Cinema
The Mass Is Ended
La messa è finita
Nanni Moretti · 1985
Synopsis
Don Giulio, a young priest, returns to Rome, his home city, after years in the parish of a small island, and is given a suburban church that the faithful have deserted: his predecessor left the priesthood to start a family. He meets again his parents, his sister Valentina and his friends from the old days, and discovers that each of them is unwell: one lives as a recluse, another is in prison for terrorism, his sister is pregnant and wants an abortion, and his father is leaving his mother for a younger woman.
Context
Sandro Petraglia wrote the screenplay with the director, and Nicola Piovani composed the music. Moretti himself plays don Giulio; Ferruccio De Ceresa and Margarita Lozano are his parents, Enrica Maria Modugno his sister, with Marco Messeri and Dario Cantarelli. Released in Italy in November 1985, the film reached France only in January 1987; restored, it was re-released in cinemas there on 5 June 2019.
Who it is for
About an hour and a half, in Italian. A bittersweet comedy, made of short scenes, about a priest unable to console his own people.
Prizes and reception
Silver Bear at the Berlin Festival in 1986; the film is included in Carlotta Films' “Viva Nanni!” box set.
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