“My studies are the children of the experience, I am a disciple of the experience”: so described himself Leonardo da Vinci, the genius who dreamed the impossible, the master (also) of the unfinished, in the perennial search for perfection, the goal always set on the hidden reason of things. In the year in which the 500 years from his death (May 2, 1519) are celebrated, here comes the movie “I, Leonardo” , with Luca Argentero, who wears the clothes of the Renaissance artist lost behind endless studies because he’s not content with stopping at the surface of things.
The protagonist of the film is the mind of Leonardo, a physical and infinite place, abstract but tangible, where his genius comes to life; a maze of reflections and inspirations, observations and ideas, which accompany the viewer in the re-enactment of the most significant moments of his life. In the space of his mind, Leonardo meets artists, men of power, the students of his workshop – but, above all, he confronts himself. “It’s Leonardo who speaks from inside the brain of Leonardo, says Argentero —; it is a faithful reconstruction of his thoughts because the words I use are an accurate transcription of his writings, in some cases made current to make them easily understandable.”
The observer, the obsessive, the author of the investigations without end, his eye sought for the explanation of everything. The film is not reticent about his homosexuality, that represents an opportunity to understand the depth of his thought. When he was accused of sodomy, Leonardo began to study even the scientific rationale of the mechanisms of desire, because he wanted to discover the secrets of sensuality. “He was a man that analyzed himself to the bone — ponders the actor. I have learned to know him better myself and I think this is what can intrigue the viewer: when he looked at something Leonardo was so attracted by it that he wanted to dissect it until the end; to understand it was the prerogative of his gaze. In fact the eye was for him a unique charm, both as a mirror of the soul — the eye shows who you are, how are you, if you are happy or sad — and as a tool through which we observe reality; for him, the observation was the first part of the study”.
The journey of “I, Leonardo” leads to the discovery of the birth of his masterpieces, the Virgin of the Rocks and the Lady with an Ermine, The Last Supper and The Battle of Anghiari, and The Mona lisa and St. John the Baptist, whose face has the features of his pupil, that Salaì, whose androgynous face is represented also in the female subjects. “The film is an explosion of visual — resumes Argentero —, a way to discover a brand new image of Leonardo and to see his works take shape. The spectator is immersed in a fantastic vision”. Thanks to the use of animations, projections and digital techniques, the film shows its vision, the sparks of his wisdom, his works, his scientific theories. Some of his inventions never realized, materialize and come to life, starting to function.
Produced by Sky with the Image Project and distributed in the movie theaters from October 2 by Lucky Red, directed by Jesus Garces Lambert, the film also relies on the scientific advice of Pietro Marani, professor of History of Modern Art and Museology at the Milan’s Polytechnic. The narration helps to understand the intellectual and emotional development of Leonardo, his soul and his thoughts, the human aspect is a central part of a film that helps understanding who the man was, the incredible artist notwithstanding. The beauty of this project is that it tells who Leonardo is, and why he’s become what he’s become. Even though the formula is always the same; love, family, the environment in which to grow: it is the love that surrounds you that decides which path you will take.
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