In the key scene of There’s still tomorrowthe award-winning film by Paola Cortellesi which, on the occasion of the day against violence against women, is broadcast tonight on Rai 1, the protagonist Delia says to her daughter Marcella: «But you have time». In time to choose a different destiny than that of a woman resigned to violence by the man who should love her. But her daughter replies: “You too, Ma.” This scene became a poster that a student, Caterina Cesari, brought with her to the procession against violence against women that marched through the streets of Rome in the aftermath of Giulia Cecchettin’s femicide. Paola Cortellesi, present at the event, saw him, reached Caterina and hugged her.
This is enough to explain why Christian family has decided that she is the Italian of the year in 2023. Her first film as director, a black and white work far from her lighter works, turns out to be the most watched of 2023 with over 4 million viewers, film of the year of the Nastri d’argento, sold so far in 18 countries. But, above all, There’s Still Tomorrow, in the best tradition of Italian cinema, despite being set 75 years ago, has become a formidable tool for recounting a present in which women’s rights continue to be trampled upon, uniting multiple generations.
It’s logical that Paola confesses to being dazed by all this: «Your prize honors me greatly. It all seems very strange to me, but I’m very happy.”
Let’s start from the end, that is, from the credits of your film. Why did you dedicate it to your daughter Lauretta who is 10 years old?
«Because she was my muse. The ending of the film came to mind after reading a book for children, Nina and the rights of women, by Cecilia D’Elia, which I recommend to all parents. As we read it, she was in disbelief: she didn’t believe that for millennia women had been forced to suffer abuses of all kinds, that those rights that she takes for granted are the result of hard struggles. This relieved me at first. I thought: “How wonderful, my daughter will grow up in a different world”. But another thought immediately came: “No, it is important that he knows the past because only in this way will he know that rights are not eternal and that he will also have to fight to conquer new ones.” So in the end the film is an act of love from a mother towards her daughter.”
The data says that your film brought people back to theaters who hadn’t been there since before the pandemic. Why, in your opinion?
«It came out at a time when the topic of violence against women, unfortunately, is more alive than ever and there has been great word of mouth, so much so that I know of people who have seen it several times. Maybe a wife went first with her husband and then wanted to bring her mother or daughter too. However, it wasn’t just women who went to see it: men make up 45% of desi viewers. Many expressed strong positions, feeling called into question not as potential murderers, but as people who in everyday life can change certain attitudes and languages that still resist. I’m happy because many have rediscovered how beautiful it is in the darkness of a room to laugh, be moved and then perhaps share these emotions together with unknown people. An experience that television series, which I appreciate, cannot create. A gentleman told us that the last time he went to the cinema you could still smoke…”.
In your film you chose not to show scenes of violence, or to tone them down by transfiguring them into a dance. Why?
«Because we are so permeated by scenes of violence that we risk becoming addicted to them and I didn’t want the morbid curiosity of seeing a black eye to take away the strength of the reality I was describing».
In a recent interview, General Vannacci declared that he will go to see your film but that in his opinion behind the feminicides there are not “patriarchal males”, but “spineless softies”, giving the example of his grandfather “born in 1898, orphaned at 11, in the navy at 16, who fell dozens of times and always got back on his feet. He never laid a finger on my grandmother and always respected her. Those who kill women are men who don’t know how to live
alone, who are dependent on them and who, when they fear being abandoned, lose their minds.” What do you think?
«It’s not a question of strong men and weak men. It’s just that now we know about episodes of violence because women report them, while for a woman like Delia such a possibility wasn’t really contemplated. Men and women grew up in a culture where relationships were based on oppression and therefore there were no conflicts in couples, because there were those who had been educated to command
and who instead suffers. My grandmothers and aunts told me in front of the fireplace about other women they knew using phrases like: “Kill how many beatings he took, little bitch”. And then they added: “And what are you doing?”. Fortunately, women today are not like that.” But the problem of emotional education for young people is real. Experts underline the risks for those who grow up with violent and pornographic messages and images conveyed by the Internet which show women only as an object to be possessed. «I firmly believe that this type of education should be taught in schools from primary school. We need a real subject, which is media so to speak, which educates boys and girls about feelings and respect for themselves and others, which teaches them to distinguish between what is fiction or exhibition and what is real life, especially in a context in which many of them tend to isolate themselves.”
Is it true that you were a “tomboy” as a girl?
«This term is also the result of an era in which it had a negative, albeit joking, meaning. Yes, they called me that but I was simply myself, that is, a lively little girl.”
But the problem of emotional education for young people is real. Experts underline the risks for those who grow up with violent and pornographic messages and images conveyed by the Internet which show women only as an object to be possessed.
«I firmly believe that this type of education should be taught in schools from primary school. We need a real subject, which is media so to speak, which educates boys and girls about feelings and respect for themselves and others, which teaches them to distinguish between what is fiction or exhibition and what is real life, especially in a context in which many of them tend to isolate themselves.”
