Tutta la vita davanti (2008)

Director:

Paolo Virzì

Writers:

Francesco Bruni (screenplay) &
Paolo Virzì (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A brilliant recent graduate struggles to find work. After falling into a babysitting job, she is introduced by the child's mother to the world of the international call center, its employees, and the fast pace that drives them.

Plot Keywords:

Call Center | Graduate | Smoking Marijuana | Love Affair | Boss Versus Worker

Awards:

6 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Isabella Ragonese	...	Marta
Massimo Ghini	...	Claudio
Valerio Mastandrea	...	Giorgio Conforti
Micaela Ramazzotti	...	Sonia
Elio Germano	...	Lucio 2
Sabrina Ferilli	...	Daniela
Laura Morante	...	Voce narrante (voice)
Giulia Salerno	...	Lara
Edoardo Gabbriellini	...	Roberto
Valentina Carnelutti	...	Maria Chiara
Caterina Guzzanti	...	Fabiana
Elena Arvigo	...	Moglie di Giorgio Conforti
Paola Tiziana Cruciani	...	Madre di Sonia
Raffaele Vannoli	...	Assistente Claudio (as Lele Vannoli)
Mary Cipolla	...	Madre di Marta
Luisa Battaglia	...	Catena
Tatiana Farnese	...	Signora Franca
Valeria Colangelo	...	Telefonista Alessia
Veronica Corsi	...	Telefonista Antonella
Serena Silvani	...	Telefonista Sabrina
Alessia Cardella	...	Telefonista Vanessa
Francesca La Monica	...	Telefonista Elisabetta
Francesca De Francesco	...	Milly
Alessandro Roja	...	Tecnico Assistenza
Niccolò Senni	...	Sebastiano
Bob Messini	...	Cliente di Sonia
Giorgio Algranti	...	Cliente di Sonia
Teresa Saponangelo	...	Attrice Comica - Telefonista
Francesca Cutolo	...	Attrice Comica - Casalinga
Edoardo De Nicola	...	Figlio di Claudio
Maria Grazia Nazzari	...	Moglie di Claudio
Stefano Pinto	...	Venditore Christian
Francesco Brandi	...	Coinquilino Gaetano
Claudio Fragasso	...	Capo Servizio Cultura
Daniela Terreri	...	Impiegata Postale
Pierpaolo Benigni	...	Matteo
Martinha Do Amor Divino	...	Inserviente
Astrid Meloni	...	Giornalista
Piero Chieti	...	Preside Facoltà
Caterina Sylos Labini	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice) (as Caterina Silos Labini)
Cinzia Mascoli	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Chiara Claudi	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Laura Giannatiempo	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Isabella Carle	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Cristina Puccinelli	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Adamo Dionisi	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
Marco Alfieri	...	Voci dei Clienti Multiple (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Francesca Archibugi	...	Donna del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Serena Dandini	...	Donna del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Antonietta de Lillo	...	Donna del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Renato De Maria	...	Uomo del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Francesco Lagi	...	Uomo del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Teresa Marchesi	...	Giornalista (uncredited)
Andrea Purgatori	...	Uomo del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Stefano Rulli	...	Uomo del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)
Paolo Virzì	...	Uomo del pubblico allo spettacolo (uncredited)

Directed by
Paolo Virzì

Writing credits
Francesco Bruni		screenplay &
Paolo Virzì		screenplay &
Michela Murgia		novel

Produced by
Guido Simonetti	....	line producer
Paolo Virzì	....	producer

Original Music by
Franco Piersanti

Cinematography by
Nicola Pecorini

Film Editing by
Esmeralda Calabria

Casting by
Gianluca Greco

Production Design by
Davide Bassan

Costume Design by
Francesca Sartori

Makeup Department
Giuliano Mariano	....	assistant hair stylist
Alessandra Venzi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Renato Faust	....	production manager
Alessandro Guida	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Elisabetta Boni	....	first assistant director
Dario Ceruti	....	second assistant director
Giacomo del Buono	....	third assistant director
Lorenzo Grasso	....	second assistant director
Carlo Virzì	....	second unit director

Art Department
Davide De Stefano	....	assistant production designer

Sound Department
Jacopo Anzellotti	....	sound effects editor
Luca Anzellotti	....	sound editor
Massimo Anzellotti	....	foley artist
Alberto Doni	....	sound mixer
Filippo Ercolani	....	boom assistant
Mario Iaquone	....	sound
Luigi Melchionda	....	boom operator
Antonio Pulli	....	sound editor
Marco Streccioni	....	sound engineer

Special Effects by
Tiberio Angeloni	....	special effects coordinator
Massimiliano Bianchi	....	flying cam
Pasquale Catalano	....	flying cam
Franco Galiano	....	special effects supervisor
Paolo Galiano	....	special effects technician
Fabio Traversari	....	flying cam

