STEROIDS - LE PODCAST : LA CITÉ INTERDITE

CAPTURE MAG

Hosts StÃ©phane MoÃ¯ssakis and Julien Dupuy discuss the Italian film 'La CitÃ© Interdite' directed by Gabriele Mainetti. They explore the fi

Key takeaways

Gabriele Mainetti's 'La CitÃ© Interdite' features a significant budget of 17 million euros for an Italian production.
The film is set in the Esquilino district of Rome, focusing on the intersection of Chinese and Italian cultures.
The lead actress transitioned from being a stuntwoman for Jackie Chan productions to a leading role.
Mainetti's previous notable works include 'On L'appelle Jeeg Robot' and 'Freaks Out'.
The character Hannibal, played by Marco Gialeni, serves as a complex representation of older Italian archetypes.

Main topics

La CitÃ© Interdite film review
Gabriele Mainetti's filmography
Italian cinema renaissance

Notable quotes

Every good genre film is actually in the heart, there is a love story.

Conclusion

The episode provides a passionate defense of modern Italian genre cine

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) Hi, this is Vincent from Capture Mag. It's great Capture Mag. So if you like Capture Mag, give me some money. Speaker 1 (0:30) ... And then, watch all the shows, it will be a pleasure. Like, all that, it's great. And that's free, by the way. Kisses. Speaker 2 (0:54) Hello and welcome to the new episode of Stereoids, the podcast. I'm Stéphane Moissaki, I'm your host. And today I'm with my friend Julien Dupuis. Hi Julien. Hello Stéphane. To talk about a film that I really like, that's coming out directly on VOD, we'll say. In any case, it's on Canal +, at the moment. I imagine first window of exclusivity. It's a shame. It's a shame. It's Speaker 3 (1:14) a Speaker 2 (1:14) shame Speaker 3 (1:14) for the anecdote, the director... Speaker 2 (1:30) If you clicked on the thumbnail, if you listen or on YouTube, you know that we're talking about The Forbidden City by Gabriele Minetti. Third feature film by Gabriel Emenetti. Big project, it's a pretty expensive film for Italy. 17 million euros. That's a lot for an Italian feature film. Gabriel Emenetti, who we discovered with G-Robot, who was released in our studio at the time, Freaks Out, who was released in our studio, and so this one which unfortunately comes out directly in video, while... on platforms, on... I don't know how it's called on Canal +, but it's platforms now, it's not really linear anymore. And people catch up with the films like that. So it's available on 4K, whatever you want, etc. But it deserved to be released in theaters, because I was able to see it last year at the Strasbourg Festival, and my little disclaimer, they were awarded a crossover prize at the time. So, ex-echo. because there were two films that really interested us at that time. It's weird because the Speaker 3 (2:33) film is not at all fantastic. Speaker 2 (2:35) No, the crossover category at Strasbourg is a genre cinema category where there is Speaker 1 (2:45) a Speaker 2 (2:45) bit of everything. I Speaker 1 (2:46) didn't know it before being Speaker 2 (2:49) cast there at that time. But in any case, I know it's a film that I really, really, really liked. Speaker 2 (2:59) We'll talk about it, but before that, we might have to pitch the film. So, Julien, my friend, I beg you. I Speaker 3 (3:06) wasn't at all Speaker 2 (3:06) ready for that, I forgot. It's the Speaker 3 (3:09) story of a young woman who comes from China to take her sister. A twin. A twin, yes. A gang. She was raised in China by a professor, a father who is a professor of martial arts, by the way. And so she goes to Italy to take her twin Speaker 2 (3:27) sister Speaker 3 (3:27) to the hands, to the claws of a kind of triad which is installed in the Asian quarter of Rome. And doing so, she will learn very quickly that her sister is probably dead. And by looking for the why, the how, etc. She will meet a family of restaurateurs, let's say it like that. More particularly, the young Cuisto, whose father is also dead, was apparently the lover of this sister. Speaker 3 (4:04) It's not really together, but let's say it's Speaker 2 (4:06) going Speaker 3 (4:06) to be a story of fated destinies and people who meet and Speaker 2 (4:10) clash. And it's quite interesting that you pitch it that way, because there's a kind of multicultural crossroads, which I think is at the heart of the theme of the film. Speaker 2 (4:24) You, in your