The wealthy Recchi family are first and second-generation textile manufacturers in Milan. Tancredi Recchi (Pippo Delbono) and his wife Emma (Swinton) are hosting a formal dinner party for Tancredi’s still-formidable but ailing father, Edoardo Sr. (Gabriele Ferzetti), patriarch and founder of the family business, who is celebrating his birthday.
As the many servants bustle about, the family note with disappointment the news that Edoardo Jr. (Flavio Parenti), Tancredi and Emma’s eldest son, lost his race the day of his grandfather’s birthday. Edoardo Jr. arrives from his lost race, having informed the family that he has invited a girlfriend. She is Eva, of the prominent Ugolini family, who we learn he apparently plans to marry. Edoardo Jr.’s young adult siblings, Gianluca (Mattia Zaccaro) and Elisabetta, complain of yet again being served “ucha,” Edoardo Jr.’s favourite dish – a special soup his mother Emma, who is Russian by birth, made for him in childhood. The grandfather announces he is passing the family business to his son, Tancredi, who has long worked with him, and also, unexpectedly, to Edoardo Jr.
At the dinner, Tancredi and Emma’s daughter Elisabetta (Alba Rohrwacher), who attends school in London, presents her grandfather with one of her artworks, a photograph, despite a tradition of presenting one another paintings. He is disappointed, but encouraged by his glamorous wife Allegra “Rori” Recchi (Marisa Berenson) to gloss over his disappointment.
Later during the birthday celebration, Edoardo Jr. receives a surprise visit from Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini), the chef who defeated him in the race earlier that day. Antonio brings a beautiful cake as a gift, and Edoardo, flattered by the gesture, introduces him to his mother.
After the party, while Emma is running errands, she discovers a CD, with a note from Elisabetta to Edoardo revealing that Elisabetta is a lesbian. She tells her brother of an encounter with a woman and that she is in love with another woman. Meanwhile, Edoardo Jr. visits Antonio in Antonio’s father’s restaurant. They later make plans with to open a restaurant together on some property Antonio’s father owns in San Remo.
Months later, Emma is having lunch at Antonio’s restaurant with Eva and Allegra, and she is aroused while relishing a prawn dish he prepares for her. Elisabetta returns to Milan, with her hair cut short, and invites Emma to go with her to Nice to look for a venue for Elisabetta’s art exhibition, while making a stop in San Remo where Emma knows she may encounter Antonio. She does spot him, follows him, and runs into him outside of a book shop. She then goes with him to his house in the hills above the city, and their affair begins.
Meanwhile, in London, Edoardo Jr. struggles as his father and other family members seek to sell the family business to foreign investors. He visits his sister and tells her of the future of the business and his opposition to the decision.
Months later, Emma is having lunch at Antonio’s restaurant with Eva and Allegra, and she is aroused while relishing a prawn dish he prepares for her. Elisabetta returns to Milan, with her hair cut short, and invites Emma to go with her to Nice to look for a venue for Elisabetta’s art exhibition, while making a stop in San Remo where Emma knows she may encounter Antonio. She does spot him, follows him, and runs into him outside of a book shop. She then goes with him to his house in the hills above the city, and their affair begins.
Meanwhile, in London, Edoardo Jr. struggles as his father and other family members seek to sell the family business to foreign investors. He visits his sister and tells her of the future of the business and his opposition to the decision.
I Am Love (Italian: Io sono l’amore) is an Italian film directed by Luca Guadagnino set around 2000 in Milan. The film follows an haute bourgeoisie family through changing times and fortunes, and its disruption by the forces of passion. The cast is led by Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi. Producers Swinton and Guadagnino developed the film together over an 11-year period.
A Conversation with the Cast and Crew
Tilda Swinton • Emma Recchi
Change, overcoming the idea of oneself, as created by society, has been one of my main interests since Orlando. In Io Sono L’Amore, a film that Luca and I worked on for 7 years, these themes are presented and they are in a way that is even more magnetic.
Valentina Marianini • Coordinator of First Sun Production
I basically experienced the “gestation” of this film. Luca and Tilda spoke about it on the set of The Protagonists in London in 1998. Since then Luca has always kept me updated and plugged into the project, reading me various drafts and drawing me into a universe of love and cooking that continued to grow for years, and then in 2003, I worked as a general organizer for the film that may be considered a sort of ‘Io Sono L’Amore – study’: Cuoco Contadino. Since then, we did everything to make this film that both Luca and Tilda tended to almost like a child. And finally we succeeded.
