Lezioni di cioccolato (2007)

Director:

Claudio Cupellini

Writers:

Fabio Bonifacci
Christian Poli (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 November 2007 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Mattia, a 32 year old building contractor in Perugia has lots of style, nice suits, nice car, gorgeous...

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Luca Argentero	...	Mattia
Violante Placido	...	Cecilia Ferri
Neri Marcorè	...	Maestro Corrado
Hassani Shapi	...	Kamal
Monica Scattini	...	Letizia
Francesco Pannofino	...	Luigi
Vito	...	Osvaldo
Josefia Forlì	...	Corrado Mineo
Matteo Oleotto	...	Milo
Rolando Ravello	...	Presentatore
Ivano Marescotti	...	Giancarlo Ugolini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Salami Bahija	...	Shamira
Mauro Celaia	...	Garzone
Alessandro Checcobelli	...	Jaffar
Costanza Farroni	...	Ragazza bionda
Federico Fazioli	...	Sindaco
Stefania Floresta	...	Giornalista
Alessia Lauteri	...	Ragazza mora
Geremia Longobardo	...	Inserviente
Nadir Mura	...	Radu
Danilo Nigrelli
Regina Orioli	...	Clara
Jatinder Pal	...	Venditore di rose
Cecilia Eleonora Pippo	...	Responsabile scuola (as Eleonora Pippo)
Joseph Queen	...	Nonno kamal
Giulia Ruffinelli	...	Ragazza castana
Giovanni Trevisanello	...	Padre milo

Directed by
Claudio Cupellini

Writing credits
Fabio Bonifacci
Christian Poli		(screenplay collaborator)

Produced by
Andrea Costantini	....	executive producer: Faro Film
Matteo De Laurentiis	....	executive producer
Francesca Longardi	....	executive producer
Giorgio Magliulo	....	executive producer: Faro Film

Original Music by
Teho Teardo

Cinematography by
Giovanni Cavallini

Film Editing by
Danilo Torre

Casting by
Barbara Giordani

Production Design by
Alessandro Vannucci

Costume Design by
Sonoo Mishra

Makeup Department
Raffaella Ragazzi	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Francesca De Filippi	....	unit production manager
Antonella Viscardi	....	production manager

Art Department
Valerio Desiderio	....	assistant property master
Luca Ferretti	....	property master

Sound Department
Curzio Aloisi	....	sound assistant
Giuseppe D'Amato	....	sound editor
Gianni Pallotto	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alessandro Rolla	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Tiberio Angeloni	....	special effects supervisor

Stunts
Alessandro Novelli	....	stunt performer
Emiliano Novelli	....	stunt coordinator

Editorial Department
Francesco Bilotti	....	assistant editor
Angelo Francavilla	....	grader
Andrea Gargano	....	final colorist (uncredited)

Other crew
Joshua Berman	....	co-production supervisor
Sarah Louise Bliss	....	production coordinator
Nicolangelo Gelormini	....	documentarist
Francesco Startari	....	production secretary
Raffaello Vignoli	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Cattleya
• FaroFilm

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (2007) (Italy) (all media)
• Universal Pictures (2008) (Italy) (DVD)

Special Effects

• M.A.G. Special Effects

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Company:

Cattleya

An intelligent light and entretaining story and screen play about values and about immigration and precarity

This movie is set in Perugia, Italy where Mattia, played by Luca Argentero, is a self-centred, carreerist, building promoter who, in order to break into the market accepts cheap contracts and cuts corners by buying cheap material, hiring black labour, paying little and not caring for his team's safety. On one occasion, one of the workers, an Egyptian, Kamal, played by Hassani Shapi, has an accident and falls from a roof.

Kamal could denounce Mattia, who would end in prison and see his career ruined. To avoid this, the two strike a deal...

The movie's strength, in my opinion, is in the lightness through which the story passes us a delicate message about immigration and about those in margin of society. The film is about how, if we take time, we can appreciate someone else's culture and point of view, and that, things that seem odd and perhaps picturesque, make sense when one lives them, or at least, sees them from closer by. This movie is about what matters in life: values such as quality over mediocrity, helping and achieving together over selfishness, and truth over lies. It is also about how people on the margins of society are confronted by everyday life through a different perspective than the everage middle-class citizen. The movie brings through all these serious messages in a very easy flowing and light way. Although there is quite a bit of stereotyping, it is mastered for the sake of the message, and I for one, at no point felt it was offending. The actors are OK, and the film does not offer any technical break-throughs but flows pretty well. All in all, it is a very pleasant and positive film, with an intelligenty written screenplay and a worthy message behind. Bravo.