pitch, you use the characters. And it's true that when you watch the film, you use it through the characters, it's well seen. But you also use it in relation to the mix of genres. That is to say, it's a martial arts film, in Italy, in an Italian production, which is also a police film, if you will, without being a police-esque one either. Speaker 2 (4:48) something that is very rooted in Italian cinematographic culture. So there is a kind of big hybridization of genres like that, which is hyper interesting and which I find is at the same time solicited by the functioning of the characters and the questioning of certain characters in relation to culture. There is in particular a character of old... Briscard, actually, from the old Mafia, who's called Hannibal, who is, I find, quite, how to say... Who's great. Speaker 3 (5:13) Who's played by Marco Gialeni, in fact. Speaker 2 (5:15) Who's superb, what. Speaker 3 (5:16) You Speaker 2 (5:16) saw him in a cab of Speaker 3 (5:17) Sergio Soliman. Who's Speaker 2 (5:18) a Speaker 3 (5:18) big bastard, this character. He's an interesting character. Speaker 2 (5:20) And also, it goes through the staging. I know that, in any case, the first thing of staging that struck me in the film, beyond the quality of the choreographies of martial arts, of the fight, Because it opens up, Speaker 1 (5:35) apart Speaker 2 (5:35) from the starting point in 1995, where Speaker 1 (5:41) you Speaker 2 (5:41) understand that there are two twin sisters, one Speaker 1 (5:42) of Speaker 2 (5:42) them is hidden because the Chinese government Speaker 1 (5:44) at Speaker 2 (5:44) the time only allowed one child per family. So you know that there is one who basically spent more or less her life in a closet, if you will, while the other was exposed. Speaker 2 (5:57) You don't know which one is which, at the beginning of the film. She comes to get her sister. You have this fight scene, which I find quite... It's a fight scene that goes from a cellar to a kitchen. A thing where, using all the utensils, the girl recovers, for example, a kind of rap, at some point, with cheese, a thing like that. She raps the arm of the guy who attacks her. This Speaker 3 (6:19) fight scene, I don't find it to Speaker 2 (6:21) be of Speaker 3 (6:21) an amazing originality. We've seen it many times, but there's... I Speaker 2 (6:25) mean, there are still Speaker 3 (6:25) a lot of things that are hyper interesting, hyper satisfying. If you're interested, I invite you to see Mainetti. In fact, he's a director in this Speaker 2 (6:32) whole Speaker 3 (6:32) new wave of Italian filmmakers. He's very technical, in fact. He handles all these materials very Speaker 2 (6:40) well. Speaker 3 (6:41) And there's a VFX breakdown that's great, from the company that did the main special effects, where you discover a lot of things, on the kitchen scene in particular. But there's something, for example, that I really like. You see that it's someone who really thinks about what he's doing. That's why I allowed myself to... C'est que, par exemple, il y a une sous-intrigue que j'adore avec un personnage dont la veste prend feu. Et il y a deux, trois fois, comme ça, où le mec revient parce que son haut de fringue, en fait, arrête pas de prendre feu, quoi. Et c'est marrant parce que je l'ai vu deux fois, en fait, cette séquence-là. Et c'est que la deuxième fois, en fait, que j'ai percuté, en fait, cette petite idée-là, cette petite trouvée. Mais mine Speaker 2 (7:15) de rien, en fait, ça charpente une séquence d'action, quoi. Par Speaker 3 (7:17) ailleurs, c'est Speaker 2 (7:18) hyper clair. Voilà, c'est ça. C'est-à-dire qu'en fait, le premier truc que tu vois dans le film, qui pour moi, je me suis dit, bon, là, on va être bien. when I saw her in the room last year, it's the first double kick she does. She does a double kick, it's a wide shot with great movement, the frame is great, because if you want, she releases one and then the other, and you say, ok, it's going to be limpid, it's going to be clear, it's going to be joyful. You see, what makes that, yes... I follow you on the logic, not necessarily original, in any case, tribute... Not that one, in any case, I find. But on the other hand, what is great, if you will, is that it's a limpidity and a dynamism. And what I love, if you will, is the continuous Speaker 3 (8:00) fight Speaker 2 (8:00) in the restaurant room, etc. So you say, it's a