Loose Cannons (2010 film)


Loose Cannons is a 2010 Italian comedy film directed by Ferzan Özpetek. Özpetek also wrote the script, with the help of Ivan Cotroneo, while Domenico Procacci served as a producer. The film stars Riccardo Scamarcio, Alessandro Preziosi, Nicole Grimaudo, Lunetta Savino, Ennio Fantastichini and Ilaria Occhini.
Loose Cannons premiered on 13 February 2010 at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. The following month, it was theatrically released in Italy, Switzerland and Turkey. In the United States, the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on 28 April 2010, where it won the Special Jury Prize. It was later screened at the Seattle International Film Festival, Provincetown International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival. In October 2010, the film was screened at the London Film Festival.
Loose Cannons received generally positive reviews from critics. It was nominated for thirteen David di Donatello Awards, including for the Best Film, winning the Best Supporting Actor for Ennio Fantastichini and the Best Supporting Actress for Ilaria Occhini. The film also earned six out of eleven nominations at the Nastro d'Argento Awards.

Plot summary

The Cantones are a bourgeois family who own a pasta company in Lecce in conservative Southern Italy. One of the two sons, Tommaso, returns from his studies in Rome and hopes to use a dinner with his family and the Brunettis, their business partners, to reveal his homosexuality. He expects his father Vincenzo will want nothing to do with him and he will be free to pursue his dream of becoming a writer without any ties to the family business. Tommaso discusses his plan with his elder brother, Antonio. During dinner, just as Tommaso is about to share his news, Antonio interrupts and reveals that he himself is homosexual. Vincenzo takes the news badly, has a minor heart attack and is admitted to hospital.
Rejecting his gay son, Vincenzo decides to place Tommaso in charge of the family business. Tommaso changes his mind about revealing his homosexuality, fearing his announcement could kill his father. Tommaso adapts to his new role partnering with the Brunetti daughter and drawing his sister into the business. His life is made more difficult when his boyfriend, Marco, and three other gay friends decide to visit him at his family home.

Cast

Loose Cannons premiered on 13 February 2010 at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival. The following month, it was theatrically released in Italy, Switzerland and Turkey. On 28 April, the film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, earning the Special Jury Prize. A month later, Loose Cannons was shown at the Seattle International Film Festival. In the United States, it would also be screened at the Provincetown International Film Festival and Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 2011.
Throughout 2010 and 2011, Loose Cannons was screened at film festivals such as Aruba International Film Festival, Moscow Film Festival, Durban International Film Festival, Festival do Rio and Ghent International Film Festival, and was theatrically released in France, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Hungary, Japan, Colombia, the Netherlands, Argentina and Philippines. In October 2010, the film was shown at the London Film Festival before being released in British cinemas.

Reception

Critical reception

website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 71% based on 17 reviews and an average score of 5.5/10.

Awards and nominations

Other media

Soundtrack album

The soundtrack album for Loose Cannons was released on 12 March 2010 through Universal Music. It was produced by :it:Pasquale Catalano|Pasquale Catalano, who also composed the original music for the film. The vocals were recorded by Eleonora Bordonaro, while the music was recorded by Fabrizio Romano, Paolo Sasso, Pietro Bentivenga, Claudio Romano, Domenico Rinaldi and Pasquale Catalano.

Track listing

  1. "Sogno" by Patty Pravo
  2. "La linea dei ricordi" by :it:Pasquale Catalano|Pasquale Catalano
  3. "Tutti lo sanno" by Pasquale Catalano
  4. "50mila" by Nina Zilli
  5. "Nessuno ad aspettare" by Pasquale Catalano
  6. "Duetto" by Pasquale Catalano
  7. "Una notte a Napoli" by Pink Martini
  8. "Sulina Waltz" by Pasquale Catalano
  9. "Sorry, I'm a Lady" by Baccara
  10. "Cuore di sabbia" by Pasquale Catalano
  11. "Mine vaganti" by Pasquale Catalano
  12. "Kutlama" by Sezen Aksu
  13. "Due notti" by Pasquale Catalano
  14. "Yara" by :it:Radiodervish|Radiodervish
  15. "La ruota pazza" by Pasquale Catalano
  16. "Pensiero stupendo" by Patty Pravo
  17. "Mais De Min" by Mariana Delgado
  18. "Kutlama " by Radiodervish

    Home media

Loose Cannons was released on DVD on 25 June 2010, and on Blu-ray on 27 August.