I Cavalieri che fecero l'impresa (2001) a.k.a. The Knights of The Quest
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Pupi Avati on the making of the film: |
Together with Franco Cardini, who helped me make sure it was historically coherent, I tried to make an adventurous movie and avoid psychological study of the characters - which in this case has to be inferred by their behavior - and limited their dialogues to what was essential. We follow the lives of these five characters from the start. They have absolutely no prospects and their present has nothing exceptional to offer, but they are suddenly handed a chance to fill their lives with a grand project (something I've never experienced myself); and even if in the end they hurl themselves to their own deaths - and there is great respect for the knightly saga here - I believe that their lives suddenly made sense, because these young men had received life's greatest gift, that of living a dream through till its end. Moreover, I tried to tell a story that has different levels of interpretation, a story that can be followed by an audience who has no knowledge of the world of knights, of the Middle Ages, the Templars, the great Breton sagas on the Graal or our own on the…Holy Shroud (these are, by the way, the themes that mostly seduced me in my childhood, still based on country culture, very close to knightly thoughts). At the same time, however, depending on the sensitivity and to the cultural level of whoever sees it, this movie lends itself to further thoughts, because it suggests - regarding this 'black hole' surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the Holy Shroud - one of the most likely hypotheses. Therefore it is a piece of work that experts in the field or simply lovers of this… subject might like, and that can somewhat enrich their knowledge, stimulate them regarding this 'legend'. And then, whoever might choose not to stop at 'the tale' could discover the theme of predestination, one of the themes tied to existence…that I love most: these five young men, in fact, are conscious of being part of a greater design. |