Italiano
The Menu di Mark Mylod, distributed by The Universal Pictures International Italy, will be released in Italian cinemas on Thursday, November 17th, 2022. The film was presented in the section Grand Public of the 17th Rome Film Fest.
LA SIGNORA HARRIS VA A PARIGI
Director
Mark Mylod
Nations
UK, Hungary
Year
2022
Duration
115′
Cast
Ralph Fiennes
Anya Taylor-Joy
Nicholas Hoult
Hong Chau
Janet McTeer
Reed Birney
In post-World War II London, Ada Harris, a cleaning woman and a widow, is a practical and pragmatic woman. But when one day in the house of a rich client of hers she sees a couture dress by Christian Dior, she falls madly in love with it, and decides she must have one of her own.
COMMENTARY
The desire for a dress becomes the trigger that changes her life: in the mid-1950s, Ada puts together the money she needs (thanks to a surprise “from the other world” from her husband who died in the war) she flies from London to Paris, straight to Maison Dior. Where she meets the super-snobbish director: it’s Lesley Manville (a Mike Leigh actress and Princess Margaret in seasons 5 and 6 of The Crown) vs. Isabelle Huppert, an epic clash. But Paris reserves many other surprises for the heroine of Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel, so popular as to have inspired three more literary adventures, three television adaptations and a musical.
ANTHONY FABIAN
Born in San Francisco, raised between Mexico City, Paris and London, Anthony Fabian studied film and television at the University of California. After making several short films and documentaries, in 2008 he made his first feature-length film with Skin, which won 22 awards around the world. He later directed Louder Than Words, with David Duchovny, and the documentary Good Hope. He has also been the musical consultant for various films, including GoldenEye.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Ada Harris is a widow who has put her heart on ice, and this dress is an inanimate object that she can love without betraying her husband. Somehow, the dress becomes a catalyst for opening her heart and allowing her to love again. Mrs. Harris is a very authentic character, and part of what makes her appealing to everybody around her is that she’s genuinely herself. She’s not putting on any mask – she unmasks all the people around her, all the other characters. She helps them become their true selves. It’s very much a film about contrasts, and it’s a film about a fish out of water, somebody who’s coming into a whole new universe.
