Nero, actor Giovanni Esposito’s directorial debut, was shot in Campania: Mondragone and Castel Volturno in the Caserta area; the towns of lago Patria, near the Parco delle Anfore, and Pollena Trocchia (province of Naples) together portray a Southern Italy balanced between pain and hope. The director of photography was Daniele Ciprì with production design by Luigi Ferrigno.
Esposito gave himself the role of Nero, a petty criminal who supports his mentally disabled sister Imma (Susy Del Giudice). He lives in Pinetamare, a hamlet of Castel Volturno (Caserta) on the Domizia coast, once a place of dreams. The film refers several times to what was known as the Villaggio Coppola: built in the 1960s to be a stellar tourist destination, damage from bradyseism and the 1980 Irpinia earthquake transformed the dreamed-of utopia into a place of degradation now occupied mostly by migrants.
Giovanni Esposito noted that “The outskirts of the outskirts are a continent apart where all continents coexist, where natural rules are often rewritten. In these non-places, respect for borders is individual and the concept of individuality is a God to be respected, no matter the cost. Here the only democracy is the individual. Nero, the lead character, feels like an immigrant in this continent of immigrants, but he has the attitude of a colonialist, of someone who is perpetually believes that he is owed credit. He is not black at all, in truth, but he grew up in the midst of a predominantly African community, adapting to a place where the invasive beauty of the sea devoured by men rules which collects those abandoned by society, pushed to the margins so as not to offend the bourgeoisie”.
During a supermarket robbery, an accidental shot from Nero’s gun mortally wounds a gas station attendant, but miraculously the man wakes up unharmed. As he investigates surveillance videos, the policeman, Abate (Giovanni Calcagno), becomes convinced that Nero has the power to heal and, desperately begs him to save his daughter who has been in a coma for years. When Nero manages to wake her, he realizes he has an extraordinary gift, but also discovers that it comes at a very high price: with each healing, he loses one of his five senses. Locations include the Pineta Grande Hospital, where Nero heals a man for money. How far will he sacrifice himself to save others?
Nero, actor Giovanni Esposito’s directorial debut, was shot in Campania: Mondragone and Castel Volturno in the Caserta area; the towns of lago Patria, near the Parco delle Anfore, and Pollena Trocchia (province of Naples) together portray a Southern Italy balanced between pain and hope. The director of photography was Daniele Ciprì with production design by Luigi Ferrigno.
Esposito gave himself the role of Nero, a petty criminal who supports his mentally disabled sister Imma (Susy Del Giudice). He lives in Pinetamare, a hamlet of Castel Volturno (Caserta) on the Domizia coast, once a place of dreams. The film refers several times to what was known as the Villaggio Coppola: built in the 1960s to be a stellar tourist destination, damage from bradyseism and the 1980 Irpinia earthquake transformed the dreamed-of utopia into a place of degradation now occupied mostly by migrants.
Giovanni Esposito noted that “The outskirts of the outskirts are a continent apart where all continents coexist, where natural rules are often rewritten. In these non-places, respect for borders is individual and the concept of individuality is a God to be respected, no matter the cost. Here the only democracy is the individual. Nero, the lead character, feels like an immigrant in this continent of immigrants, but he has the attitude of a colonialist, of someone who is perpetually believes that he is owed credit. He is not black at all, in truth, but he grew up in the midst of a predominantly African community, adapting to a place where the invasive beauty of the sea devoured by men rules which collects those abandoned by society, pushed to the margins so as not to offend the bourgeoisie”.
During a supermarket robbery, an accidental shot from Nero’s gun mortally wounds a gas station attendant, but miraculously the man wakes up unharmed. As he investigates surveillance videos, the policeman, Abate (Giovanni Calcagno), becomes convinced that Nero has the power to heal and, desperately begs him to save his daughter who has been in a coma for years. When Nero manages to wake her, he realizes he has an extraordinary gift, but also discovers that it comes at a very high price: with each healing, he loses one of his five senses. Locations include the Pineta Grande Hospital, where Nero heals a man for money. How far will he sacrifice himself to save others?
Bartlebyfilm, Run Film, Pepito Produzioni, Rai Cinema
Nero is a middle-aged petty criminal living on his wits who takes care of his severely disabled sister, Imma. When a robbery goes wrong, Nero discovers he has a mysterious power: he can heal people, but each time he loses one of his five senses.
