U.S. Palmese (film)

U.S. Palmese
Italian teaser poster
Directed by	Manetti Bros.
Written by	Manetti Bros. Luna Gualano Emiliano Rubbi
Produced by	Manetti Bros. Pier Giorgio Bellocchio
Starring	Rocco Papaleo Blaise Afonso Giulia Maenza Claudia Gerini
Cinematography	Angelo Sorrentino
Edited by	Federico Maria Maneschi
Music by	Pivio and Aldo De Scalzi
Production companies	Mompracem Rai Cinema
Distributed by	01 Distribution
Release dates	17 October 2024 (2024-10-17)(Rome) 20 March 2025 (2025-03-20)(Italy)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

U.S. Palmese is a 2024 Italian sports comedy film directed by the Manetti Bros. It stars Rocco Papaleo, Blaise Afonso, Giulia Maenza, and Claudia Gerini. It premiered at the 19th Rome Film Festival on 17 October 2024 and will receive a theatrical release in Italy on 20 March 2025.

Premise

A Calabrian farmer from Palmi organizes a fundraiser to purchase an ex-AC Milan star footballer for his local team, US Palmese 1912.

Cast

• Rocco Papaleo as Don Vincenzo
• Blaise Afonso as Etienne Morville
• Giulia Maenza as Concetta, Don Vincenzo's daughter
• Claudia Gerini as Adele Ferraro
• Gianfelice Imparato
• Massimiliano Bruno
• Massimo De Lorenzo  [ it ] as Tripodi
• Guglielmo Favilla  [ de ] Peppi 'Mpiccia
• Aurora Calabresi
• Lisa Do Couto Teixeira  [ fr ]
• Max Mazzotta  [ it ]
• Giuseppe Futia as Melo Fiorino
• Mario Russo
• Luca Attadia
• Salvatore Costa
• Adriano Fedele
• Guillaume De Tonquedec
• Antonio di Turi as Nicola Malagó
• Vincenzo Scuruchi as Giovanni Pugliese
• Antonio Di Turi as Nicola Malagó
• Leo Ferrari as Indovino

Production

Development

The film is set in Palmi, Calabria, the hometown of the Manetti Bros.' mother and where the duo spent their childhood summers. ^[1] The idea for the film came from a childhood memory of the Manetti Bros.: at an amateur football match, a man joked that if everyone in town pooled their money, they could raise enough funds to buy Diego Maradona for the local team. Marco Manetti stated, "This was a formative memory for us, this crazy old man wanting to collect enough money to buy the best player in the world." ^[2]

Further, the directors wanted to tell a story set in Southern Italy "away from the Gomorrahs". ^[3] They stated, "The South is always told with a negative rhetoric: crime, negative constraint and even folklore. But we want to tell something else, because sometimes the South self-destructs with a self-destructive story." ^[4]

Filming

As the Manetti Bros. wanted their actors to speak the Palmese dialect, the cast studied the dialect in Palmi in the weeks before filming. ^[5] Principal photography began on 22 May 2023. Filming took place over eight weeks in Palmi, as well as Paris and Milan. ^[6] Filming was completed on 11 July 2023. ^[7]

Release

The film premiered at the 19th Rome Film Festival on 17 October 2024. ^{[8] [9]} It will be released by 01 Distribution in Italy on 20 March 2025. ^{[10] [11]}

Reception

Valeria Maiolino of Mymovies.it gave the film three out of five stars, writing, "It is not a film of the head, but above all of the heart. For this reason it is contagious with its cheerfulness and positivity." ^[12]

Valerio Sammarco of Cinematografo gave the film three out of five stars, writing that "the spirit that has always animated [the Manetti Bros.'] various works does not fail, the ambition to make oneself loved by chasing apparently impossible stories, like this one of Etienne (a curious mix between Balotelli and Leão...) and of Palmi. ^[13]

Damiano Panattoni of Movieplayer.it gave the film three out of five stars and called it "[a] lighthearted work, at times distracted, which, if it doesn't work on the humorous level, instead gains on the football factor, explaining the reasons why sports cinema always works very well." ^[14]

Valeria Maiolino of Cinefilos gave the film three out of five stars, writing, "The Manetti Bros., with genuine writing, demonstrate that they know how to touch the right narrative chords to excite and make even those who understand little or nothing about football feel actively involved." ^[15]

Federico Gironi of ComingSoon.it gave the film two-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "a feel-good movie that is a bit confused and not very original", drawing parallels with Taika Waititi's Next Goal Wins . ^[16]

References

1. Sollazzo, Boris (6 August 2023). "U.S. Palmese: visita sul set del nuovo film dei Manetti Bros". The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
2. Ross, Rafa Sales (3 February 2024). "Manetti Bros. Discuss Upcoming Projects Under Mompracem Banner, Including Collaboration With 'Orlando' Director Daniele Vicari (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
3. Paternò, Cristiana (17 October 2024). "Manetti bros e il sogno del calcio in U.S. Palmese". Cinecittà News (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
4. Colosimo, Valentina (17 October 2024). "Rocco Papaleo: "Il Sud ha bisogno di sognare in grande"". Vanity Fair Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
5. Vascotto, Federico (18 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese, i Manetti Bros: "La purezza dello sport per mostrare l'altro lato del Sud Italia"". Movieplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
6. Sollazzo, Boris (19 May 2023). "Manetti Bros: parte il set di U.S. Palmese con Rocco Papaleo". The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 December 2023. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
7. Altomonte, Francesco (12 July 2023). "Terminate le riprese del film "US Palmese", la soddisfazione dei registi Manetti Bros e dell'attore Rocco Papaleo". Gazzetta del Sud (in Italian). Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
8. Ugolini, Chiara (20 September 2024). "Festa di Roma, il cinema si prende la città. Apertura sotto il segno di Berlinguer, per Johnny Depp e Viggo Mortensen premi alla carriera". La Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 21 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
9. Gallo, Francesco (21 September 2024). "Italiani, star, biopic e l'evento Megalopolis alla Festa di Roma". Il Centro (in Italian). Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
10. Barraclough, Leo (1 November 2023). "'Diabolik' Franchise Directors, the Manetti Brothers, on Why We Side With the Master Criminal: 'He Pushes You to Be Free' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety . Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 22 September 2024.
11. Finos, Arianna (18 October 2024). "Manetti Bros.alla Festa di Roma con 'U.S. Palmese': "La nostra favola calcistica in un Sud inusuale, sognando che il campionato schiacciato dal business torni ad essere sport"". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
12. Emiliani, Simone (17 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese". Mymovies.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
13. Sammarco, Valerio (17 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese". Cinematografo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
14. Panattoni, Damiano (17 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese, recensione: il calcio secondo i Manetti Bros in un film spassionatamente home-made". Movieplayer.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
15. Maiolino, Valeria (17 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese: recensione del film dei Manetti Bros. - #RoFF19". Cinefilos (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.
16. Gironi, Federico (18 October 2024). "U.S. Palmese Recensione". ComingSoon.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 October 2024.

External links

• U.S. Palmese at IMDb