The King of Laughter

Winner of Best Director and Best Screenplay at the 2022 Nastri d’Argento Awards, this extravagant biopic depicts the life of the 19th- and early- 20th-century king of Neapolitan comedians, the great actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta, masterfully portrayed by Toni Servillo.

Devoting his life to the theatre and achieving great success, Scarpetta created works that went on to become timeless classics, like Miseria e Nobiltà. Everpresent was his peculiar family, composed of his wife Rosa (Maria Nazionale), lovers and legitimate and illegitimate children.

In 1904, at the height of his popularity, Scarpetta took a great risk: he staged a parody of Il Figlio di Iorio, a tragedy written by the greatest Italian poet of the day, Gabriele D’Annunzio. This parody became central to a memorable trial, the first ever lawsuit on copyright in Italy.

Moving from the stage to behind the curtain, Mario Martone’s (also directs Nostalgia) backstage drama The King of Laughter is a lavish biopic of the legendary Scarpetta, made with a clear love for the theatre.