Like Sheep Among Wolves, an intriguing noir premiere by Lyda Patitucci with Isabella Ragonese in Rotterdam

port. A port, but also a refuge for many different decks. International department Rotterdam Film Festivalwhich blew us away at the first look at the program, and a perfect container to put it in An intriguing first work by Lyda Patitucci (But there is also night outside to viewer), Like sheep among wolves.

Specializes in the most dynamic couple scenes I stop when I wantAnd The first king And wind speedIn addition to directing some episodes of the Netflix series CoronAnd Patitucci debuted with a sharp and dark noir crime. It goes straight to the point, delving into the characters’ stripping, both physically and emotionally, without giving in to the temptation of conciliatory turns.

produced by Matthew Oak For Greenland, by Philip Gravino and interpreted convincingly Isabella Ragonez And Andrew ArchangelsAnd Like sheep among wolves It tells of Vera, an undercover police officer in the Slavic underworld of Rome, with whom she shares knowledge of the language, from her mother, who died young. While infiltrating a gang of thieves, he discovers that his brother Bruno is among them, who shares a painful past with him but is not a present in which the two hardly see each other anymore. He is committed to giving his daughter, Marta, a future that will somehow protect her from her drug addict mother.

The director told us through meeting in Rotterdam. “I He was intrigued by how there was the story of the relationship between the brothers at the center, a unique type of relationship that touches me closely, and I have a very close experience with my brother. It is not very common for the emotional appeal of a story, especially since the brother and sister are the protagonists of the story. I saw the possibility of boxing in codes I feel in my heart. For a long time I dealt with the technical side of directing and directing second units. Like sheep among wolves He allowed me to Work on the characters, but within a context that requires a technical structure that motivates me. It was a union that motivated me a lot.”

a Crime thrillers very tense to Don Winslow, to talk about literature, unusual in our area and which refers to the classic archetypes of the genre, with a protagonist who has built an unbreakable shield, at least in appearance. “It’s rare for an actress to be offered a role like this,” she said with apparent enthusiasm. Isabella Ragonez. “They are genre films that are not made much in Italy, more than anything with male protagonists. With a woman in my opinion the story changes completely. Starting from a female point of view, dynamics are played out that change the direction of a genre that has its own rules. I was happily diving in, always trying to get in trouble, to do different things. I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have faith in Lyda, with her enthusiasm and experience, because for me, even as a spectator, it’s a whole new world. It was a great opportunity to work on other physical levels. We did an intense rehearsal, both Andrea and I, and then in many scenes I speak another language. It is a movie about relationships disguised as noir, with an unexpected female character, with a dark and unresolved life.. It was necessary to tell Vera, to decide what to reveal, with constant tension between what was in her head and what she could show. Nice acting experience. Don’t show too much, but at the same time let the viewer understand the feelings. He’s always a compact character.”

Coming back from a very muscular role like the one in RomulusPreviously Divine pigtail And Mute GalluraAnd Andrew Archangel He threw his heart and soul into Bruno’s shoes. As he told us, “The film’s strength is that it relies more on an auteur than a crime structure, with relationships at the center, so the characters stand on solid ground, and aren’t content with throwing themselves on stage for filming.. They bring with them a huge history that is only hinted at, which we wanted the body to tell us first and foremost. So it was necessary to work on physical fitness. It’s my first time fathering such a big girl, it was so good to have a relationship with her. I was horrified, she is not young enough to take her and force her to be your daughter. I had to create a relationship directly from the auditions, it was one of the most beautiful stages. Carolina Michelangeli, who plays young Marta, was fantastic. I would also like to give an endorsement to Isabella, an actress whom I have respected since I never imagined being an actress until now. I slid into it, too, mirroring our characters’ brother-sister relationship.”

A suspenseful story, in which relationships are stripped away with little regard for what happens around them, with many scenes acted out in Serbian, the place of origin of the members of the criminal gang. “The city is there, it is not hidden, but they never interact with it. It’s a small story of a few characters that had to dig deep, it’s a very intimate movie. After all, communication, openness or non-openness with the other, which most of the time passes through abuse, violence or hiding, is the central point of the film.. If two brothers break off all ties and meet again in this way, we return to the difficulty of internal communication. I see them as two different egos: on the one hand, a woman who controls everything in her working life, but internally suffers from immaturity and perfect confusion, and on the other hand, a brother who is the complete opposite, very emotionally centered, but in the practice of life is a disaster“.

to Isabella Ragonez Fully internal test with just a few dialogues, given A shield with which Vera protects herself away from its surroundings. “It’s as if you’re losing one sense and the other is getting more intense. This minus can also be a strength. Vera for work, and as a mechanism also in personal life, you must not let any emotion seep through.” The challenge was punching with both hands tied, being able to communicate deep feelings on hold, a very interesting disciplinary exercise.. Even a photo from behind can convey something to you. Vera’s challenges were one of the biggest challenges for me.”

Two characters who have a lot in common, Arcangeli recalls. “It was nice to see how they were opposite each other. One lives in the inability to communicate and the other in the inability to communicate. Everything outside, even a small one, is a wren. I loved that he said something physical while having an emotional outburst as he was looking for something not knowing where it was coming from. It is as if each lacks what the other hasHe adds Isabella Ragonez,” as a brother and sister with a shared history, which led him to physically destroy himself and enabled her to become a superhero and fight. A common trauma leads to two different paths, and as often happens with brothers, we find ourselves in front of a mirror that hurts us, and we refuse to see the common root of our history in the other.“.

Andrea Pirrello’s photo