“My father and I go to bed at different hours. I called at 1 a.m. to offer him the role of Celesto, asking if he was free in September. He said, ‘Fuck it I’m sleeping,’ and hung up, but it was a yes“. It was the first approach of Pietro Castellitto as a director to his father, Sergio. But “working together in the most formal environments, you understand people better because you see how they relate to the world. It was a way to understand us.” The press conference of the film Aeneas is a father/sons game, in the movie there is also Pietro’s younger brother, Cesare.
“It is a film about the desire to feel alive. Everything that moves Aeneas’ choices is his need to feel the movement of life. Everyone tries to do that, and that’s where conflict arises. Even if there are elite restaurants, the desire to feel alive is not elitist. It cuts across all generations and all backgrounds,” the director explains, “I wanted to break free from the cliché that the apathetic middle-class family generates nihilistic children. Aeneas is a romantic hero. His discomfort is in trying to live up to his ambitions. And to feel alive, with Valentino, he will invent his war.” Sergio Castellitto points out. “I am passionate about the sentiment that Pietro put into these two seasons of existence. There is a generation of adults who are very good people, however, they are cracked inside. And young people who are very ‘evil’ but also have the strength to be romantic and tragic, which makes them more loyal than their parents.”
