Senility

Based on the novel by Italo Svevo. Emilio Brentani, a writer from Trieste who is going through a creative crisis, lives with his sister Amalia. Weary of the monotony of his life, he falls head over heels in love with the beautiful, young Angiolina. The difference in age and character results in their constant bickering and mutual misunderstandings, while his sister tries to get married to a simple local artist. Entirely shot in Trieste, and starring Claudia Cardinale, the director shows the corners of the city described by Italo Svevo. We recognize Molo Audace – Pier, the Old Fish Market, the Grand Canal. Of great interest is the six-storey building at 34 via Lamarmora, known as the ‘Upper House’ in which the Triestine poet Virgilio Giotti spent many years of his life. The production company had wanted to set the film in Venice, but this did not happen due to the strong opposition of Letizia Savio Fonda, daughter of Italo Svevo, who generously donated her father’s objects and papers thus permitting the opening of the Svevo Museum, now housed in via Madonna del Mare 13, in Trieste.