Although her personality means that the young woman initially keeps her distance from the student protests, as the characters gradually begin to filter into the salon they take her and the player to the heart of the 1968 student protests and its transformations. The game does not intend to reproduce the locations of Milan but rather to create the atmosphere of a crucial period in Italy’s history.
Excerpt from the team’s interview with IVIPRO: “We wanted to talk more about social affairs than about politics, so a hairdressing salon seemed like the ideal setting. This choice enabled us to take a light but not superficial tone and to explore not only the great changes of 1968, but also the small changes in daily life, in social interactions. The preparatory phase of research existed before the idea of Monica and her salon and so it had been very broad. We analysed the year 1968 globally, paying special attention to the civil rights movements in America which we identified as the precursors of the European movements. In any case, the game references some specifically Milanese events, such as the Beat movement and its hangouts, but we didn’t want to root the story in a single place. We didn’t want to talk about just Milan but to feel the global vibration of those changes. The salon is not only literally invaded by protestors but also welcomes key characters who symbolize factions in the student movement”.
Although her personality means that the young woman initially keeps her distance from the student protests, as the characters gradually begin to filter into the salon they take her and the player to the heart of the 1968 student protests and its transformations. The game does not intend to reproduce the locations of Milan but rather to create the atmosphere of a crucial period in Italy’s history.
Excerpt from the team’s interview with IVIPRO: “We wanted to talk more about social affairs than about politics, so a hairdressing salon seemed like the ideal setting. This choice enabled us to take a light but not superficial tone and to explore not only the great changes of 1968, but also the small changes in daily life, in social interactions. The preparatory phase of research existed before the idea of Monica and her salon and so it had been very broad. We analysed the year 1968 globally, paying special attention to the civil rights movements in America which we identified as the precursors of the European movements. In any case, the game references some specifically Milanese events, such as the Beat movement and its hangouts, but we didn’t want to root the story in a single place. We didn’t want to talk about just Milan but to feel the global vibration of those changes. The salon is not only literally invaded by protestors but also welcomes key characters who symbolize factions in the student movement”.
Copyright: Civica Scuola di Cinema
Setting: interior of a hairdressing salon belonging to the main character
Copyright: Civica Scuola di Cinema
Setting: interior of a hairdressing salon belonging to the main character
Copyright: Civica Scuola di Cinema
Detail of an album from the time
Copyright: Civica Scuola di Cinema
Setting: interior of a hairdressing salon belonging to the main character
Civica Scuola di Cinema "Luchino Visconti"
Giovanni Soldino, Marta Bucciella, Giulia Bianchi, Francesca Gattanini, Francesco Marsala, Lorenzo Riva, Giulia Ciurriero, Alessandro Maffioletti, Tommaso Tagliaferri
The project, Monica, was created by a group of students from the Civica Scuola di Cinema Luchino Visconti in Milan. A visual novel that allows the player to experience the misadventures of the main character, Monica, who is entrusted with the management of a hairdressing salon in Milan in 1968. Through the use of interactivity, the game offers a faithful presentation of an important moment in Italy’s social history, pausing to observe it in detail. The project was followed by Matteo Pozzi and Claudia Molinari of We Are Mu?esli. The graphic style of the work, characterised by a collage of photographic, artistic and carefully modified and personalised archive material, is especially interesting. A style that evokes the photo novels of that time period and Richard Hamilton’s pop art.
