(ANSA) - ROME, AUGUST 04 - Men hunted down, pushed into what appear to be dead ends or forced to face unimaginable conspiracies by chance: themes that many authors and masters of the cinema have enjoyed tackling, in small and large masterpieces, from Carol Reed's Fugitive to The three days of condordi Sydney Pollack, passing from the novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan brought to the big screen by Alfred Hitchcock in the film The Club of 39. They are among the sources of inspiration, explains the director, for Beckett, the political thriller Ferdinando CitoFilomarino, chosen to open the Locarno Film Festival 2021 (4 - 14 August) in world premiere in PiazzaGrande and available from 13 August on Netflix.
The film, co-produced by Luca Guadagnino, is the first English film by the Milanese filmmaker, great-grandson of Luchino Visconti, who returns to the festival 11 years after his debut with the short Diarchia. In the role of the protagonist is one of the emerging names of Hollywood John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman, Tenet, Malcolm & Marie): "I was attracted to the fact that it was the story of a man who has to fight for his right to live - explains the actor in production notes - A man who has to push himself to do the right thing and be the best version of himself, motivated by circumstances. He is something I relate to. I always try to go beyond my limits to see what I am capable of. to do and to learn what are the challenges to face in order to improve myself ".
Washington in the story is Beckett, an American tourist on vacation with his girlfriend (Alicia Vikander) in Greece shaken by the economic crisis and social protests of 2015. After a terrible car accident, the man finds himself chased by mafia and corrupt police, components in a game of political plots. In the cast, among others, also Boyd Holbrook, VickyKrieps, Daphne Alexander, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Panos Koronis, Olga Spyraki. (HANDLE).