marco. The cast is completed by Bruno Taddia (Betto), Matteo Peirone (Maestro Spinelloccio), Domenico Colaianni (Ser Amantio), Andrea Pellegrini (Pinellino) and Gaetano Triscari (Guccio).