Premiere of ‘Caravaggio’ at Rome Film Festival 2022

The renowned director, Michele Placido, returned to the film making scene with his 14th film at the premiere of the Rome Film Festival 2022: L’ombre di Caravaggio (The Shadow of Caravaggio).

Most known for tackling controversial and delicate issues, Placido brings to life the artist and his dramatic life and works. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known simply as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter in the late 1500s who created provocative works. The artist would insert prostitutes, thieves, and tramps into his sacred paintings, which angered several of his religious patrons. Alongside his scandalous works, Caravaggio was also considered a criminal, sentenced to death for killing a man in a duel to whom he owed money.

Michele Placido was inspired after seeing the statue of Giordano Bruno in the Roman square of Campo de ‘Fiori. To him, he witnessed a dialogue between Caravaggio and philosopher, and so the idea of the “the shadow” emerged. The shadow is also significant for Caravaggio’s work itself, known for its dark, rich backdrops and contrasting light and dark planes (chiarascuro).

Riccardo Scamarcio, the actor set to play Caravaggio in film, described his approach to the character .“I concentrated on the points in common with him, such as the fact of being two provincials, who arrived in Rome with a passion, cinema for me and painting for him. For me he is a character like Elvis Presley, a provincial boy with great energy, passion and talent and great rigor, in some ways, towards painting”.

The much-anticipated film is set to premiere in Italy on November 3rd in Italian, and in France on December 28th. Currently there is no confirmed date for release in the United States.

– Esther Marcos