The Good Mothers, series co-directed by (British) Julian Jarrold and (Italian) Elisa Amoruso, is based on the bestseller of the same name by Alex Perry. It tells the story of Anna Colace (Barbara Chichiarelli), a brilliant, young public prosecutor who decides to attack the 'ndrangheta by leveraging its women, the wives and mothers of the bosses, forever marginalized with oppression and violence by the criminal organization’s patriarchal structure. The story begins with the disappearance of Lea Garofalo (Micaela Ramazzotti), who testified against her husband Carlo Cosco (Francesco Colella) in an attempt to escape his hold and create a better life for her daughter Denise (Gaia Girace) far away. It expands to embrace the stories of Giuseppina Pesce (Valentina Bellè) and Concetta Cacciola (Simona Distefano), women who are very different but share similar dramatic family situations and the intention to build a better future for their children and themselves, like Lea.
The story begins in Calabria, where the series filmed for 6 weeks using numerous local professionals: 48 workers, 21 actors, 553 extras. Settings include: the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, workplace of courageous Anna Colace, in Reggio Calabria; the courthouse; Falcomatà shorefront; Stretto arena and the area around the Aragonese Castle.
Locations in the province of Reggio Calabria included the town of Palmi featuring the Ulivarella cliffs near Taureana on the Viola coast, a few meters from the beach where Denise spends some carefree moments with Carmine (Andrea Dodero); mount Sant'Elia and tre Croci on a coastal ridge of Aspromonte; the Mother Church of San Nicola. In addition, the production filmed in Fiumara, in the Catona valley, piazza Mino Reitano, and in via Giovanni Gulli, where both the Church of Maria Santissima del Carmine and perennially dark and deserted 1980s style bar where Denise breakfasts and meets Carmine, are located.
Many scenes are set in rundown homes, often too small to contain three generations of the same family. As the characters often reiterate, family is the most important thing; family is everything and must stay united always, even when a member moves away from the land of origin; even in Milan where Carlo Cosco lives in an apartment block, in close contact with his family, ready to take charge of Denise when her mother Lea Garofalo disappears into thin air (locations included via Piero della Francesca and via Losanna).
Filming also took place in Genoa, in the Voltri neighborhood and the hamlet of Vesima, where Concetta Cacciola spends time away from her family; and in Rome and surroundings, Civitavecchia and the woods near Rocca di Papa, Nemi and Velletri.
The Good Mothers, series co-directed by (British) Julian Jarrold and (Italian) Elisa Amoruso, is based on the bestseller of the same name by Alex Perry. It tells the story of Anna Colace (Barbara Chichiarelli), a brilliant, young public prosecutor who decides to attack the 'ndrangheta by leveraging its women, the wives and mothers of the bosses, forever marginalized with oppression and violence by the criminal organization’s patriarchal structure. The story begins with the disappearance of Lea Garofalo (Micaela Ramazzotti), who testified against her husband Carlo Cosco (Francesco Colella) in an attempt to escape his hold and create a better life for her daughter Denise (Gaia Girace) far away. It expands to embrace the stories of Giuseppina Pesce (Valentina Bellè) and Concetta Cacciola (Simona Distefano), women who are very different but share similar dramatic family situations and the intention to build a better future for their children and themselves, like Lea.
The story begins in Calabria, where the series filmed for 6 weeks using numerous local professionals: 48 workers, 21 actors, 553 extras. Settings include: the District Anti-Mafia Directorate, workplace of courageous Anna Colace, in Reggio Calabria; the courthouse; Falcomatà shorefront; Stretto arena and the area around the Aragonese Castle.
Locations in the province of Reggio Calabria included the town of Palmi featuring the Ulivarella cliffs near Taureana on the Viola coast, a few meters from the beach where Denise spends some carefree moments with Carmine (Andrea Dodero); mount Sant'Elia and tre Croci on a coastal ridge of Aspromonte; the Mother Church of San Nicola. In addition, the production filmed in Fiumara, in the Catona valley, piazza Mino Reitano, and in via Giovanni Gulli, where both the Church of Maria Santissima del Carmine and perennially dark and deserted 1980s style bar where Denise breakfasts and meets Carmine, are located.
Many scenes are set in rundown homes, often too small to contain three generations of the same family. As the characters often reiterate, family is the most important thing; family is everything and must stay united always, even when a member moves away from the land of origin; even in Milan where Carlo Cosco lives in an apartment block, in close contact with his family, ready to take charge of Denise when her mother Lea Garofalo disappears into thin air (locations included via Piero della Francesca and via Losanna).
Filming also took place in Genoa, in the Voltri neighborhood and the hamlet of Vesima, where Concetta Cacciola spends time away from her family; and in Rome and surroundings, Civitavecchia and the woods near Rocca di Papa, Nemi and Velletri.
The Good Mothers is a bold, choral film that tells the true story of three women who, born into the richest and most vicious clans of the ‘ndrangheta, decide to work with a brave prosecutor to destroy it. They must fight their own families for the right to survive and build a new future for themselves and their children.