Io capitano (2023 film) Full Movie Download, MP4, Mkv, Cast & Review

Io capitano (lit. ’Me Captain’) is a 2023 drama film directed by Matteo Garrone, from a screenplay written by Garrone with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri.

The film competed for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Lion for Matteo Garrone’s direction and the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Seydou Sarr’s performance. It was released in Italy on 7 September 2023. It was chosen as the Italian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, and it was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 81st Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

Two young Senegalese men, Seydou and Moussa, travel from Dakar to Europe.

Cast

• Seydou Sarr
• Moustapha Fall
• Issaka Sawagodo
• Hichem Yacoubi
• Doodou Sagna
• Khady Sy
• Bamar Kane
• Cheick Oumar Diaw

Production

Io capitano is based on an original idea by director Matteo Garrone, who wrote the screenplay with Massimo Gaudioso, Massimo Ceccherini and Andrea Tagliaferri. The script is based on the stories of emigration from Africa to Europe by Kouassi Pli Adama Mamadou, Arnaud Zohin, Amara Fofana, Brhane Tareke, and Siaka Doumbia.

The film was produced by Archimede, Rai Cinema, Tarantula, Pathé and Logical Content Ventures, in coproduction with RTBF, VOO-BE TV, Proximus and Shelter Prod, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Film and Audiovisual Centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, taxshelter.be, ING, and the tax shelter of the Belgian federal government, and the participation of Canal+, Ciné+ and Wallimage (Wallonia). The project had a budget of approximately €11.2 million.

The castings, under the direction of Henri-Didier Njikam, took place on the African continent, and features Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall, originally from Dakar, at ages 17 and 18, respectively. Principal photography began in Dakar, Senegal. The production, which lasted for 13 weeks, also took place in Morocco and Italy.

Release date

Io capitano was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 6 September 2023. World sales are handled by Pathé International. The film was theatrically released in Italy on 7 September 2023 by 01 Distribution.

A special screening of the film took place at the Vatican on 14 September 2023. Garrone and the cast of the film were in attendance, where they were granted an audience with Pope Francis at his Domus Sanctae Marthae residence.

Review

During its premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, the film received a standing ovation of 13 minutes.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.

Guy Lodge of Variety reflected on the theme of the film by reporting that, compared to other European film projects dealing with African emigration to Europe, it is seen “not as a setting but as an almost mythical goal.” Lodge states that the director proves to be “more robust and fulfilling” than in previous projects, and that although the film in some scenes presents “Western aesthetics and narrative instincts,” it is “hard not to get caught up in the film’s great emotional range” supported by the skill of actor Seydou Sarr. Leslie Felperin, reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote that despite the presence of “dazzling landscapes,” the film “always keeps the focus on human beings,” sensing a “tension between the everyday world and the spiritual dimension, a blurring that is often a characteristic of West African cinema,” due to the fact that “Garrone cares about making us think until the last moment of the film.” Deadline Hollywood journalist Damon Wise has described the cinematic technique adopted for the film as “impeccable,” writing that cinematographer Paolo Carnera was able to convey “a surprising and engaging immediacy.” Wise also says that “the film’s greatest merit” was the cast of actors who are able to make the project “authentic at every stage of its audacious journey.”

For Italian film critic Mattia Pasquini of Ciak gave the film four stars out of five, writing that the most important factor is the “intellectual and design honesty” in which the director makes “the choice to limit his authorship.” The journalist reported that although the film sidesteped some “dramatic possibilities” and presents a “mechanical” narrative in some scenes, the end result is constituted of “legitimate and uncritical choices that make the film ideologically unassailable.” Davide Turrini of Il Fatto Quotidiano stated that in the film “the immediate structural reference is to the Odyssey” in which “the fragile and soft innocence of the two protagonists” are “prevented from being a community of solidarity.” Paolo Mereghetti, reviewing the film for Corriere della Sera, wrote that the film is able to “always remain at protagonist height, identifying with their gaze, avoiding any preachy attitude” transfiguring “tragedy through the power of fantasy and fable.”