It is 3:10 p.m EST, and Gabriele Salvatores walks out from the bedroom of his hotel suite to shake another interviewer's hand while simultaneously fighting a powerful yawn. It is his first visit to D.C., and his yawn belies the fact that he is actually handling the all-day press circuit exceptionally well.
As an Oscar winner, Salvatores is no stranger to the press. His 1992 win in the Academy's foreign film category with "Mediterraneo" is a far sight different from the film that brings him to D.C., though. His 12th film, "I'm Not Scared" ("Io Non Ho Paura"), is an adaptation of a novel by Italian writer Niccolo Ammaniti. It represents perhaps a point in Salvatores' life where he has found a story with the right balance of elements to be marketable (and only incidentally so) to an international audience.
Salvatores is a philosopher and his movies pose questions through the lens of an explorer. He is one of those directors whose work can always be easily identified, particularly because of his well-known sense of irony. In "I'm Not Scared," though, the almost parental nature of his voice is missing.
Salvatores said his approach to storytelling has ranged from "light and extroverted" to "dark and introverted." His most recent films, he explains, have been dark in nature. In the last few years he has ranged from elaborate science-fiction to low-key video documentaries.
"I am still fascinated by comedy and irony, but i have moved toward darker themes because I feel that in Italy right now there is an overdose of comedy," Salvatores said.
Salvatores cited the Joseph Conrad novel "The Shadow Line" as one of his key influences in approaching the movie. The novel tells the tale mostly of children and their relationship with light.
"Most often when we are children, the only time we are left alone is in the darkness of the bedroom," he said. "When one doesn't find sleep, they are compelled to understand the darkness."
Salvatores has no children himself, but in the making of "I'm Not Scared," he said he has learned much about children. For the part of Michele (the lead character), he interviewed over 500 children. Searching only for unknown actors, he chose Giuseppe Christiano because his life most reflected the life of the character he was looking for.
For considerations of light, Salvatores looked to Shakespeare. He cited "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"[In the play,] we are presented with the Kingdom of the Light and the Kingdom of the Knight," he said, adding that the play has the ability to identify one reality with rationality and one with irrationality and then turn the hypothesis over by the end. He hopes that he too has achieved this with "I'm Not Scared."
Salvatores knows where his movie is haunting and explains that this is a key point that envelops the sense of irony in this movie. He has taken what can best be identified as Plato's allegory of the cave and used that idea as the lens for his narrative.
"My role as a director in this movie is more subtle than my previous works because of the distinct nature of the adults in the tale," he said. "Michele's parents follow a curve of corruption that enables Michele's soul to grow, more physically Michele lifts the other child out of the cave and shows him the light as only children could enjoy it."
Salvatores' new approach is fascinating and one only hopes for two things. First, that he adds a commentary track to the film when the DVD is prepared, and second, that he continues to explore with the same veracity that he has used in the past.
