Pierfrancesco Favino in the uniform of a high official of the Royal Navy driving the submarine Cappellini: these are the first images of Comandante, the film by Edoardo De Angelis that opens the Venice Film Festival on August 30, the first among the six Italians in competition for the Golden Lion. The teaser trailer was released today in view of the premiere at the Lido, while the film will be distributed by 01 soon.
Although fictionalized, the film is based on the almost legendary true story of Salvatore Todaro.
At the beginning of the Second World War Todaro commanded the submarine Cappellini of the Regia Marina. In October 1940, while sailing in the Atlantic, in the dark of night looms the silhouette of a merchant ship traveling with the lights off, the Kabalo, which later will be discovered to be of Belgian nationality and loaded with British war material, which suddenly opens fire on the submarine and the Italian crew.
A brief but violent battle breaks out in which Todaro sinks the merchant ship with cannon shots. And it is at this point that the Commander makes a decision destined to make history: save the 26 Belgian castaways condemned to drown in the middle of the ocean to disembark them in the nearest safe port, as required by the law of the sea. To welcome them on board he is forced to sail in emersion for three days, making himself visible to enemy forces and endangering his life and that of his men.
When the captain of the Kabalo, disembarking in the bay of Santa Maria delle Azzorre, asks him why he exposed himself to such a risk in contravention of the directives of his own command, Salvatore Todaro replies with the words that have made him a legend: "Because we are Italians".
The cast also includes Massimiliano Rossi, Johan Heldenbergh and Silvia D'Amico. The screenplay is written by Sandro Veronesi and Edoardo De Angelis from which the homonymous novel published by Bompiani is based. The film's music is composed by Robert Del Naja.
Comandante is a Indigo Film, O'Groove production with Rai Cinema, Tramp LTD, VGroove, Wise Pictures in association with Beside Production, in collaboration with Paramount+
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