Giovanni lives in the historical centre of Rome, he cares deeply about social integration and the suburbs without having ever lived in them. Monica’s experience of the suburbs and social integration is based on her life in the Bastogi complex with its six apartment buildings, part subsidised housing and part squats, on the western outskirts of Rome, between Torrevecchia and Quartaccio.
Giovanni has returned to the city from Brussels and in Piazza San Silvestro meets his daughter, Agnese, who introduces her boyfriend, Alessio.
As he drives behind the couple, the car crosses Via del Corso and Via Mattia Battistini, ending up in Bastogi where he is welcomed by the discouraging sign “leave all hope, oh ye who come in here”. A total contrast to Giovanni’s luxurious apartment in Piazza Santa Caterina della Rota near Palazzo Farnese.
The two diametrically opposite lives are also reflected in the choice of beach: the crowded and chaotic Coccia Di Morto (filmed on the beach of the Idroscalo of Ostia, at the end of Via degli Aliscafi) for Monica, while Giovanni prefers to walk for forty minutes through the countryside and silent dunes in Capalbio (GR) to reach the Beach of Macchiatonda where an exclusive resort was created. Two worlds that meet and never fuse, as becomes clear from the scene where Giovanni meets the twins, outside Palazzo Chigi in Piazza Colonna, as they continue on a “compulsive shopping” session in Via del Corso.
The final set in a Christmas-decked Piazza Cavour, however, does provide some hope.
Giovanni lives in the historical centre of Rome, he cares deeply about social integration and the suburbs without having ever lived in them. Monica’s experience of the suburbs and social integration is based on her life in the Bastogi complex with its six apartment buildings, part subsidised housing and part squats, on the western outskirts of Rome, between Torrevecchia and Quartaccio.
Giovanni has returned to the city from Brussels and in Piazza San Silvestro meets his daughter, Agnese, who introduces her boyfriend, Alessio.
As he drives behind the couple, the car crosses Via del Corso and Via Mattia Battistini, ending up in Bastogi where he is welcomed by the discouraging sign “leave all hope, oh ye who come in here”. A total contrast to Giovanni’s luxurious apartment in Piazza Santa Caterina della Rota near Palazzo Farnese.
The two diametrically opposite lives are also reflected in the choice of beach: the crowded and chaotic Coccia Di Morto (filmed on the beach of the Idroscalo of Ostia, at the end of Via degli Aliscafi) for Monica, while Giovanni prefers to walk for forty minutes through the countryside and silent dunes in Capalbio (GR) to reach the Beach of Macchiatonda where an exclusive resort was created. Two worlds that meet and never fuse, as becomes clear from the scene where Giovanni meets the twins, outside Palazzo Chigi in Piazza Colonna, as they continue on a “compulsive shopping” session in Via del Corso.
The final set in a Christmas-decked Piazza Cavour, however, does provide some hope.
Giovanni is an intellectual involved in social integration projects. Monica is a former check-out assistant who deals with social integration on a daily basis given where she lives. Their lives cross when their children start spending time with each other. An experience that will change both their perspectives.
