Seven years later Perfect Strangers continues to enjoy worldwide success. Film about Paul Genuezanno domini 2016 (practically a lifetime ago) actually collects two other remakes reaching 20 international adaptations. In case you’re wondering: yes, that’s a record figure that catapults a comedy into the Guinness Book of World Records as a movie with most remakes Ever. For fans: The adaptations range from Russia (in 2019) to Arabia (with censorship of gay storylines attached), passing through Greece (the first to get the rights in 2016), and the last two arrivals, namely Iceland and Denmark. Should have been an adaptation. born in USAexcept that the manufacturer in question was Harvey Weinstein: after the scandal with #metoo, all his projects are frozen. Perfect Strangers included.

The haul of remakes is obviously accompanied by a rich dowry of collections: 16 million euros in 2016 alone, which has grown to 30 million summing up the worldwide box office. In short, this is an unprecedented cinematic experience.

However, it is appropriate to ask here: why? We’re still talking about comedy, not the latest sophisticated arthouse movie. Moreover, the name is Italian: Korean, Spanish, certainly not tricolor stories are popular today. On the contrary, this production quietly stands out all over the world. How is this possible?

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The plot and cast of “Perfect Strangers”

Let’s start with history. As you remember Perfect Strangers it begins and ends at a table against the backdrop of an (eloquent) lunar eclipse. eve (Kasia Smutnyak) and Rocco (Marco Giallini), husband and wife for many years, actually invite three pairs of friends to their home for dinner: newlyweds Cosimo (Edward Leo) He’s white (Alba Rohrwacher); Lele (Valery Mastandrea) and Charlotte (Anna Foletta) and overweight coach Peppe (Joseph Battiston), whose bride, however, was unable to attend. What should have been a quiet evening turns into a night of confessions, text messages. Yes, because to reveal, like a Pandora’s box, betrayals and shameful secrets are eatery mobile phones. In fact, Eva suggests placing mobile phones in the center of the table and publicly reading the messages that will come during dinner. We are in fact convinced that many couples would break up if each respective partner controlled the contents of the other’s mobile phone. Fate will cruelly prove her right.

And it is here that the first element of the charm of history is inserted: in spy on a partnerL. Really, raise your hand to those who at least once in their lives have not been tempted to look into their partner’s WhatsApp. “Just in case,” the small voice in our heads often whispers. Those who claim to have never experienced such temptation are lying and know they are lying. Well, if in the days of texting this flattery was strong, today between WhatsApp, self-destructing chats and direct messages, it is almost a song of sirens.

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So to see someone reading someone else’s digital correspondence with impunity is something cathartic: the characters are doing what we are forbidden to do, and this is a pleasure. As their end watches. They dare the unthinkable and therefore perish under the weight of the Truth. Therefore, at the end of the vision, we feel relieved and encouraged: the transference mechanism (or, more simply, the well-known identification process) has allowed us to do what we have dreamed of all our lives, but in the end, at the same time, we are convinced that, damn it. we should never do that. Some truths are better not to know.

Perfect strangers easily but non-trivially raise the issue technological addiction. Touchingly, each of us actually has “three lives: public, private and secret,” as the film’s promotional slogan puts it, the latter fueled by the virtual world. Digital is a fake that breeds monsters. But there is more. AT Perfect Strangers social denunciation is not intertwined with the usual melo (which is a big problem with many local productions). Light acts of kindness and displays of affection give way to one of the most famous comedic traditions: Pyrandelian masks. In fact, each character plays the subject and then falls victim to his own sentimental fiction: he remains entangled in it, and what he pretends – or wants to make believe – eventually consumes him. But love is based on truth. Therefore, it is not surprising that this title was awarded, in addition to several David di Donatello awards and Silver Ribbons, also the coveted award for best screenplay at the film festival. Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

Among the advantages of the film, an iridescent tint also stands out. Anticipating three-quarters of the current battles for integration, Paolo Genovese unfolds the character of Battistone, fragile and very strong at the same time. His missing girlfriend is actually him. And if she’s not there, it’s only because he wants to protect her. “If you love someone, you protect them, you protect them from it all. Because if you love someone, you protect them from everything,” he explains in the film. “You went out tonight, not me.” “No, I won’t let you know. It’s not because I’m afraid of your jokes, not that! I’ve heard too much! I don’t introduce him to you, because I know that at the first unfamiliar sight he will feel bad, and I don’t I want him to feel bad, I want to protect him.”

Finally, what matters is, of course, the cast: everything is partly, everything is believable. No one overacts in overacting and they are so good that they don’t even seem to be Italian. Kasia Smutnyak and Alba Rohrwacher they are also already known internationally (which is a great call to see foreign markets), and good Valerio Mastrandeafrom continuation diabolik. This time we did everything right. And the whole world saw it…