“There is still tomorrow”: the film that surpassed Barbie and Oppenheimer at the box office in Italy and became a phenomenon

Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is probably the most financially successful film directed by a woman in history and the highest-grossing film of 2023. But in Italy, it was surpassed at the box office by another film, also made by a woman. and that speaks directly to the female experience.

“There is still a tomorrow” (C’è Ancora Domani), by actress, writer and singer Paola Cortellesi, 50, which is now being released across Europe, became a phenomenon in Italy last year and grossed more money than “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”

As of last month, it had grossed nearly $40 million in theaters, becoming the most important film in the country in 2023 and the most successful film ever directed by an Italian woman.

Cortellesi tells BBC News he still can’t believe the huge reception.

“No one could have predicted the wave of audience engagement and affection for this film,” he says.

“I’ve been an actress for almost 30 years and I’ve been writing screenplays for the last 10. This is my first movie, when I’m already 50. And share the screen and box office with a huge film like ‘Barbie’, which also deals with the experiences of womenit has to be something good.”

However, part of the reason “There’s Still Tomorrow” might have struck such a chord in Italy is that heroin, Delia, (also played by Cortellesi) suffers violent physical and emotional abuse by her husband.

In the film, Delia is a mother and housewife living in poverty in post-war Rome in 1946, the year Italian women were first able to vote.

However, the film’s story resonates with contemporary Italian audiences. According to recent police statistics, 120 women were murdered in Italy in 2023, approximately one every three days.

The report says that just over 50% of them were murdered by partners or ex-partners. And a quarter of them were murdered by one of their children. In 89% of those cases, the murderer was a male child.

The issue of feminicide broke out in Italy in November 2023, a few weeks after the premiere of “There is Still a Tomorrow.” Massive protests were held over the murder of university student Giulia Cecchettin, 22 years oldallegedly by her ex-boyfriend, who is awaiting trial.

To its funeral attended by thousands of people and her death sparked large protests and calls for more protection for women.

Cortellesi says her film is partly trying to explore a cultural mindset that she says “has existed for millennia.”

So-called “crimes of passion” were not criminalized in Italy until 1981, and in July 2023, a court in Rome became famous around the world when School janitor acquitted of groping 17-year-old student because sexual assault lasted less than ten seconds.

The expression a “brief touch” became a trend on Instagram and TikTok in Italy, along with the hashtag #10seconds.

“The theme of murder of women is unfortunately very topical, especially in Italy,” explains Cortellesi.

“But feminicide is often the tragic end of something that did not begin that way. What we do not know is the story that culminates in a horrendous act of violence and the death of a woman every 72 hours in Italy. We can only infer a history of violence that is often not even brought to the authorities before it escalates.”

The director states that The themes of violence against women have been part of his scripts for years.as well as her stage and film work as an actress, although she claims not to have experienced it personally.

“I wanted to make a contemporary film set in the past to compare what has changed and what has stayed the same,” he explains.

“We may now have certain rights and guarantees as women, but what has not changed in society is this mentality that distorts love and turns it into possession. “That’s why we need better education.”

Maybe “There’s Still Tomorrow” is set in 1946, filmed in black and white (a nod to classic Italian filmmakers of the era) and tackles a topic like domestic violence, but there is a wry humor that permeates the story, something the filmmaker says she believes helped audiences connect with the film.

“When I wrote scripts in the past, I used this same kind of language,” he says.

“It’s not comedy per se, is using the language of comedy to talk about very serious topics.

“I feel like using humor you can introduce these themes. You know, hopefully, people will empathize and take your heroine’s side without me having to use confrontational language.”

When it first premiered in Italy, the English-language magazine about the film industry Screen Daily He called it “a sentimental story of suffering and self-sacrifice,” adding that Cortellesi “directs the film with style.”

“Domestic violence sometimes appears choreographed in a grotesque and surprising dance”said the critic Screen Daily Allan Hunter, adding: “The most over-the-top romantic moments are undermined by dry humor.”

The film’s longevity and financial success is due to word-of-mouth recommendations, as well as the fact that the filmmakers took the film to regional towns and cities.

Cortellesi states that 45% of its audience in Italy were mensomething he is very happy about.

“This It was never intended to be a film against men. Italians, it is an invitation to share and walk together along the same path in life. My intention was not to distance men from the film and make them think that the film is pointing an accusing finger at them,” says the filmmaker.

“I think the tone of the movie and the way the different characters were portrayed made it Men will identify with female characters.. I could see it in the way they reacted during the movie.

“Many men felt able to speak out in the Q&A sessions afterwards and share their own stories, which I often found really moving.”

The actress and director says that his 11-year-old daughter was his “muse” for the film and which could be described as “a love story between mother and daughter.”

“This whole project came about because I was reading her a book about women’s rights and my daughter couldn’t believe there was a time when our rights weren’t enshrined in law. Then it occurred to me that we needed to talk to the younger generations. They have to realize that their rights are an achievement“, it states.

“Just because we achieve something doesn’t mean it’s going to be there forever. I wanted to, in a way, start passing the baton to a younger generation.”

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