L’Orologio di Monaco is the story of a central European family whose ranks include the names of some of the leading historical figures of the last two centuries (Karl Marx, Heinrich Heine, Felix Mendelssohn, Edmund Husserls, Emeric Pressburger). In a study that interweaves past and present, the narrator relives the memories and human dramas that enabled him to understand “what it means to really belong to the human community of the living and the dead”.
Directed by: Mauro Caputo
Italy – 2014 – 63 minutes – with English subtitles
ADDRESS
Embassy of Italy
3000 Whitehaven Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT:
The idea for the film comes from a short story collection by Giorgio Pressburger. I was immediately struck by the power of his words, while instantly grasping what a difficult and delicate job it would be to turn them into a film. Giorgio’s voice carries enormous emotional weight, and it was exciting to work with him and key figures from the last two hundred years.
ABOUT THE MOVIE:
L’orologio di Monaco (The Munich’s clock – 2014) is a movie by Mauro Caputo. It is based on the short story collection written by writer, playwright and film director, Giorgio Pressburger, who also lends his voice to the film. The movie was presented in the Official Selection of the Rome International Film Festival within the “Special Events” category and subsequently at the 13th edition of the Mittel Cinema Fest – Italian Film Festival in Central Europe, which is dedicated to the diffusion of Italian cinema in Mitteleuropa.
L’orologio di Monaco is the story of a central-European family in which some of the names of the greatest protagonists of the last two centuries of history converge: Karl Marx, Heinrich Heine, Felix Mendelssohn, Edmund Husserls, Emeric Pressburger. The narrator (Giorgio Pressburger) relives with intense emotion, through a research intertwining past and present, memories and events that led him to discover “what it really means to belong to a human community of dead and living people“. The movie, based on true stories, includes live footage held at the Istituto Luce Cinecittà as well as original video material by film director Emeric Pressburger, kindly made available for this movie by his nephew, Scottish director and Oscar prize winner, Kevin MacDonald.
ABOUT THE WRITER/NARRATOR:
Giorgio Pressburger is an Italian writer whose works range from literature to cinema, radio, television, theatre and opera music. Born in 1937 in Budapest from Jewish parents of Slovakian origin, Pressburger settled in Italy with his twin brother Nicola after the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary. One of the most representative Italian cultural personalities at international level, Pressburger has been active both as a writer, director and as well as representative of cultural institutions.