The house of glances, Zingaretti brings a story of rebirth to the screen

“I tell a story of rebirth. It is a story that struck me a lot and contains themes dear to me. Above all, the ability to fall and get back up”. As Luca Zingaretti, making his directorial debut presents at the Rome Film Festival “The house of glances” based on the novel by Daniele Mencarelli. A story of rebirth, of great love between a father and son who know how to look for each other, expect, help each other thanks to the indestructible thread that binds them.

There is a borderline son, prey to alcohol, in difficulty with life, gifted with a great sensitive soul that expresses itself through poetry, and a father who sweetly, without exaggerating, tries to indicate a path, a solution, remains waiting and shows that no matter what happens, he is there, he is there, driving the tram he takes for work, which goes around and around on the tracks, a metaphor for his always being there. With Luca Zingaretti, as director and actor in the role of the father, there is a good one Gianmarco Franchini, a fragile son who manages to give meaning to his life serving on a cleaning crewBambin Gesù hospital in Rome. The large hospital on the Janiculum is indisputably the other protagonist of the film, with all its humanity.

It will be precisely the contact with this place of care, pain, life and death that will help the young man. “In this story – adds Zingaretti – I was also struck by the fact that there is a possibility of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In a society like ours, where pain is demonized, where there must be joy and happiness at all costs, the boy instead understands that pain must be welcomed, not rejected. It’s the tactic to get back on your feet, to continue living. And then, I also liked the theme because we could talk about work, friendship, love.”

Franchini is Marcolino, a borderline boy, depressed and a poet, who takes refuge in alcohol and who, therapeutically invited to go to work, knows first-hand those who instead “fight” to keep their lives, that is, the young patients. With one in particular, he establishes a funny friendship. “The book and screenplay are beautiful – says the young actor – I immediately felt a connection with my character even if it was complicated. Marcolino’s way of thinking is particular. He was diagnosed with borderline, depression.

But Marcolino is a person who has a pure soul, he is afraid of the world and that it can affect him. Poetry for him is an anchor that allows him to see the world in a different way. Everyone makes their choices based on the emotions they feel. In this wonderful journey that is life, if we remove the emotions and the poetry then there is no meaning.” Zingaretti reflects on the pain of living of today’s kids, which “is greater than ours. This is a world that changes too quickly, and the worst is yet to come with artificial intelligence. A change that seems to have been slowed down only by politics.”

What kind of father is the actor and director in the film? “AND a connected working class man – says Zingaretti – with solid ethical beliefs. Not surprisingly he’s a tram driver, someone who always takes the same route almost as if to indicate to his son: you know where to find me”.

The film is shot at the Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome, the Italian excellence in paediatrics. “I am Roman – underlines Zingaretti – so I know the hospital. There is beauty, also thanks to the incredible place where it is located, with that panorama of Rome, and there is also heaviness due to what you see. But it is the place where, once you cross the threshold, you feel safe. Maybe it’s because you’re all close together, I don’t know. Or maybe it’s because you know that once you’re inside with your own problem, you’re in the right place to try solve it. It was important for us that this was witnessed and I’m happy we did.”