Silvia Venturini Fendi • Associate Producer
I helped produce this film because of the great esteem I have for Luca, who I had already collaborated with. He had already been assigned the direction of two shorts for Fendi: Firstsun and Golden Mirror, which is when a beautiful friendship started. Luca has infinite knowledge of cinema, which reveals itself when he directs and produces films.
Francesco Melzi d’Eril • Mikado Producer
I decided to produce Luca’s film because I strongly believe in him as a director, and because I loved the screenplay and also because of the high quality of talent that Luca surrounded himself with – starting obviously with the great Tilda Swinton.
Walter Fasano • Screenwriter and editor
Often directors whose films I edit ask me to read their screenplays before starting to shoot. This time Luca asked me to write with him the final draft of the film, which he used to shoot Io Sono L’amore. I feared that this could blur my job of editing, but I believe that this didn’t happen because we were able in many instances to re-think the film in slow motion.
Giulia Maura • Post Production Supervisor
It gave me great satisfaction to be able to dedicate my professional energy to a high quality Italian film like this one. I very much liked the courage of the production which decided to take risks, in making the work of an original and extraordinary director that deals with themes that differ greatly from those that are mostly seen at the cinema today.
Barbara Alberti • Screenwriter
At the beginning, nothing was offered to me. Luca only had me read the story and I was fascinated. I found it superb that the Emma’s and Antonio’s love continued beyond the tragedy. According to every standard, the death of Edo should shatter everything and separate the two lovers forever. And yet it doesn’t. Aeschylus is evoked and mocked. To only be able to work on the project! I felt an infantile desire to try in some way to participate and take part in such beauty. I would have given my right hand, but there wasn’t a need to go so far. One day Luca asked me to collaborate. The film he spoke about then was the one he went on to make.
Ivan Cotroneo • Screenwriter
From the first moment that Luca spoke to me about the film he was planning to make, he used the expression “social melodrama”. I believe that these two concepts are interwoven and that’s why the two women’s choices of love are proto-romantic and revolutionary.
Edoardo Gabbriellini • Antonio Biscaglia
I have known Luca for several years. In 2007, he asked me to read the screenplay of Io Sono L’Amore, as if he were asking a friend for advice. Then, a little later, while we were talking about the character of the chef, he said to me, “Too bad you’re not a star. If you were, I would have chosen you.” He probably already then saw Antonio in me in some way.
Candice Zaccagnino • Associate Producer
Luca told me the story of Io Sono L’Amore when we made our first film together [Melissa P. 2005 N.d.r.]. I remember that tears came to my eyes. I wanted to make another film with Luca. This one was financed with sweat, blood, a lot of trust in the film and lots of love for the project.
Marco Morabito • First Sun Producer
We had a lot of difficulty in financing this film – just like all projects that do not perfectly meet the requirements of a system that is afraid of diversity and does not sustain it. First Sun developed the project. Mikado supported it. The film was financed by the extraordinary commitment of all the people involved that have always given absolute priority to quality.
Francesco Melzi
Io Sono L’Amore was financed with funds from the Italian Ministry of Culture, Mikado Film, RAICINEMA and with private equity and private investments.
Alba Rohrwacher • Betta Recchi
Working with Tilda and Marisa Berenson surprised me because notwithstanding their talent and their experience on the screen, their humanity prevailed. I was fascinated by how they worked. Tilda is a significant actress and point of reference for me. Marisa Berenson is an icon, with her manner, her background and her film experience. She is perfect to speak about the past that the social class represented in the film is anchored to. Pippo is extraordinary in the way in which he seals himself up in his role doing the opposite of everything he does in the theatre, where he frees himself from every convention in every performance.
Candice Zaccagnino
The story was written for Tilda. Flavio was already familiar with Russian culture. Betta was always Alba. The rest came later and I love the choices that were made. They were all radical: Pippo Delbono, Maria Paiato or Edoardo Gabbriellini. Some were chosen because of their previous experience like Gabriele Ferzetti or Marisa Berenson. Others were chosen because of their capability to reflect reality, and some of the Recchi household were played by non professional actors. In my opinion, a true family and an absolutely real microcosm were created.
