“My Don Simone so similar to some Florentine priests”: Pieraccioni tells his film between the sacred and the profane

With the iridescent blue jacket, as he himself described it to “bischero”, Leonardo Pieraccioni made his triumphal entry at the Uci Luxe Cinema in Campi Bisenzio for the presentation of his latest work: “The sex of the angels”.

With him three of the actresses of the cast, Maitè Yanes, Eva Moore and Valentina Pegorer who in the film interpret three lord of the nightgreat absentees Massimo Ceccherini (who in the film plays the part of the terrible deceased uncle) and Sabrina Ferilli, the director of the closed house that Don Pieraccioni inheritance. “Ceccherini? No, he couldn’t come, he teaches catechism on Thursdays … Sabrina? To come to Florence he wanted a five-star hotel …”, in short, Pieraccioni always has a joke ready and as a good stand-up comedian you never understand. how much, and what, of truth there is in his words.

The trailer for the movie The sex of the Angels

The first days of screenings, at least at the Campi cinema, are already a success given the numerous bookings and as the Tuscan director has repeatedly recalled, thus responding to critics who have not praised his fourteenth work: “I did not make a film for go to competition in Cannes, but to give, as some spectators have already told me, an hour and a half of fun. Entertaining the public for me is like a David di Donatello “. Pieraccioni estimated that The sex of the angels will be seen by about nine million viewers, a number reached also thanks to the streaming platforms that are important, but must not be the only way to enjoy the films: “Back in theaters”, intimate the actor.

The choice to touch – but slowly – hot topics such as religion, the vow of chastity of priests, closed houses and prostitution “was not understood by those who criticized me”. “My films are now certainly more spontaneous, I no longer have the need to do large numbers and for this reason I can tell immediately if I like them and I really like this film, like Se son rose,” added toscanaccio.

The Florentine inspiration for his Don Simone and the struggle between religion and science

The film is shot between Florence and Lugano, and even if most of the scenes are set in Switzerland, Florentine life is a constant and not only for the accent of Pieraccioni (who in addition to being a director is also a screenwriter, together with Filippo Bologna , and actor).

Don Simone’s house could only be in Florence. In fact, the church of San Salvi welcomed the priest’s sermons. And that place holds perhaps one of the funniest anecdotes that Pieraccioni told: “One day during a break I went away to the park of the old asylum. And since I was dressed as a priest, two ladies recognized me and told me: Oh Pieraccioni, what have you changed your profession? The Florentines are like that. I didn’t change my profession, but in writing this film he really thought about those frontier priests, like our Don Cuba who also worked in Sollicciano and my friend Don Giuliano, from whom I drew inspiration “.

Always more sided with Margherita Hack than with the Eternal Father, Pieraccioni wearing the cassock had to deal with a spirituality to which he was never too accustomed. I always stick to his scientific ideas about him, but he had to admit to being less rigid than 30 years ago. When the theme becomes serious, the director always turns towards irony and so between a joke and another he confesses: “I’m halfway between Hack and St. Thomas who, if he didn’t touch, didn’t believe in it, but it’s a form of faith too. This. As a stand-up comedian, I am ready to eventually throw myself on the ground to tell our Lord that I have always believed in it. When I shot the film I felt something, I felt the importance of a costume that was not just a costume, but that had its weight “.

The synopsis of the film The sex of the angels

Finally Don Simone receives fantastic news: an eccentric uncle has bequeathed him a very well-started activity in Switzerland that will be able to revive the economic fortunes of his ever-deserted oratory! But arrived in Lugano our priest discovers that he has inherited … a brothel! Will Don Simone agree with the ramshackle uncle who has always doubted his faith, or will someone from above give him the right answers to remove all doubts?

“My Don Simone so similar to some Florentine priests”: Pieraccioni tells his film between the sacred and the profane