Directed by: Daniele Maggioni, Laura Perini, Maria Grazia Perria, Writers Daniele Maggioni Laura Perini Maria Grazia Perria based on ‘The Prison Notebooks’ (1948) ‘Letters from Prison’ by Antonio Gramsci, Producer: Tore Cubbedu Production: Terra de Punt, Torre Film Language: Italian, Italy, 2021, 3×25′, Rights: World
Gramsci: A Great and Terrible World a biopic about the philosopher Antonio Gramsci‘s life and ideas based on his essay “The Prison Notebooks” (1948) and his book “Letters from Prison” (1947) that he wrote during his years spent in prison. Corrado Giannetti plays Antonio Gramsci and Anita Kravos (The Great Beauty) plays Tatiana Schucht.
The focus is on the last ten years of his life, which he spent in prison. A double prison: concrete and material but also intangible, imaginary. A tough and harsh ordeal.
Nevertheless, the reflections he elaborated during his prison years left an indelible mark in contemporary philosophical thought.
The scenic space of his life in jail is also shown as a mental space, an almost abstract dimension that expands and contracts depending on his mood. Gramsci the prisoner struggles, debates, remembers. In his cell, his memories and his ghosts materialize.
Fact file
Antonio Francesco Gramsci (1891 – 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history and linguistics. He was a founding member and one-time leader of the Communist Party of Italy and was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime.
Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how the state and ruling capitalist class – the bourgeoisie – use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies.
The film was made with the contribution and support of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, the Municipality of Cagliari and the Sardegna Film Commission Foundation and with the participation in the production of the Gramsci Institute of Sardinia in collaboration with Sardegna Teatro, Casa Natale Antonio Gramsci of Ales, Cineteca Sarda of Cagliari, Eja Tv and Antonio Gramsci House Museum of Ghilarza.