# Leopardi (film)

Leopardi (Italian: Il giovane favoloso) is a 2014 Italian biographical drama film directed by Mario Martone. It was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival. It was also screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

## Plot

The film tells the story of the short life of the great Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi. He was a noble, born in Recanati, and soon began to study Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and English in the rich library of his palace that his father built. Giacomo, however, possessing an inquisitive, restless spirit, would like to travel abroad to widen his views and enrich his knowledge, as was usual for European landed gentry in the 19th century, though this desire is at odds with his parents (even if his father had a sensibility akin to his, he is too bound by the social conventions and the expectations tied to his role as pater familias; his mother, on the other hand, is too busy shoring up the household declining fortunes to even care about intellectual aspirations). So the poet begins to write his first works, reflecting on the human condition, coming to the conclusion that unhappiness is a constant factor of human existence, and that in life there is no remedy for this problem. In the 1820s, Leopardi can finally leave his native Recanati, and begin to travel to Rome and Florence where, however, his high expectations of intellectual rewards and public recognition are not achieved. He suffered from repeated instances of unrequited love: that he chiefly felt towards the Countess Fanny Targioni Tozzetti, contributing to Leopardi's negative view of life and human experience. He finally moves to Naples, where a physical affliction results in his premature death.

## Cast

* Elio Germano as Giacomo Leopardi
* Isabella Ragonese as Paolina Leopardi
* Anna Mouglalis as Fanny Targioni Tozzetti
* Michele Riondino as Antonio Ranieri
* Massimo Popolizio as Monaldo Leopardi
* Valerio Binasco as Pietro Giordani
* Paolo Graziosi as Carlo Antici
* Iaia Forte as Miss Rosa

## Awards and nominations

Awards :
| Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result |
| 71st Venice International Film Festival | Golden Lion | Mario Martone | Nominated |
| 71st Venice International Film Festival | Pasinetti Award for Best Actor | Elio Germano | Won |
| 71st Venice International Film Festival | Young Jury Members of the Vittorio Veneto Film Festival Award for Best Actor | Elio Germano | Won |
| 71st Venice International Film Festival | Piccioni Award | Sascha Ring | Won |
| 71st Venice International Film Festival | Akai Award for Best Actress | Iaia Forte | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Film | Palomar and Rai Cinema | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Director | Mario Martone | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Script | Mario Martone and Ippolita Di Majo | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Producer | Palomar and Rai Cinema | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Actor | Elio Germano | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Cinematography | Renato Berta | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Sets and Decorations | Giancarlo Muselli | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Costumes | Ursula Patzak | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Makeup | Maurizio Silvi | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Hairstyling | Aldo Signoretti and Alberta Giuliani | Won |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Editing | Jacopo Quadri | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Score | Sacha Ring | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Best Visual Effects | Chromatica | Nominated |
| 60th David di Donatello Awards | Youngs' David | Mario Martone | Nominated |