Marina (2013)

The true story of Rocco Granata, an Italian coal miner's son who followed his passion for music against his father's wishes and social barriers.

Director:

Stijn Coninx

Writers:

Stijn Coninx, Rik D'Hiet

Stars:

Luigi Lo Cascio, Donatella Finocchiaro, Matteo Simoni

12 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luigi Lo Cascio	...	Salvatore
Donatella Finocchiaro	...	Ida
Matteo Simoni	...	Rocco
Evelien Bosmans	...	Helena
Cristiaan Campagna	...	Young Rocco
Marte Bosmans	...	Young Helena
Maité Redal	...	Wanda
Warre Borgmans	...	Mister Somers
Chris van den Durpel	...	Tony Bruno
Flor Decleir	...	Jacky
Jobst Schnibbe	...	Hans Kumberger
Mattias Van de Vijver	...	Renaat (as Mattias Van De Vijver)
Landerik Boie	...	Young Renaat (as Landerik Boe)
Federica Marinò	...	Young Wanda
Pieter-Jan De Wyngaert	...	Jos

Storyline

Salvatore Granata is a rather poor man who lives with his wife, son and daughter in Calabria in Italy. One day Salvatore decides to move to Belgium to work in the coal mine of Waterschei as a "gastarbeider," an immigrant worker. His family will stay in Italy as Salvatore will only be in Belgium for three years. He hopes to earn much money in a rather small time frame so he can buy a forge for his son Rocco who is now still a 9 year old boy. After a year, Salvatore decides his family should be with him, so they also move to Belgium. They soon discover the life of a "gastarbeider" is difficult: they have to live in some kind of barracks, they are neglected by the Belgian people and they do not earn much. They are astonished when they hear Salvatore signed a contract of five years and children of "gastarbeiders" ought to work in the mines as soon they leave high school. Rocco meets Helena, the daughter of the local grocer. However, the man is a racist and forbids his daughter to play ...

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Plot Keywords:

belgium | musician | accordion | male frontal nudity | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

A Story of Passion, Love, and Music.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Most part of the movie is in an Italian dialect from Calabria. Matteo Simoni had to learn this language.

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Goofs

There are several scenes where Matteo Simoni has to play the accordion. It is obvious Matteo cannot play the instrument at all as none of the keys he presses corresponds with what you actually hear.

User Reviews

Outstanding bio-pic of the young Rocco Grenata

"Marina" (2013 release from Belgium; 120 min.) is a bio-pic on the early years of Belgian singer Rocco Grenata. The movie looks at his earliest days, growing up in Italy and eventually moving to Belgium in the 1950s with his family (his dad took a job as a "guest worker" in the coal mines of Limburg). Young Rocco became fixated on playing the accordion and singing, all against the wishes of his stern dad. The movie concludes when young Rocco finally achieves a breakthrough with his song "Marina", which originally was the B side of his first single.

Several comments: this is a Flemish movie directed by Stijn Coninx, best known for the (Oscar-nominated) bio-pic "Daens" in the 1990s. I mention "Flemish" (instead of Belgian), because the movie indeed is set in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium. Coninx does an excellent job bring the 1950s to life with vivid details, and if you grew up in Belgium (like I did), this will feel very authentic. The issue of the so-called "guest workers" was then (and still is now) a thorny and emotional issue. Rampant discrimination against guest workers took place and the movie does not duck that part of the story, on the contrary.

Apart from the story itself of how young Rocco Grenata made it, the acting performances in the movie are nothing short of stellar, none more so than Mateo Simoni in the role of Rocco, as well as Evelien Bosmans as his on-again, off-again girlfriend Helena. She is one of the very best acting talents to come out of Belgium in a long time, and surely we have not seen the last of her.

Bottom line: I was floored and surprised (but in the best possible way) how good this movie was. "Marina" has been a runaway box office smash in Belgium (or certainly in Flanders). I saw the movie during a recent family visit to Belgium, and even though this has been playing for weeks already and I went to see in on a week day matinée, the theatre I saw this at was absolutely packed. The audience gave a spontaneous applause at the end of the movie, just to give you an idea how well this movie has been received. If you have a chance to see this, by all means do not miss it! "Marina" is HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Belgium Italy

Language:

Flemish Italian French Dutch

Release Date:

6 November 2013 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Marina

Filming Locations:

Beringen, Belgium

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,998,164

Company Credits

Production Co:

Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Eyeworks Film & TV Drama, Les Films du Fleuve

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1