Oscar-nominated director Paolo Sorrentino has said making a film about the tragedy of losing his parents made his pain “boring” to him and helped him to feel “less alone”.
The Italian auteur, whose movie The Hand Of God is nominated for best international feature film at the Oscars, and for best film not in the English language as well as best casting at the Baftas, revisits the trauma of his parents’ deaths in the semi-autobiographical drama.
The film shows the fictional version of his parents dozing off in front of the fire in their holiday home when they are poisoned by carbon monoxide fumes from a faulty heating system.
Sorrentino, who was 16 at the time, was not with them that night because his father had bought him a ticket to see Diego Maradona play for Napoli football team.
The director, whose previous work includes films Youth and The Great Beauty, for which he won an Oscar, and TV series The Young Pope and The New Pope, told the PA news agency: “I had the strong desire to do this movie all my life, so I am happy that I did it, and it’s been a good thing because this movie has spurred me to face some problems that I’ve had all my life.
“Now that I can share my pain with so many people, it’s something that helps me to be to be less alone.
“Before doing this movie, I was scared, in the beginning I didn’t think it was a good idea, but year after year, growing up, becoming older, I understood that it was my only chance to face this thing, it was my only chance to help me.
“But at the same time, I was very scared. The risk with this kind of movie is that the filmmaker mistakes what’s important for him and what’s important for the audience.
“So I tried to recognise things that were interesting both for me and for a potential audience, and in this sense it was helpful to let friends and family read the script, and also people that didn’t know my biography.”
Asked if it has been a cathartic experience, he replied: “More than cathartic.
“I think that when you take care of a cinema project for a couple of years, you think about the project every day for many hours a day, so at the end of the process you are bored by the idea of the movie and by the things that are in the movie.
“So in this sense now, my story, my pain, is something that tends to bore me, so it’s cathartic in this way.
“That’s a little bit controversial but it’s exactly what happened.”
Sorrentino said he has been gratified by the international acclaim the film, which was released on Netflix, has received, as well as the recognition from Bafta and the Oscars.
He said: “Of course I am happy. When the community of people that work in the movies recognise your work, it’s something that brings happiness, it’s flattering and it’s also very surprising.
“This was a very small movie, so I didn’t think that it was possible that this movie was interesting for so many people around the world, I thought that maybe it was more interesting for the people of my city or of Italy where they know me well.”
The Hand Of God is streaming on Netflix now.