The Past Is a Foreign Land (2008)
"Il passato è una terra straniera" (original title)

A promising law student from a good family is driven by a cool cardsharper into a downward spiral of criminality, thus discovering an evil part of himself he has never known.

Director:

Daniele Vicari

Writers:

Gianrico Carofiglio (book), Daniele Vicari (screenplay),

Stars:

Elio Germano, Michele Riondino, Chiara Caselli

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Elio Germano	...	Giorgio
Michele Riondino	...	Francesco
Chiara Caselli	...	Maria
Valentina Lodovini	...	Antonia
Marco Baliani	...	Franco
Daniela Poggi	...	Anna
María Jurado	...	Angelica
Romina Carrisi-Power	...	Giulia (as Romina Carrisi)
Federico Pacifici	...	Avvocato
Antonio Gerardi	...	Tenente
Nello Mascia
Monica Fiorentini
Lorenza Indovina	...	Alessandra

Storyline

A promising law student from a good family is driven by a cool cardsharper into a downward spiral of criminality, thus discovering an evil part of himself he has never known.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Past Is a Foreign Land

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€5,600 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fandango, R&C Produzioni, Rai Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Il passato è una terra straniera - Rumori di fondo (2008)

---

Soundtracks

"Stanotte"
Composed by Teho Teardo
Performed by Elio Germano and Le Bestie Rare

User Reviews

Lynch with Olives

Vicari evidently loves David Lynch. Mulholland Drive must be one of his favorite movies, as there are frequent quotations of its images in Il passato... But Vicari was clever enough to avoid making a Lynch movie, because all those who have tried have failed. He stuck to a solid thriller plot based on Carofiglio's novel, and set the film in Bari, as it should be, turning the sun-scorched Italian South into a nocturnal place of temptation and corruption. You have two young men: Giorgio, Law student, serious, hard-working, who wants to become a judge and spends his days on books; and Francesco, a gambler, a cardsharp, coming from a poor family, one who spends his days in the underworld. They accidentally meet at a party in a luxuriant villa one night, and become friends. What can they have in common? A lot more than Giorgio may suspect. They like poker, they like money, expensive cars, beautiful women, drugs. So the film is the story of Giorgio's corruption, as he discovers that Francesco's underworld is much more interesting and exciting than his previous life as a good boy. But where does this descent to hell end? Is hell just a metaphor, or is it something more substantial? Is it just a matter of those vices (gambling, using drugs, promiscuous sex) that are forbidden but that almost everybody practices, or are there bigger crimes to be committed? The relationship between Giorgio and Francesco is the main theme of the film, and poker games are no more than a metaphor of a whole lifestyle--a dangerous one, as it becomes clear as the movie reaches its ending...

Here you have three excellent actors (Germano, Riondino and Caselli are almost perfect for their characters), respectable directing, and an excellent choice of places, which give you a decent thriller. Decent but not memorable because suspense doesn't build up the way it should; when Francesco's character is fully revealed (I mean his side-business as a nighttime rapist), you almost expect it. It's not something that shocks you--and I suspect that this has something to do with how Vicari worked on Carofiglio's novel to produce the screenplay. He had to cut something to turn the novel into a film, as it's always done, but he probably cut too much.