Serpenti

Paolo Marra has killed his wife for no apparent reason. Consumed by guilt, he turns himself in, determined to pay for his crime and restore dignity to both his victim and himself. But distracted police officers, overzealous lawyers, fortune tellers and a maze of bureaucratic red tape refuse to take him seriously. Trapped in a Kafkaesque paradox, he discovers that no matter how hard he tries, he simply cannot get arrested – the perfect scapegoat in a grotesque society that ignores those seeking redemption.

I often wondered how to address violence against women – or violence in general – in a way that was both sharp and original, without falling into easy rhetoric. This story unfolds in a metaphorical setting – the police station is a microcosm of society – where a man who has killed his wife tries, in vain, to turn himself in.
Over the single day in which the story unfolds, the character’s journey is that of a melancholic, redeemed killer – a dog with its tail between its legs, ready to pay for what he has done – who gradually becomes a disillusioned and furious man, willing to kill again just to be “seen” by the State.
A complex journey, driven by a series of encounters at the police station with people who fail, for different reasons, to understand the gravity of his human tragedy. Paolo Marra is both giant and small, victim and perpetrator, empathetic and repulsive. His complexity is reflected in the secondary characters, who are nothing but striking projections of his soul. The protagonist’s story is a sharp depiction of how many men in our “old world” cultural tradition are treated after murdering or abusing women: as though nothing had happened.
The film’s vertiginous narrative architecture – one that consciously rejects linearity and structure – moves through multiple layers, where oblique characters become ideas, and ideas expand into philosophical, social and existential statements.

PRODUCTION 1:
Paco Cinematografica - Isabella Cocuzza, Arturo Paglia
Piazza Madama 9
00186 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 066875073
E-mail: produzione@pacocinematografica.it
Web: http://www.pacocinematografica.com
Social Media: @pacocinematografica – Instagram, PACO.CINEMATOGRAFICA - Facebook

PRODUCTION 2:
Be Water Film - Mattia Guerra
via Merulana 247
00185 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 0669267731
E-mail: e.bertozzi@bewatermedia.it
Web: http://bewaterfilm.it
Social Media: @bewaterfilm – Instagram

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION:
Be Water Film
via Merulana 247
00185 Rome, Italy
Tel: +39 0669267731
E-mail: e.bertozzi@bewatermedia.it
Web: http://bewaterfilm.it/
Social Media: @bewaterfilm – Instagram

ITALIAN PRESS OFFICE:
Stefania Gargiulo - Golin Italy
E-mail: sgargiulo@golinitaly.com

Additional Italian press officers:
Simona Martino - smartino@golinitaly.com
Desirée Corradetti - dcorradetti@golinitaly.com
Elisabetta Cisterna - ecisterna@golinitaly.com