“I Told You So”, interview with director Ginevra Elkann

March 29, 2024

Ginevra Elkann, director of "I Told You So", on heatwaves, addiction and her star-studded cast

"I Told You So", interview with director Ginevra Elkann Sarah Bradbury

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During Cinema Made in Italy in London, Fred Film Radio spoke with Ginevra Elkann about her bold second feature, “I Told You So.”

The filmmaker shared that the starting point for her story was a heatwave in Rome and the impact it had on her and the people around her, inducing anxiety and sending people into a frenzy. From that idea, the scene was set for her movie, which she then populated with a series of characters with interweaving narratives.

We heard about how she assembled her all-star cast, including Valeria Golino as Pupa, an ex-porn star trying to relive her Golden Days, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as her obsessed ex-best friend, Riccardo Scarmarcio and Alba Rorwacher as a divorced couple battling over the custody of their son, and Danny Huston as priest with a former heroin addiction, to name but a few.

Key aspects of making the film were achieving the claustrophobic look and feel of the sweltering heat and also the more out-there moments, such as the hyper-realistic sex scene that opens the feature.

We also discussed the thread of addiction through all the characters, whether food, alcohol, sex or drugs, exploring how we all have our ways of trying to escape ourselves and our past traumas, as well as the complex reactions women can have to becoming a mother, dysfunctional relationships and societal judgement.

Plot

It’s a January weekend in Rome, when a sudden heat wave arrives disrupting the peace. In this surreal climate, people and animals start losing control. It’s the beginning of a whole new chapter: suddenly, people are confronted with the things they have been carefully avoiding through their ordinary daily routines, be it food, sex, drugs, religion, or excessive romance. They can no longer escape – they must push through the heat, be transformed by it in its own voice and pace.

Written by: Sarah Bradbury

Guest