NERO

Francesca broke up with Zardo and moved in with Sergio, her new lover. But as soon as she arrives in her new house, she realizes that she forgot her anti-cellulite cream at Zardo’s house. Since this cream cannot be purchased anywhere in town, she urges that Sergio brings in back. Reluctant at first, he eventually accepts. Sergio visits Zardo but finds the corpse of the latter lying in his blood with his throat slit. Someone rings at the door. The neighbors, concerned by strange noises, called the police. Sergio pretends to be Zardo. After a quick inspection, the officers leave the place, reassured. Sergio then decides to leave the town in order to get rid of this bulky package, but he is bothered in his efforts by a farmer too curious and his big black dog. When he comes back to his car, he discovers that the corpse disappeared! He comes back home, but Francesca is not there. Instead, Sergio faces a strange man, to whom he says that he is Zardo. The man, called Ambrosio, is actually a private detective hired by the mother of (the real) Zardo. As having broken into Sergio’s house does not seem to satisfy the detective, he blackmails him by offering to trade the corpse in exchange for a large amount of money.

The story of this dark comedy is inspired, with a hint of irony and horror, by the theme of the “diabolical lovers” and is the work of an Italian not very well known here. Nevertheless, GIANCARLO SOLDI has been shooting films for more than ten years and – it is true – mainly for the television. Zardo is remarkably played by SERGIO CASTELLITO, one of the rising stars of the Italian cinema and whose career is already very impressive (MAGIC MOMENTS with Stefania Sandrelli, THE BIG BLUE, THE FLESH, ALBERTO EXPRESS). Francesca, the undecided woman with an androgynous look, is interpreted by CHIARA
CASELLI (L’ANNÉE DE L’ÉVEIL, SENSO, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO), who seems to enjoy this ambiguous role. A curiously sensual ballet…