Cinema, literature and looking at the world from Naples

Abstract

This interview focuses on first-hand insights into Mario Martone’s cinematographic work. It presents the accurate transcription of an engaging conversation with the filmmaker held at the University of Sussex on 8 December 2023. By discussing the inspiration behind some of his most successful films – specifically L’amore molesto (Troubling Love) (1995), Il giovane favoloso (Leopardi) (2014), Nostalgia (2022) and the docufilm Laggiù qualcuno mi ama (Massimo Troisi: Somedody Down There Likes Me) (2023) – the reader will feel captivatingly guided by Martone into the fascinating relationship between cinema and literature, and on the difficulties of love as ‘a longing that drives us all’. The role that the cultural milieu of Martone’s birthplace, Naples, had in his career and artistic creativity will also help to understand both the realistic and mythological dimensions of his cinema.