'Naples - New York': Salvatores and the American Dream. Locations in Naples, Trieste and Cinecittà

A fable about emigration and solidarity which examines Italy’s dream of America in the 1940s set in the post-war rubble where two children proudly fight for their survival, as so many victims of war and poverty, of all ages, have done throughout time.

Released on 21 November by 01 Distribution, Gabriele Salvatores’s new film Naples - New York, oscillates between a dream and reality as it tells the epic journey of young Carmine and Celestina (Antonio Guerra, Dea Lanzaro) across the Atlantic, alongside the ship's purser, Pierfrancesco Favino. The two Neapolitan street-urchins stowaway unseen on a ship bound for New York, intending to find Celestina's sister, who emigrated years before. Everyone is searching for a new life and a better future in the 'land where all dreams come true'.

“There’s a saying in Naples: ‘Adda' venì o' pianerottolo, dicette chille ca' ruciuliava pe' scale’ (I just need to reach the landing, says the person rolling down the stairs)” comments Gabriele Salvatores. “We live in a moment of time pervaded by distrust, resentment, sometimes even hatred, and I liked the idea of ??making a film that speaks of solidarity, acceptance and hope, right now. It is a film (like the staircase ‘landing’) that gives a little pause and makes us hope that we can be even better than we are. That reminds us that we too have been migrants”.

The film is based on an unpublished outline by Federico Fellini and Tullio Pinelli, a manuscript found in the Pinelli archive. “It moves me that a story created by two masters of Italian cinema, which could have disappeared, has been recovered and brought to life”, said the Oscar-winning director. Some changes were made to the original story, especially regarding the development of the events set in America which Salvatores felt were a little too tied to the nuance and narrative tone of the time when the story was written, an era when there was an exaggerated faith in the American dream and in the ability of the American people to understand the difficulties of others. "We live in later years and have discovered that the American dream can also become a nightmare”, he added “but at the time it was quite normal for people to think differently".

The cast includes Anna Ammirati, Anna Lucia Pierro, Omar Benson Miller, Tomas Arana, Antonio Catania. Diego Indraccolo was director of photography, the sets were curated by Rita Rabassini, costumes by Patrizia Chiericoni, music by Federico De Robertis. Visual effects supervision performed by Victor Perez.

Salvatores returns to ‘his’ Naples

Twelve weeks of filming in Trieste, Cinecittà Studios, Rijeka (Fiume) in Croatia (for the party scene in Little Italy and sequences on the ship Galeb) and Naples, the city where the director was born but which, until now, has appeared very little in his films. The entire first part of the film is set in Naples, with the city appearing in a much more realistic and believable guise than the representation of New York in the film’s third act. The latter was recreated on a set in Trieste, rendered with mythical, dreamlike tones: the perfect aesthetic representation of the sparkling brightness of the American dream.

“I was born in Naples, behind Piazza del Plebiscito, in via Solitaria, I don’t know if it was a coincidence; when you’re born in a place like this you can’t get rid of it, it’s a state of mind”, notes Salvatores.  “My parents would have been pleased to see me returning to my origins for this film, just as it struck my sisters because they found something of their city in it. I shot a few scenes of 'Denti' in Naples, so shooting the entire first act of the film in Naples this time was important, it was nice to finally be able to shoot here. And I must add that I couldn’t have made this film with two children from Milan. Naples has something inside it, a struggle to survive, the desire to make it whatever the cost. A 'cazzimma' (spirit) shared by the two young actors who tackled every scene with stoicism and great resistance.

A Neapolitan stubbornness which is also expressed in a sequence when the boy discovers that he does not have a luck line on his palm so immediately makes one by cutting himself with a knife. The scene was inspired by a Corto Maltese comic strip which, Salvatores added, "represents everything that is Naples, its resilience and its pride in facing difficulties".

Filming in Trieste, the connecting thread in Salvatores’ recent production

Following All My Crazy Love (2019), The Invisible Boy (2014) and The Invisible Boy – Second Generation (2018) Salvatores has once again returned to film in Trieste, this time transformed into the New York of the Forties: a magical city, which lives up to the enchanted gaze of Carmine and Celestina. It is shown in the film through the eyes and imagination of the children, with the camera almost always at their height.

“When I made the first film here it was rare to find film crews in the territories,” Salvatores has said in the past about the capital of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. “I am proud they discovered this city and I always return here with great affection”.

Main location of the film’s third act, where the two street urchins wander the streets of New York, is the city of Trieste, with settings that include: Palazzo Carciotti, Porto Vecchio, Salone degli Incanti, Stazione Marittima, Palazzo Berlam, Piazza S. Giovanni, Chiesa S. Antonio, Caffè San Marco, Palazzo Vivante, Pasticceria Bomboniera, Stock and the exteriors of the Savoia Excelsior Palace.

Filming in the area, which began on May 15, 2023, continued for 28 days and followed a period of preparation in the city that lasted about three months. Over 60 technicians and workers were employed, including a crew of 41 permanent technicians, in addition to some 20 part-time roles, including technicians and local workers, and over 100 crew personnel, including cast and performers.

Produced by Paco Cinematografica in collaboration with Rai Cinema with the contribution of the FVG Film Commission – PromoTurismoFVG, Naples – New York is the sixth film that Salvatores has shot in Friuli-Venezia Giulia; he also set Come Dio comanda (2008) here in Magredi del Cellina (Pordenone) and the Rivoli industrial area of ??Osoppo (Udine).

Pierfrancesco Favino: the film is a light-hearted fable

Garofalo, the amiable purser who takes care of the two children and even considers adopting them, is played by Pierfrancesco Favino who underlines how the film is "a light-hearted fable, that does not intend to moralize or to take more than a historical look at migratory flows. It’s a story with a happy ending that shows that if people put themselves at the disposal of others, perhaps future generations will be able to make better choices".

Naples-New York is also the adventure of two young people who, with enormous joy for life, are seeking independence and autonomy; they do so in part by emancipating themselves from the adult world that sees them only as children. "In growing up and gaining one's independence, there is a phase when one discovers that one is no longer a child. I find it very beautiful not to stop personal growth at the child dimension, the idea in the film is about making space, leaving room for what people choose to be".

'Napoli - New York': synopsis, trailer and backstage

In the immediate post-war, little Carmine and Celestina survive as best they can, helping each other amidst the rubble of a poverty stricken, broken Naples. One night, they stowaway on a ship headed to New York to go and live with Celestina's sister who emigrated years before. Joining the many Italian emigrants seeking their fortune in America, they disembark in an unknown metropolis, one that numerous events later they will learn to call home.

Watch the backstage clip: