Tra cinque minuti in scena Filming Locations

A tender story of the interdependence between a woman a stage actress and a mother who can no longer live independently. Gianna is a daughter, with an elderly and very demanding mother to look after. She is also an actress, working on a stage production fraught with difficulties. And on top of all this she is a woman, with a delicate romantic situation that she finds hard to fit into her life. Like a game of Chinese boxes, the film blends documentary, theatre and fiction and tells, with a gentle smile, a story about looking after somebody who needs us. The film is like a mirror, reflecting the constant interplay and shifting relationship between reality and fiction through various directorial and dramatic styles. Its story unfolds using a combination of different locations and narrative modes: the theatre, where the actors rehearse the scenes of the play; behind the scenes, where the destinies of the actors intertwine, and the documentary and interviews with Gianna, the central character, who narrates with stark and ironic frankness the intense life and strong relationship shared by mother and daughter. Gianna is a middle-aged woman, a stage actress and a daughter, and the conflict between these various competing identities is fraught with difficulty. When we first meet Gianna she is struggling to cope with the health problems of her elderly mother, who is no longer able to live independently. She has also just landed a part in a theatrical production that addresses this very issue: the difficulties and conflicts within the mother/daughter relationship when the former, who is approaching the end of her life, is completely dependent on the latter. Gradually we learn the story of Gianna and her mother and why the theatre is such a vital part of their lives. Ever since she was a little girl, Giannas mother had sent her to lessons in all kinds of performing arts: guitar, singing, tap dancing, elocution, and endowed her with great expectations of success in the theatrical world. Her mother is a demanding manager, she drags Gianna around countless village fairs, paying audiences to applaud her but harshly scolding her if she makes even the smallest mistake. Love for the theatre nevertheless permeates Giannas blood and eventually becomes her own choice, her choice for life. Gianna is an actress. Now, years later, the balance of reciprocal dependency has shifted and the roles are reversed: Giannas mother is a sick old lady and Gianna is knocked off balance by grief and the fear of losing her. The constant demands for help often feel like emotional blackmail. But the two women discover a new kind of closeness and confront the change in their lives in a tragicomic style. Giannas mother has considerable theatrical talent herself and exaggerates situations in a spirited way that is both hilarious and dramatic at the same time. The two women discover a new kind of closeness. The mere idea of seeing her mothers naked body used to make Gianna feel uncomfortable, but now the body she washes and cares for every day has become another part of their bond and is sometimes even the object of humour, for example when they use the names Bernarda or Filippa to refer to female genitalia. But Gianna is also an actress and we see her bringing part of her real life onto the stage in a very intimate and personal way. Like Gianna, the play has its fair share of problems to deal with too. In a sub-plot running parallel to Giannas story, the film portrays the struggles of artistic endeavour in Italy today and tells the story of the stubborn determination and ultimate success of this small group of actors.