Forever Mery | |
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Directed by | Marco Risi |
Written by | Aurelio Grimaldi Sandro Petraglia Stefano Rulli |
Produced by | Claudio Bonivento |
Starring | Michele Placido Claudio Amendola |
Cinematography | Mauro Marchetti |
Music by | Giancarlo Bigazzi |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Languages | Italian, Sicilian |
Forever Mary (Italian : Mery per sempre), is an Italian dramatic film directed by Marco Risi and released in 1989. It stars Michele Placido, Claudio Amendola, Alessandra Di Sanzo, Francesco Benigno, Roberto Mariano, Maurizio Prollo, Filippo Genzardi, Alfredo Li Bassi, Salvatore Termini, Luigi Maria Burruano, Gianluca Favilla, Giovanni Alamia, and Tony Sperandeo.
Mery per sempre is set in Rosaspina, a fictional juvenile detention centre (based on a real facility named Malaspina) in Palermo, Sicily, during the 1980s. The protagonist, Marco Terzi (Michele Placido), is a teacher who has been transferred to Palermo from Milan. He obtains a temporary position as a teacher inside the institution, waiting to start teaching in a high school. He has difficulty in establishing a rapport with the young, hostile students; in particular, Natale Sperandeo (Francesco Benigno), the leader of the group, who is inside for murder, and Pietro Giancona (Claudio Amendola). Terzi's situation is further complicated when Marilyn Libassi (Alessandra Di Sanzo), a trans prostitute, nicknamed Mery, falls in love with him. Claudio severely hits Carmelo who wanted to rape her. Over time, Terzi gains the respect and admiration of his students, even from the most hardened of the young men, in contrast with the director and the warders. After the death of Pietro, killed during a robbery after a jailbreak, he decides to refuse a well-paid position in the high school to stay with the boys.
Forever Mary was followed in 1990 with the sequel Ragazzi fuori , featuring most of the same cast and characters, with the exception of Placido and Amendola. The film Mery per sempre was the inspiration behind a song of the same name by the popular Israeli singer Ivri Lider. [1]
Michele Placido is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Bellocchio, winning the Berlinale's Silver Bear for Best Actor for his performance in the 1979 film Ernesto. He is known internationally for portraying police inspector Corrado Cattani on the crime drama television series La piovra (1984–2001). Placido's directorial debut, Pummarò, was screened Un Certain Regard at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Three of his films have competed for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He is a five-time Nastro d'Argento and four-time David di Donatello winner. In 2021, Placido was appointed President of the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara.
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Alessandra Di Sanzo, is an Italian actress best known for her portrayal of the teenage trans prostitute Marilyn Libassi, nicknamed Mery in Marco Risi's dramatic film, Mery per sempre, which was released in 1989 and where she made her acting debut. She received a European Film Award nomination in 1989 for Best Supporting Actor for her performance. Di Sanzo played the same role in Risi's sequel, "Ragazzi fuori", released the following year. As in Mery per sempre, the film was set in Palermo, Sicily and it starred Sicilian actor Francesco Benigno.
Salvatore Termini is an Italian actor best known for his role as "Giovanni Trapani", nicknamed "King Kong", in two Italian language dramatic films directed by Marco Risi, "Mery per sempre", in which Termini made his acting debut, and its sequel, "Ragazzi fuori". They were both set in Palermo where Termini was born. He grew up in the bleak, economically deprived quarter of ZEN which features prominently in "Ragazzi Fuori".
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