The forbidden city between Kung-Fu, Rome and Pulp Fiction: the new film by Gabriele Mainetti, the director of Lo called Jeeg Robot

“After They called him Jeeg Robot I had a gigantic mountain in front of me to climb, but with The prohibited city I knew how to put the right distance ». Gabriele Mainettiwho made his debut in 2015 with a work that changed the face of Italian cinema, arrived at his third film where, this time, he pulled the kungnever forgetting the roots of his Rome. A work that, however, is first of all a love story, that of the protagonists Mei and Marcello interpreted by Yaxi Liu And Enrico Borellowith the young woman who came directly from China to look for her sister, who apparently would seem to be fled together with the boy’s father. “When They called him Jeeg Robot He won David di Donatello and, above all, he had a great welcome from public and critics, I thought it was too generous. I just thought I had made a good movie. I think it is therefore normal that, with the second film, I felt like that special child who wanted to demonstrate that he still has something to say. Instead, with The prohibited cityI managed to change perspective, perhaps also because I became a father. And in any case I am still only in the third film, practically at the beginning of my career! ».

For the return to the room, with the work distributed by Piper Movie And arriving in 400 rooms, Mainetti went to work in the script with Stefano Bises and Davide Serino, former couple of screenwriters for theM – The son of the century by Joe Wright, with The prohibited city Instead immersed in the Esquiline district where multicultural communities are meeting. “When they ask me what is the recipe for my films, the answer is only one: the characters”, The director says. «I always like to think about the most absurd stories with the most real characters inside. They must be the emotional vehicle for the viewer, a type of protagonists who, even if the spaceship of Independent daymake you understand that they really believe it. For this they venve quentin Tarantino and when I saw for the first time pulp Fiction I went out of my mind, because he managed to mythore a world making him human anyway. And, although often a quotationist intent is attributed to me, it is actually always involuntary. To quote Tarantino again, he specifically seeks the same shots as the films he wants to refer to, I don’t ».

The importance of kung-core in the fights of The prohibited city

For The prohibited city There was only one lighthouse to follow: Bruce Lee. Above all, the idea of ​​a spectacular cinema in which martial arts were entertained for the general public. This is why, in the film, he is entrusted with broad breath to the fight sequences, which led to both the choice of the protagonist Yaxi Liuprofessional stunt and stunt double of the Mulan in Live-Action of 2020, which to the collaboration with the Fight Coordinator Liang Yangalready at work for productions such as Deadpool & Wolverine, Rouge One: A Star Wars Story And Skyfall.

“I had put the crazy idea of ​​finding an actress who was a stunt in my head, luckily a friend of mine made me discover Yaxi on Instagram”, Remember Gabriele Mainetti. “Among the objectives there was the desire to keep the genre of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, not overwhelming the viewer with a speed that makes you lose moves and movements, but showing everything that happens during the colluttations making it part of a bigger story. Because let’s not forget that the pioneers of cinema, from Charlie Chaplin to Buster Keaton, up to David W. Griffith with his field and Controcampo, had been stunt since the beginning, albeit in their own way. One day, while we shot the fighting scene in the Chinese restaurant, Liang Yang showed the whole crew how the scene would have been and a boy of the stunt even moved, because through the choreography he had managed to tell the desperation of the character of Mei thanks to his moves ».

Even Yaxi Liu was enthusiastic about being able to work together with the well -known Fight Coordinator, although knowing that he would have requested a huge effort, to which he had to add the fact of being to her first actress test. “I have been working like stunt for ten years and knowing that there was Liang Yang I was aware that the action scenes would come well,” says the actress de The prohibited city. “Being the first time I played, trying about empathy was fundamental, but it was easy since I, like Mei, was started until I was small in martial arts and I had a turbulent childhood”. And, given the long experience in the cinematographic field, Yaxi Liu was unable to notice the differences between Chinese cinema and, in this case, his reinterpretation according to Gabriele Mainetti: «Usually in China the combat scenes are shorter and are fragmented, then reassembled together to give the idea of ​​having more powerful blows. Instead Gabriele wanted to make longer sequences with wider cuts, which required greater memory because it was necessary to remember all the movements, even the most meticulous, which could be demanding and certainly more difficult. The final result, however, is crazy ».

The real characters in the fantastic world of Gabriele Mainetti

Together with Yaxi Liu, to the heart of Mainetti’s love story (“For me the best way to tell the integration”, says the director), there is the protagonist Enrico Borelloalready appeared in September of 2022 by Giulia Louise Steigerwalt and in Family by Francesco Costabile released last year. A protagonist who must do the center of gravity between the multicultural incotority of the film and his belonging to Rome. “Gabriele has his own precise Romanity and is keen to preserve it,” tells the actor. «Yet it was important immediately that the film expressed and showed a non -coated capital, which also changed skin while keeping its history in the center. This has meant specific characters from the Italian film scene, trying to remember the Romanity of actors such as Nino Manfredi and Alberto Sordi together with their way of expressing themselves “.

To be added to the cast de The prohibited city Also Marco Giallini, Sabrina Ferilli And Luca Zingarettiwho agreed to board Gabriele Mainetti’s imaginative cinema. “There is no one like Gabriele able to tell in such a fantastic way, but together polished things”, Said Ferilli. «Each of his films is a solo. When he called me and he quickly told me about the story and the character I accepted immediately. And, who knows, since in my career it has always been the curiosity to push me, making me do anything from cinema to TV to the theater, maybe next time we could do a sequel to The prohibited city in which I put a nice yellow jelly and I book in space making some Kung-Fu moves ».

An ability to think and write carefully the characters that Luca Zingaretti also recognizes him, in the film in the role of Father disappeared of the protagonist: «The characters of this film do not address only the action, but also a great emotion precisely because they are well written and so real that they differ from the usual clichés. They have something more that makes them immediately recognizable ». And even when it comes to representing the bitter soul of the film the Giallini colleague, who arrives in the wake of the latest projects Acob And Madlyagrees despite having built his character “putting together all the personalities I saw, met and played during my profession”. Love, revenge and family. But above all, martial arts. The prohibited city arrives in the room from March 13thdistributed by Piper Film.