In 19th-century Italy, Giacomo Leopardi channels his debilitating illness and isolation into poetry.
Acting
Elio Germano transforms physically, devastating in every wheezing breath.
Cinematography
Golden Recanati vs. gloomy Naples, beauty as torture.
Production
Period detail so obsessive you'll smell the tuberculosis.
Director
Mario Martone
Elio Germano
Giacomo Leopardi
Michele Riondino
Antonio Ranieri
Massimo Popolizio
Monaldo Leopardi
Anna Mouglalis
Fanny Targioni-Tozzetti
Valerio Binasco
Pietro Giordani
Paolo Graziosi
Carlo Antici
Iaia Forte
Mrs. Rosa
Sandro Lombardi
Father Vincenzo
Edoardo Natoli
Carlo Leopardi
Giovanni Ludeno
Pasquale Ignarra
Federica De Cola
Paolina Ranieri
Giorgia Salari
Maddalena 'Lenina' Pelzet
Isabella Ragonese
Paolina Leopardi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Elio Germano spent months learning to write with a quill left-handed and developed a convincing hunchback posture that reportedly caused him back pain for months after filming.
Leopardi's 'Canto Notturno' is quoted in the film; it's now considered Italy's greatest Romantic poem, though he died believing himself a failure.
IT