Marco Morabito
Tilda is a special being. Tilda is and has always been Io Sono L’Amore. But the entire cast is exceptional. Wonderful people as well as great actors. Pippo Delbono’s madness, Alba Rohrwacher’s splendour, Gabriele Ferzetti’s class, Maria Paiato’s strength, Edoardo Gabbriellini’s exuberance. I will never forget the emotion when Luca and I met Marisa Berenson in Paris for the first time.
Francesco Melzi
No doubt about it – Tilda Swinton is Luca Guadagnino’s partner in crime. He assembled a cast of extraordinary women around her. I would underline the sophisticated encounter of Tilda and Alba Rohrwacher, the Oscar winning European star alongside the award winning and most promising Italian actress. Maybe even the best of her generation.
Tilda Swinton
The film is about a woman, named Emma, aged between 40 and 50, who doesn’t generate wealth or culture. Her husband Tancredi, a rich manufacturer from North Italy, picked her for her beauty, just as he would have chosen a piece of artwork. Emma is a piece of property; she had children and she fulfilled her role and now she finds herself at that point in life when the cage, the prison she has been living in, vividly appears before her eyes with all its explicit drama. Emma comes from a cage, Russia, that she left in the pre-Gorbachev era to have access to the free world. And in the free world she locked herself up in another cage, the family. And lies.
Ferdinando Cito Filomarino • Director’s Assistant and Consultant
I helped Luca to meet people, to learn about the idiosyncrasies of Milan that his film is about and to apply them to the screenplay, costumes, and direction of some of the actors. Our work relationship progressively became an open dialogue, where, at a certain point, I felt free to express my opinions and he discussed them with me as freely. This occurred thanks to Luca’s unconditional listening ability, especially when it comes to people who love cinema as much as he does.
Chiara Tomarelli • Anita
When Luca suggested that I participate in his film, the only possibility was a small role that became even smaller through the various revisions of the screenplay. But I knew that Luca is really a true director, who knows no such thing as small parts because even the smallest detail is taken care of. And that’s what he was like. We created a character that had specific characteristics and her own story.
Flavio Parenti • Edoardo Recchi Jr
We worked on so many levels. We tried to find the right posture for Edo, the right hand movements, and the details of his elegance in searching for the “natural formality” that is typical of the aristocratic class. Luca was very severe with me. His dedication to his work and to his vision pushed him to never lose control over me and to never be satisfied. This dynamic generated friction between us that incredibly benefitted my search for Edo’s inner dimension. I still don’t know if his behaviour towards me was manipulative or unwitting, but I like to think that he always knew what he was doing.
Cinzia Castania • Assistant Director
Luca is able to create relationships with the entire set. He is very curious about the people that surround him and curiosity can be a great quality. Moreover, what he wants to attain is very clear. It is fundamental for a director to have a troupe that supports him. Apart from a few tense moments or occasional distractions, which is normal in a film that is so difficult, I tried to keep up with him in his little fits of madness as well.
Mattia Zàccaro • Gianluca Recchi
I believe it’s complex to find only one denominator in the methodology that Luca used to give form to Gianluca Recchi in me. Luca is unfamiliar – or rather all too familiar with doing things halfway. In my opinion, thanks to his disarming sincerity, he was able to justify the differences in different relationships with the actors and actresses, without hiding behind the hypocritical assertion that everyone always needs the same identical treatment. His best quality however, seems to be his ability to establish a balance of strengths, made up of constant and powerful imbalances.
I Am Love – Io Sono L’Amore (2010)
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Delbono, Marisa Berenson, Diane Fleri, Waris Ahluwalia, Gabriele Ferzetti, Marisa Berenson, Liliana Flores
Screenplay by: Luca Guadagnino
Production Design by: Francesca Balestra Di Mottola
Cinematography by: Yorick Le Saux
Film Editing by: Walter Fasano
Costume Design by: Antonella Cannarozzi
Set Decoration by: Monica Sironi
Music by: John Adams
MPAA Rating: R for sexuality and nudity.
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: June 18, 2010
