The Solitude of Prime Numbers

The Solitude of Prime Numbers

Film poster
Directed by Saverio Costanzo
Produced by
  • Philipp Kreuzer
  • Mario Gianani
  • Anne-Dominique Toussaint
Written by
Starring
Music by Mike Patton
Cinematography Fabio Cianchetti
Edited by Francesca Calvelli
Distributed by Medusa Film
Release dates
  • 9 September 2010 (Venice)
  • 10 September 2010 (Italy)
Running time
 118 minutes
Country Italy
Language Italian

The Solitude of Prime Numbers (Italian: La solitudine dei numeri primi) is a 2010 Italian drama film based on the novel of the same name by Paolo Giordano, and directed by Saverio Costanzo. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.[1]

The title is explained by arguing that Mattia and Alice are like twin primes: both lonely, close to each other but separated by an even number.

Plot

The film is set in Italy in 1984, 1991, 2001 and 2009 and jumps back and forth in time.

Mattia and Alice (children in 1984, teenagers in 1991) are both traumatized, and isolate themselves from the people around them.

When he was a child, Mattia's mentally disabled twin sister Michela goes missing whilst he was supposed to look after her. He is intelligent and becomes a successful scientist, but he sometimes cuts himself on purpose.

When Alice was a child she had a skiing accident; which results in her having a permanent limp and a significant a scar on her thigh. As a teenager she is bullied by female classmates.

They meet while teenagers and become friends, but lose contact when Mattia goes to work in Germany. Eight years later Alice writes him a very brief request to come back to Italy, which he does, and they reunite.

Cast

References

  1. ↑ "Venezia 67". labiennale.org. 2010-07-29. Retrieved 2010-07-29.

External links