I, Harlequin

Paolo Milesi has a successful talk show about to move into prime time when he finds out that his father, Giovanni, has cancer. Giovanni is a well-known commedia dell’arte performer from Bergamo whose troupe has fallen on hard financial times. Encouraging the group toward a final command performance, Paolo is forced to take the stage himself when his dad’s health takes a turn for the worse. Forced to rely on performative and physical talent over his telegenic good looks, the TV star gains a new respect for his father’s life and work. Giorgio Pasotti, who co-wrote, co-directed and also plays Paolo, demonstrates a palpable affection for this very particular theatrical tradition that incorporates an overall improvisatory style underlain with broad humor and stock characters such as the mischievous servant Harlequin and the miserly merchant Pantalone. Representing a theatrical history that began in the 16th century, this heartwarming, rich film charmingly reinvents commedia dell’arte for the 21st.