This article is published in issue 39 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until September 24, 2024.
No one in Venice, among the experts, had foreseen that Vermilion would have won something, much less the Silver Lion – Grand Jury Prizea bit like second place at the Film Festival. Not even Thomas Spiderwho is the male protagonist of this actually very feminine story, directed by Maura Delpero: «It was a big surprise. Being called and chosen for the main competition was already a lot. If it had been an Almodóvar film, maybe I could have expected an award, but this is Maura’s second feature film, and it’s a “small” film, with limited means. Not that there weren’t elements for the award, but I really didn’t expect it».
Vermilion It is the story of a family, of its joys and sorrows, in the mountains of Val di Sole, in Trentino, during the Second World War. The plot actually matters little because the strength of the film is in this small world of the past recreated on the big screen, with its continuous madeleine sensorial, the smell of warm milk and wood, the old wool blankets, and then the mountain, a magical and oppressive microcosm. Ragno plays the head of the family Cesare, father of seven children and teacher of the village, a man of those who no longer exist, taciturn, all of a piece, serious, concrete and with a few secrets.
One of the best actors in Italy, with a lot of theatre and cinema, and also prestige tv (the bribe taker of 1992the maniac priest of the Miracle of Ammaniti and also the American Fargo), nothing is known about Tommaso Ragno and not by mistake: «I don’t talk about my private life», he makes it clear. And it is perhaps for this or perhaps for his ability to transform himself physically that makes him different every time that his name is among the most quoted in our cinema, but not so well known among the public. He answers from his home, in Rome, amid great silences.
Why did you decide to take part in this “little film”, Vermilion?
“Because when I read the script I immediately understood that it was a work of great value: it is rare to find scripts written so well. There is the dialect, there is a society and there are behaviors that we no longer know. My job, like that of the other actors, was to harmonize with that truth of the film.”
He met men similar to his Caesar of Vermilion?
«Yes, my grandfather, but especially my great-grandfather, who was born at the end of the 19th century and went to work in America. They are figures who for me represent a lost world. What struck me most was their profound dignity. But the beautiful thing is that there are no moral lessons, the characters are represented and treated for what they are. It is a film imbued with sobriety. And silence».
How does he become his characters?
“I try to be open and work together with the director and the other actors. It’s like working with Das, you make a first shape, starting from the intuition, and then you demolish, rebuild, improve and fix everything. It requires great concentration and seriousness. And also falling in love with your character.”
What did she fall in love with in her Vermilion?
“The very strong bond with the mountain, a truly powerful place, of meditation, because everything is vertical, you always go to look up. That’s where the ghost of my character really came out.”
What is your relationship with the mountains?
“I was isolated from everything, the first bookstore was a two-hour drive away, let’s say it was a strong experience. In that nature you don’t feel the alienation you feel in the city but you also experience great difficulties, the cold for example, you have to be physically strong to live in the mountains. I didn’t have a deep love for it, but the set left me with a certain nostalgia for the places”.
In her acceptance speech, director Maura Delpero said that Vermilion it wouldn’t have been possible without public support, because it would have betrayed itself: it wouldn’t have been possible to act in dialect and probably it would have had to choose a more popular cast. What do you think?
“It’s a complex issue, but certainly public support has to do with the quality of the film you intend to make. The funding gave Maura the freedom to make the film she wanted and, in this sense, the case of Vermilion It should make you think: it is a film that has received recognition at one of the most important festivals in the world. It is clear that not all films have to be the same type, but it is essential to continue producing some of a certain level and that can remain in the future. It is like the Olympics: each country brings its athletes and the whole world watches. Do we also want to stay in the competition or not?
Nanni Moretti, in Venice, spoke of a new “bad law on cinema”: the one wanted by the former minister Sangiuliano that limits the tax credit, that is, the tax credit, to productions.
«I am not an actor who brings funding nor a producer, I can only say that both Maura Delpero and Moretti have brought up an important issue, that is, our country’s interest in cinema».
As?
«It is clear what kind of interlocutors we have and how much effort we have to make to make people understand how important cinema is. I hope that Vermilion it doesn’t remain a simple flagship, an isolated case, but that sets a precedent. It’s not so important to produce one masterpiece after another, but to continue making free films, yes».
You said earlier that he is not an actor who brings in funding, but he is beloved by directors and critics. Why is he not a star?
“A star and an actor are two different things. There are different reasons why an actor is chosen compared to a star. I try to do my job well and I’m happy to work a lot, I don’t seek visibility. I don’t care if people know what I do in my private life, in fact I don’t want to. Then there would be a whole discussion to be had about today’s stars: Martin Scorsese explained well that today it’s the films, the stories that bring people to the cinema, not the stars anymore.”
Her reserve is in contrast to the world dominated by social media.
“For me it’s important to keep a certain distance to preserve the illusion that an actor has to work on. I try to share only content that has value. Then in my opinion these social networks won’t last long, at least not in this form.”
Also in Venice, Maura Delpero also thanked “those who help with the reconciliation of work and private life”, a very difficult issue for women, and hoped “that society begins to consider this as its problem”. As a man, what do you think about it? Do you have children?
“I don’t like to talk about my life, but as a parent I can say that unity in a family is important. Your statement hurt me, it made me think about something that is a huge problem. Society should do more, but I don’t have ready solutions and I don’t even want to say rhetorical things like “we are all feminists” because we live in a world that is more troglodyte than it was before. I gave you another awkward answer, right?”
That’s fine.
“Thank you, because I don’t have any solutions and I don’t want to invent them.”
Source: Vanity Fair
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