Euphoria

Valeria Golino, the renowned Italian actress and director, follows her 23-time-award-winning debut Honey (LIFF13) with Euphoria, an expressive tale of two brothers getting to know each other in extremis, which premiered in the prestigious Un Certain Regard section at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

When successful entrepreneur Matteo (Riccardo Scamarcio, also in Loro) is thrust back into the life of his brother Ettore (Valerio Mastandrea, Perfect Strangers LIFF16) the encounter is uncomfortable. Matteo is audacious, charming and energetic. Ettore still lives in the small provincial town where they grew up and teaches in a middle school. Ettore is a cautious, honest man who has always held back a little, sticking to the shadows. Seen from the outside their lives seem to be very different. But life forces them back together, and a difficult situation results in them getting to know and discover each other, in a vortex of fragility and euphoria.

The naturalistic central performances of Scamarcio and Mastandrea are ably supported by some of Italy’s finest actors including Isabella Ferrari (The Great Beauty LIFF13) Valentina Cervi (Jane Eyre, 2011) and Jasmine Trinca (Fortunata LIFF17).