Chinese restaurant. So you say, there are only Chinese. At that moment, Speaker 3 (8:09) we must specify to the listeners and to those who watch us on YouTube that you Speaker 2 (8:12) don't know that you're in Italy. Exactly. You think you're in China, you're knocking on the door, she comes out, she gets out, she ends up escaping, because she understood that it wasn't there, she understood that all this, etc. And there she finds herself in a street in Rome. And for me, there's literally a way to present the project of the film through this idea. If you want. Which is a profession of faith put on stage, if you want. There's Speaker 3 (8:40) something interesting about Mainiti, it's something he talks about a lot. All his films, well, his three films for the moment, are sort of love declarations to Rome. So, love declarations, especially on Gigrobot, which are a bit twisted, because it's a film that shows facets of Rome that you don't usually see. In any case, it's not a facet of the Rome postcard as you can see it usually. Or in any case, when you go to the center of Rome, the historical center, they He's transvestite, this type of imagery. But let's say that, Gigrobot, Freaks Out, which was his previous film, we had already done a podcast Speaker 2 (9:14) on it. Gigrobot, by the way, a long time ago, we had done it too. We had done Speaker 3 (9:18) Gigrobot, I had forgotten. Speaker 3 (9:22) And La Cité Interdite, these are also love letters to Rome. And the thing that Gabriel Mettetti talks about is that he doesn't like it at all when we compare it, for example, to Tarantino, because for him, his relationship to cinema, to genre, is... Profondément lié avec son expérience personnelle de vécu et sa façon dont il a déambulé, gamin, adolescent, jeune adulte, dans les rues de Rome. Et son explication pour ça, et je trouve que ça va bien avec ce que tu exposais là, sur le début, c'est qu'il dit, voilà, moi, mes films, c'est moi qui déambule dans Rome et qui... How to say? Invested in this universe that is for me very everyday. Of everything I could dream in the cinema and in the films. It's not pure abstract constructions. It's really, there's a between the two. And I find especially on Gigabot and the Internet City, because Freakshot is different. It's a costume film and all. But above all, it feels deep, if you will. And in addition, there's something that I love in the Internet City. It's that for the moment, it's really literal. German, a letter of love to Rome. And I didn't stop. I don't know if you did that when you saw the film, but I said to myself, I would love it to be the same thing. Well, not the same thing because the film was made, but an equivalent in France. I don't understand that... In addition, we have a Chinese neighborhood which is incredible. I find the 13th which is extremely cinematographic and all. And it's really... It's Speaker 1 (10:51) sad Speaker 3 (10:51) that it's not an equivalent because you could do it. It's great to Speaker 1 (10:54) be Speaker 3 (10:54) able to work with your body. Urbanization is like that. What is Speaker 2 (10:58) certain is that, but here it's really a small aparté on, for example, Paris. Let's Speaker 3 (11:02) take Speaker 2 (11:02) Paris, you know. The thing with Paris is that you can't leave it in Cédric Lapiche's Speaker 3 (11:07) cinema. Speaker 2 (11:07) Because at the end of the day, it's a shame that it's just a marauding... So not a Parisian bobo, because I'm from Paris, I was born in Paris, so I'm not even going to get into this cliché. But the thing, in any case, this kind of marauding, like that, of citadins... We can make a genre film that represents Paris in the same way that this film represents Rome in a certain way. Yes, Speaker 3 (11:28) and without being ashamed of life. There is a scene where... We're going to divulge, it's a shame because people... The film Speaker 2 (11:37) is available. If you want to see it, it's on Canal +, if you have Canal+. I'm going to try not to divulge it. But it's true that we're used to spoiling, so if you need it... I'm not Speaker 3 (11:48) going to try to go too far, but let's say that the principle of the film, and that's something I think we hit quite quickly when we watch the film, is that it's also a romance. And by the way, Mennetti also has this phrase, which I like a lot, he says, every good genre film is actually in the heart, there is a love story. I don't