Me and You (2012) Io e te (original title)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Niccolò Ammaniti (based on the novel by)
Niccolò Ammaniti (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 October 2012 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An introverted teenager tells his parents he is going on a ski trip, but instead spends his time alone in a basement.

Plot Keywords:

Reading | Chameleon | Heroin | Half Siblings | Ants

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Tea Falco	...	Olivia
Jacopo Olmo Antinori	...	Lorenzo
Sonia Bergamasco	...	Lorenzo's mother
Veronica Lazar	...	Lorenzo's grandmother
Tommaso Ragno	...	Ferdinando
Pippo Delbono	...	Pychologist
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rodolfo Corsato
Francesca De Martini	...	Grocery's owner
John Paul Rossi	...	The Pusher

Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci

Writing credits
Niccolò Ammaniti		(based on the novel by)
Niccolò Ammaniti		(screenplay) &
Umberto Contarello		(screenplay) &
Francesca Marciano		(screenplay) &
Bernardo Bertolucci		(screenplay)

Produced by
Mario Gianani	....	producer
Lorenzo Mieli	....	producer
Olivia Sleiter	....	line producer

Original Music by
Franco Piersanti

Cinematography by
Fabio Cianchetti

Film Editing by
Jacopo Quadri

Casting by
Barbara Melega

Production Design by
Jean Rabasse

Art Direction by
Christina Onori		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Letizia Santucci		(assistant set decorator)
Cynthia Sleiter

Costume Design by
Metka Kosak

Makeup Department
Alessandro D'Anna	....	additional makeup artist
Santoro Domingo	....	hair stylist
Rossella Gregorio	....	key makeup artist
Aldo Signoretti	....	hair designer

Production Management
Andrea Alunni	....	production manager
Gianluca Barra	....	assistant unit manager
Franco Casellato	....	post-production supervisor
Marco Milani	....	unit manager
Fulvio Rossi	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Emanuela Annecchino	....	second assistant director
Nathalie Baldascini	....	assistant director
Guido Colla	....	assistant director
Barbara Melega	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Cristina Cecili	....	painter
Tommaso Dubla	....	head painter
Massimo Eleonori	....	swing gang
Erminio Lauri	....	digital artist
Saverio Sammali	....	assistant art director
Letizia Santucci	....	first assistant set decorator

Sound Department
Gianluca Basili	....	sound effects editor
Sergio Basili	....	foley artist
Cristiano Ciccone	....	sound re-recording mixer assistant
Gabriele Conti	....	music mixing assistant
Silvia Moraes	....	sound
Alessandro Palmerini	....	boom operator
Marco Streccioni	....	music recorded and mixed by
Antonio Tirinelli	....	sound effects editor
Remo Ugolinelli	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Stefano Camberini	....	digital artist
Fabio Luongo	....	senior compositor: Visualogie
Francesco Antonio Maggi	....	digital compositor
Stefano Marinoni	....	visual effects supervisor
Federica Nisi	....	visual effects coordinator
Federico Toraldo	....	digital compositor
Paola Trisoglio	....	visual effects producer

Camera and Electrical Department
Mauro Belli	....	electrician
Roberto Bianchi	....	gaffer trainee
Séverine Brigeot	....	still photographer
Ernesto Busillo	....	camera loader
Valerio Cardelli	....	electrician
Ivan Casalgrandi	....	camera operator
Claudio Frollano	....	gaffer
Danilo Grazzani	....	first assistant camera
Andrea Grossi	....	second assistant camera
Simone Lucchetti	....	electrician
Massimiliano Ricci	....	b camera assistant
Giovanni Tancredi	....	electrician
Tayu Vlietstra	....	video controller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Nicoletta Donin	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Chiara Griziotti	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Gabriele Conti	....	music mix assistant
Goffredo Gibellini	....	mix engineer: additional score
Giannandrea Mazza	....	music pre-production
Marco Streccioni	....	score engineer & mixer

Other crew
Marco Ferreri	....	crowd marshall
Chiara Gelardin	....	for HanWay Films
Fabien Gerard	....	assistant script supervisor
Alainée Kent	....	for hanway films
Roberto Magagnini	....	propmaster
Mauro Monachini	....	production accountant
Saavedra Pilar	....	production company coordinator
Fabien Westerhoff	....	world sales: HanWay Films

Thanks
Giuseppe Bertolucci	....	dedicatee (as Giuseppe)
Luca Guadagnino	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Fiction Films
• Wildside Media
• Medusa Film (in collaboration with)
• Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC) (support)
• Intesa San Paolo (support)
• Regione Lazio (support)

Distributors

• Medusa Distribuzione (2012) (Italy) (theatrical)
• ABC Distribution (2013) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Broadmedia Studios (2013) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2013) (Turkey) (all media) (limited)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2013) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Homescreen (2013) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mozinet (2013) (Hungary) (all media)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• New Digital  sound effects track

Also Known As:

"Io e te" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Italy:T | Netherlands:12 | Japan:G | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16

Company:

Fiction Films

Soundtrack:

Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola (Space Oddity)

Bertolucci resurfaces with a nice film in a small scale setting, but well made and good to watch

I saw this film at the Rotterdam film festival 2013, within the Spectrum section. I was not thinking much of it when reading the synopsis on the festival website, imagining the confinements of the plot: watching two people in the basement, lasting nearly 2 hours. But someone else made the choice for me to book tickets anyway. I'm glad to it, and admit wholeheartedly that my prejudice was in error.

Firstly, the young actor who plays the 14-year old boy, does a formidable job. He is believable throughout as a boy who does not interact smoothly with the world, passing the day with his own solitary hobbies. Instead of going on a ski camp with his schoolmates, he dutifully prepares staying in the basement for a whole week, and takes a lot of trouble not to tell a soul about him hiding there. He wants to be left alone; that is very clear from the start.

Secondly, his unexpectedly visiting half-sister is also remarkable in how she interacts with the boy. She pressures him to allow her in while having no place else to stay. She visibly suffers a cold turkey after her heroine addiction, a painful process she has solid reasons to go through, and to come out of it clean. She wants to regain her former life as a successful photographer, and to reunite with a former friend she knew years ago. In spite of not having personal experience with recovering from a drug addiction, I have the impression that the whole painful process is shown very well. It is one of the reasons bringing brother and half-sister closer together. They do not become intimate in the literal sense (Is that a spoiler? Did you expect it?), as far as we are able to observe. In spite of their differences in age and street wiseness, a certain form of mutual understanding is definitely reached.

The story develops slowly but steadily, and has no boring moments whatsoever. Ample variety is brought in, by including a few scenes outside the basement, and other albeit short interactions with a some outsiders. Another plus is that the story does not develop in the most straightforward direction. For example, there is not even a hint that one of them wants sex with the other, as would be assumed by everyone reading the synopsis. Their situation is difficult, to say the least, and discovery is always lurking around the corner.

All in all, I'm not disappointed in the end result. It may not par up with some monumental films that Bertolucci made many years ago, but can that be construed as a problem?? Casting and acting can make or break a scenario like this, in this case with great success. The story left us with an open end, but I think that there was no other way, so also not a problem. This film ended 13th (out of 178) for the audience award with an average score of 4.401 (out of 5) from 1,524 votes.