The crowd that turned up at the Museum of Modern Art for the first screening of Trudie Styler’s film about Naples, Italy was star studded to say the least.
Among the guests were John Turturro, who conducted a post screening Q&A, as well as Oscar winner Forest Whitaker, actor-directors Fisher Stevens and Justin Theroux, Tony winner Adrienne Warren, “James Bond” director Cary Fukunaga, actress Amanda Quaid, plus Styler’s two successful actor children Mickey Sumner (“Snowpiercer” returns this weekend to AMC), and Elliot Sumner (stunning in “Ripley” as Freddie).
A light dinner followed around the corner at the delicious Fresco by Scotto, where we were greeted by Fox 5’s indefatigable newswoman, Rosanna Scotto.
The award winning “Posso Entrare? An Ode to Naples” has already been sold in 19 territories and was shown for the first time last night to American friends and distributors. It’s passionate love letter to Naples but by no means a travelogue. Styler, with a keen eye, throws us a curve ball when we start meeting a variety of Naples residents whose stories are riveting.
Styler could have made a movie about drinking, eating, and shopping. But after 30 or more years telling the stories of the indigenous tribes of the Rainforest, she can’t help but let the real people of Naples speak about their history, culture, poverty, and life under the threat of Mafia gangs and the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
Styler was immediately introduced to Don Antonio Loffredo, Parish priest of the Rione Sanità, the unofficial mayor of Naples. He knows everything and everyone, and quickly introduces her to the heart of the region.
There are heartwarming stories, but there are also terrifying ones. Roberto Saviano is the journalist author of “Gomorrah,” which he made into a celebrated film. It’s about the crime gangs of Naples and the result is that he lives with four bodyguards at all times lest he be assassinated.
There is also Alessandra Clemente, the courageous 34 year old Naples City Councillor, who saw her mother murdered by the Mafia as a child. She has sworn to rid the city of the mob — a daunting and maybe fatal task.
Working with famed cinematographer Dante Spinotti, Styler’s film reminded me of Fernando Merielles’s “City of God” — about the slums of Brazil. That’s how deeply inside she burrows into Neapolitan life. She even convinced her husband, rock star Sting, to come play a guitar recovered from migrant boats and built by incarcerated individuals of Milano and Naples. The disarmingly emotional performance takes place in Naples’ Secondigliano prison and almost stops the show.
Kudos also to the archivists who unearthed rare footage of the destruction caused by past Vesuvius eruptions, also the history of the attempted Nazi occupation of the city — called The Four Days of Naples — in which brave locals rose up and stopped Hitler’s minions from destroying their lives. It’s an extraordinary story highlighted by an interview with Antonio Amoretti, a survivor who Styler was lucky to interview shortly before his death.
What a film! What a night! “Posso Entrare?” translates in English to “May I come in?” This is what Styler asked rhetorically of people she didn’t know, and the answer was a resounding “Yes.”
