The Great Silence

In 1960s Naples, Villa Primic, once a luxurious home, now a creaky mansion straight out of a ghost story. In a painful and reluctant decision, it has been put up for sale by Mrs Rose Primic (Margherita Buy, Three Floors IFF21) and the two heirs to the Primic’s dilapidated fortune, Massimiliano (Emanuele Linfatti) and Adele (Antonia Fotaras).

The only member of the family who is not at all happy with the decision is the head of the household, Valerio (Massimiliano Gallo, The Hand of God). He discovers that he has never really known his loved ones and, perhaps, not even himself, and grudgingly reaches the conclusion that living is not the same thing as being alive.

In his third feature as a director, Alessandro Gassmann brings Maurizio De Giovanni’s stage play of the same name to the big screen. Facing the inevitable changes and passing of time, The Great Silence is the story of the voices and silences of a chaotic family, marked by conflicts and misunderstandings.