Visual Effects by
Marsio Bellizzi	....	online artist
Paradisi Miconi Carlo	....	visual effects coordinator
Pasquale Di Viccaro	....	digital compositor
Fathima Feminò	....	compositor
Christian Gazzi	....	digital color grading
Marco Geracitano	....	digital artist: Proxima
Fabio Luongo	....	digital compositor supervisor
Maura Manfredi	....	digital compositor
Lorenzo Moneta	....	main titles designer: Proxima
Adriano Mulè	....	digital compositor
Claudio Napoli	....	visual effects producer
Pietro Orlandi	....	compositor
Pablo Mariano Picabea	....	data management
Pablo Mariano Picabea	....	film recording
Proxima	....	visual effects
Marco Ruggieri	....	digital conform
Paesani Sara	....	digital compositor
Giuseppe Squillaci	....	digital intermediate supervisor: Proxima
Paolo Zeccara	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Daniele Cafolla	....	gaffer
Francesco Dato	....	video assist
Marcostavros Maggi	....	assistant camera
Francisco Pintore	....	first assistant "a" camera
Marco Sacerdoti	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Massimiliano Battistella	....	casting assistant: Europe

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Maria Cristina La Parola	....	wardrobe assistant
Claudette Lilly	....	costume supervisor
M. Erminia Melato	....	assistant costume designer (as Erminia Melato)

Editorial Department
Emanuele Bosco	....	assistant editor
Marja de Sanctis	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Gabriele Conti	....	music recordist
Angelo Giovagnoli	....	music coordinator
Marco Streccioni	....	music recording engineer
Marco Streccioni	....	music scoring mixer

Other crew
Giulia Contino	....	script supervisor
Federica De Vita	....	payroll accountant
Francesco Gentile	....	production secretary
Ester Ligori	....	production coordinator
Mauro Monachini	....	production accountant
Alessandra Roveda	....	making-of

Thanks
Pierfilippo Siena	....	very special thanks: Model Photography

Production Companies

• Motorino Amaranto
• Medusa Film
• Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC) (support)

Distributors

• Medusa Distribuzione (2008) (Italy) (theatrical)
• EuroVideo (2010) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Ghost SFX
• M.A.G. Special Effects

Other Companies

• Roma Film Orchestra  music performed by

Also Known As:

"Her Whole Life Ahead" - Australia (festival title), New Zealand (English title) (festival title), UK (festival title), USA (festival title)
"A Whole Life Ahead" - Canada (English title) (festival title), USA (festival title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Motorino Amaranto

Quotes:

Daniela:You're a very special girl, and your job is very special.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Vado bene o no? (2008)

A Nutshell Review: A Whole Life Ahead

Here's the pragmatic approach that parents tell their children here - study the sciences because that will provide you a job. For Marta (Isabella Ragonese), even a top degree with honours in Philosophy fails to land her a permanent job, drawing some sharp contrast against peers who have dropped out of college, but steadily climbing the career ladder. The film has intent to examine the plight of permanent-temporary workers, you know, those who are under temporary contracts, but have to perform tasks and take on responsibilities just as how a regular staff would, but minus the staff perks.

I suppose companies take this approach with an eye wary on their bottom line, and sees this staffing strategy as something that's cost effective, virtually eliminating benefits from the payroll. The film might have been effective, with the introduction of unionist Giorgio (Valeno Mastandrea) who tries to understand the plight and conditions in the fictitious company Multiple (manufacturing who knows what product), but somehow lost its mission objectives midway because of a complication in matters of the heart, thereby relegating its own subplot.

This film is about the surreal journey of Marta as she tries her best to seek out a job, believing that her academic qualifications would open door. Contrary to her beliefs of course, Fate comes into play to introduce her to a single mom Sonia (Micaela Romazzotti) who works as a tele-marketer for Multiple, and recruits her into this really strange company with a very wide male-female division of the sexes, and feel-good ra-ra practices such as singing motivational songs at the start of each shift, and the receiving of cosmetic, encouraging SMSes in the morning everyday.

In other words, they operate much like a cult group, where performers get rewarded with dubious prizes, and laggards in the company get shipped out unceremoniously, with little dignity. Such is the sweat shop that Marta finds herself in, if not for her intellectual ability in internalizing the process in double quick time, and innovating in her job so as to perform with moderate inputs. For those who have worked in companies, or amongst peers who require you to jump, sing, shout, dance out loud in celebration of your employment or to serve as a mental prep booster before you commence each day, this film would definitely ring a bell.

And while the narrative might seem all over the place, it is precisely how director Paolo Virzi coaxes a coherent and at times zany story out of the multiple events, and myriad of characters. There's Daniela (Sabrina Ferilli) the floor supervisor who's a control freak, and harbours the hots for CEO Claudio (Massimo Ghini) who on the surface is the typical all- caring boss with a finger on the company's pulse. Then there's the romantic knot that Marta inadvertently gets herself into, and fellow sales partner Lucio 2 (Elio Germano) who preps himself almost all the time to think that he's the best of the best.

Throw in plenty of song and dance, self-reflection moments, gratuitous sex and nudity, changing relationships, and you have a film that tries too hard to cover a wide spectrum of ideas, but end up missing the bullseye more often than not. The film has its moments, but nothing too memorable besides those song and dance numbers that make the Beach Boys and some folk songs hip again.