SYNOPSIS
Riki, an outre risqué and well-known Italian gay porn star, attends the funeral of his affluent father, while trying to keep his porn stardom a secret. When Riki's uptight brother Federico comes to Riki¹s Rome apartment to resolve issues surrounding their father¹s estate, he meets Riki¹s hilariously tragic friend Luna and accidentally discovers the truth of Riki¹s life (and even visits Riki on the set of his newest adult film). The two brothers rekindle their relationship when Federico assists Riki in the adoption of a young boy who unexpectedly enters his life. A dazzling and provocative feature debut, ADORED unapologetically celebrates the joy of sex, the glories of Italian men and the diversity of family. ADORED comes to New World cinemas at a time when our country is grappling with what constitutes and defines a family, and for Riki, the idea of family is about to have meaning for the first time.

ADORED DIRECTOR’S STAMENT:

THE STORY
Among the many proposed projects that crossed my desk in 1998, the story of two brothers polarized my attention. I decided to describe the conflict between two diametrically opposed characters: one an apparently upright, but one-dimensional citizen, the other a sincere, unscrupulous young man.

It was my intention to make a film about a bond between opposites, without the mechanism of a conventional love story, by pursuing a purely platonic attraction. I wanted to portray the relativity of morality, the possibilities of developing and improving, in particular through people and situations that lie outside the accepted concept of morality, and through an awareness of the alter ego. I wanted my film to be a tribute to those who have the courage to be themselves, no matter what it costs.

ADORED is not a film against intolerance. It is about the absolute necessity to understand and love any and all existentialist expression that is essentially harmless. It is a story about how various seemingly mutually inaccessible life styles can relate to each other. It is profoundly nonideological and respects all the beliefs that our modern multi-stratum, multi-racial society imposes on us. The fact that I have chosen a highly individualist story, rather than a social drama does not, as far as I’m concerned, detract from the power of the film’s message.

The choice of a unconventional, disturbing story does not express a morbid interest in pornography or homosexuality, but is used to underline an interaction between cornerstones of the accepted moral code, so desperately in need of revision, and a parallel reality.

Furthermore, the choice of high drama with comic relief is merely in keeping with the Shakespearean art of representing every possible aspect of human behaviour in a finely balanced mix of comedy and tragedy. The use of direct, down to earth dialogue is a natural consequence of the younger lead’s personality.

THE MEMORY MECHANISM
I draw my ideas from the wealth of my emotional heritage based on memories, dreams, mental transfigurations and cultural and aesthetic role models. For me, reality is based more on my imagination than on personal experience. Riki is the ultimate expression of an ongoing element in all my films: the desire for immortality, the desperate struggle to achieve eternal survival. This aspect of artistic endeavour has intrigued me ever since my childhood days and my love for Proust and Marilyn Monroe is simply a means to identify with those who leave their mark by being recreated, regardless of whether it be at the intellectual or role model level.

GENRE
The style, rhythm and contradictions of the first part of the story place it in the “comedy”genre. On the other hand, the subtext, the leading players’ core behaviour and several situations in the second part are highly dramatic, therefore, the definition drama-comedy seems to be more correct.

- MARCO FILIBERTI

Prizes!

7 Winners will receive the Adored Poster:

»Adored Poster