A gift that was to arrive under the Florentine people's tree has to somehow deny its own origins: there are too many and too tight ties with Cecchi Gori to be liked by the usual audience who helped the success of Pieraccioni & c's previous films.

"First of all - Pieraccioni started answering an implicit first question - I want to reveal that the film was produced by Vanna Marchi and by life master Do Nascimiento...".

Actually the producing house is "Levante srl" (from the name of Ciclone's protagonist) a new production house owned by the director himself. The film though, which cost more than 50 million euro, was also financed by Cecchi Gori Group and Medusa.
 
"Il principe e il pirata", a film co-written with Giovanni Veronesi,  is an 'on the road' story of two step brothers, a good and worthy one and an ugly and evil one, who had never met until their father's sudden death. The two are partners in an adventure that takes them from Palermo to Saint Vincent to cash in an inheritance. Gags, meetings, clashes which for the first time see in the role of the co-protagonist, rather than the current starlet, Prince Pieraccioni's old friend Massimo Ceccherini, less cartoon-like and less caricature than usual. A film of newfound inspiration and fun for the Florentine director who, in the past years, had conceded himself a pause for thought returning to the cabaret (the show will be transmitted the 20th January on Rai1). 

Why particularly an "on the road" movie? "I had the chance of experimenting that this type of film is nearer my way of thinking of a film: the ideas for the new scripts as a matter of fact, all appear to me as flashes, single images, and also they all appeared at traffic lights, don't ask me why. The on the road, is made, as a matter of fact, of intense and brilliant meetings.

Did you and Massimo ever think of exchanging roles? "Yes, for a moment this idea occurred to me, but Giovanni at that point threatened to leave! Actually role exchange is really unthinkable: we wouldn't be credible...with these faces! It is a bit like asking Baglioni to do a rap..."

Speaking of music...: "I was happy that Edoardo Bennato did the music. From the beginning of the film I had in mind the song "burattino senza fili" for the scene of the prison, then I proposed to Edoardo to write all the music for "Il principe e il pirata"...and I would say that it worked". 

The accord and the feeling between Ceccherini and Pieraccioni, who happily duet even during the interview, is tangible live and in the film: "Massimo - Leonardo concludes - is truly my other half...film wise obviously".

December.2001