At war with love – a new love story by PIF and Michele Astori

Drm’s third day at the Cinema Made in Italy Festival, was great- we had the chance to meet with Pierfrancesco Diliberto the director and his screenwriting collaborator Michele Astori to talk about their latest film ‘At war with love’. We met PIF and Michele Astori at Ciné Lumière.

at war with love PIF and Michele Astori — On the shoot of In War with Love

After the great success of ‘La Mafia uccide solo d’Estate‘ (The Mafia kills only in Summer) directors PIF (Pierfrancesco Diliberto) and screenwriter Michele Astori present their new movie ‘At War with Love’ (In Guerra per Amore) a romantic comedy which takes place during the second world war, when the Allies arrived to Italy, Sicily to be precise. Both PIF and Michele are Sicilian and in their movies they often tell the story of their homeland, focusing in particular on the problem with mafia. The movie deals ironically with some serious topics and while we laugh at their jokes there is often a bitter aftertaste. But it is in essence a tender love story.

We firmly believe in our movie and in the thesis we chose to develop in it.

PIF and Michele Astori ‘At war with love’ is based on a thesis developed by Captain William Everett Scotten, who made a report about mafia after the Allies arrival in Sicily. Scotten explained that in the weeks following the invasion of July 1943, the criminal system helped them to fight back the Nazis and when the Fascism collapsed in Sicily, the Allies needed somebody they could trust to help maintain order. The document ‘ 1943: The problem of Mafia in Italy’ reported how much power has been given to this criminal system and, according to the directors, this is the reason why in Sicily and many parts of Italy, these criminal organisations still exist and have the power to rule.

Sometimes it is difficult to accept criticisms – especially when they say we created a fabrication of history. And it’s not true!

We had a lot of fun with PIF and Michele during the interview while talking about the origin of the title, what the critics say about the movie and exploring what kind of reaction they expect from a British audience.