DarkVeins interviews Ascanio Malgarini, who together with Christian Bisceglia directed Fairytale, a horror film inspired by the legend about the tooth fairy, a work that was a great international success.
A multimedia artist and lover of images, in Fairytale we also find him serving as visual effects director.
The promising Malgarini now sheds light on his artistic journey and his love for horror.
Happy reading!
A: Who is Ascanio Malgarini?
B: I would love to have an answer, maybe full of meaning, but I really don't think I do. What I do know is that I am literally obsessed with images, their beauty, their evocative power. Movies, photography, graphics, art attract me in a visceral way, that's it, maybe I am an image maniac!
A: You are a filmmaker and multimedia artist. When was your passion for filmmaking born in you?
B: As a child. My mother has always been a big fan of the horror genre, I grew up with movies like The Exorcist, The Shining, Deep Red and many others, I think I saw every horror movie released in Italy between the 60s and 90s. Cinema has always fascinated me and continues to fascinate me now, it is a kind of drug that is not addictive.
A: With Direct 2 Brain, your animation studio, you have worked in advertising and music. In addition to television advertising campaigns (more than a hundred for brands such as Coca Cola, Opel, Fiat, Agip, Vodafone, Bulgari, Seat, Star, Parmalat, Chrysler, Samsung...) you have also dedicated yourself to the creation of video clips with which you have won many awards and a long series of recognitions, achieving great success. You have also worked alongside great Italian and foreign artists and have been included among the world's leading exponents of the video clip industry in the book "Music for Our Eyes" by Domenico Liggeri. Tell us about the advertising campaign-videoclip-film journey.
B: I founded D2B and directed the first commercials around the age of 25, I was one of the few who was already thinking in terms of integrating live action and computer graphics, we're talking about the mid-1990s. Advertising teaches you so much and exposes you to enormous responsibilities: complex shoots, very high budgets, very tight deadlines, along with the difficulty of telling a story in very few seconds, it's really a very complex craft. You learn to use images to evoke the emotions you would not have time to tell, in such short formats the story is only a frame, the work is linked to the feelings you manage to communicate with the images, it is an excellent gymnasium to refine the technique of storytelling. Moreover, advertising forces you to think about every single frame, to seek perfection in every shot, in every tiny detail, it is a maniacal search for quality.
Music videos have always been a great passion of mine. They are an opportunity to experiment, to invent, to play with images and work on the synergy between audio and video. It is really a lot of fun, there is a lot of creative freedom, and working with great artists is always stimulating. Giving a visual connotation to a piece of music is a very delicate job, you end up suggesting a key that often goes far beyond the meaning of the words and the intention of the author. The video clip has allowed me to deal with longer formats, é has taught me to narrate through images, without the aid of words, a bit like shooting a silent film.
I decided to make a film when I found the right conditions to do it, it was something I had always wanted, but I didn't want to rush into it. I wanted to feel ready to tackle it in the best possible way, because it's an industry that hardly gives you a second chance, and I didn't want to waste it. In my way of filmmaking, images continue to be absolutely central, I try to bring to the screen my visions, the things that scare me, that I find disturbing, but without giving up a certain formal elegance. Telling a story is not difficult, the challenge is to maintain a strong tension, to scare with anticipation, to build fear slowly, without resorting to tricks and shortcuts.
A: In 2009 you won the Fantasy Horror Award with "The Fairy" (co-directed with Christian Bisceglia). How did this experience mark you?
B: It gave me courage. It was a wonderful experience, it is very difficult to value your work, to understand if it works and how much, because when you work on it for months you end up losing the ability to judge it objectively. The positive feedback from the public and critics pushed me to move forward with more confidence and determination.
A: How did the collaboration with Christian Bisceglia come about in the making of this short later adapted to feature film known as Fairytale?
B: We were introduced to Manuela Cacciamani, the producer of Fairytale. Christian has incredible talent and a humanity that immediately won me over. We realized we were very complementary: both directors and authors, but with completely different paths and skills. Both fans of genre films, we immediately thought of doing something together, and we did.
A: What was the experience like working alongside Christian Bisceglia?
B: Really positive, it's a collaboration that will go on over time, there's a very good fellowship along with a common vision of the genre and the craft of filmmaking. Sometimes we have different positions, but that always ends up enriching the film. Directing with two is not an easy or obvious thing, but it works for us, probably because we respect each other, which is just as rare...
A: Fairytale is a horror fairy tale, a retelling of the fairy tale about the Tooth Fairy. Why this theme in particular?
B: We were looking for an original subject, but also for something that was already in the collective imagination. The tooth fairy is a character related to childhood, turning her into a monster and relating her to a little girl seemed to us very functional to create an atmosphere of fear. We did not want to make a splatter film, but rather to create creepiness, tension, and intrigue the viewer with a plot that leads him to discover the truth a little at a time, until we reach an ending that suddenly overturns all his certainties.
A: What do you think are the most distressing sequences in the film? Which ones are the most successful?
B: One of the scenes I love the most is the accident on the bridge, which is by no means a scary scene, but which I find very elegant and successful. The most original one is probably the shower of teeth coming off the ceiling of the child's hospital room. The one I find most distressing is the appearance of the fairy inside the house, I think it is one of the scariest sequences in the film, I like it very much.
A: On Fairytale, in addition to directing, you also supervised the digital effects. What is the difference between video clip and feature film in that sense?
B: Everything has to be much more believable, otherwise the tension falls immediately. We created very few effects sequences, but very carefully, always within the limits of a low-budget film. Digital effects are always in danger of getting under your skin, you have to have very clear ideas so you don't risk overdoing it and making gratuitous things. I still think that what's scariest is what you don't see, what you never quite grasp.
A: Are The Fairy and Fairytale the only horror projects you've worked on? What has this film genre conveyed to you both positively and negatively?
B: Yes, these are the only two horror projects I have done and they made me realize that I deeply love this genre! Investigating the mechanisms of fear is in a way therapeutic, you have to look inside yourself to find inspiration, to understand what is really scary and disturbing, plus scaring people is too much fun...
A: What is your favorite horror figure that you feel is underused in cinema?
B: I think little exploited figures are very few now, for Fairytale we spent a lot of time in finding something that was not already overused. Fairy tales and folk traditions often conceal disturbing characters and situations, it's a direction in which we often find ourselves looking for inspiration...
A: Name five Italian horror titles that you never tire of reviewing.
B: Deep Red, The House with the Laughing Windows, Suspiria, Zombies 2, The Mask of the Devil!
A: What was the last horror movie you saw?
B: I'm a little late on the releases, the last movie I saw and enjoyed is The Summoning.
A: Who is the Italian director in the independent horror scene that you appreciate the most?
B: There are several, Della Pepa, Cristopharo, Bianchini, fortunately there is still a lot of talent in this country...
A: Can you tell us about your plans? Are you planning to direct more horror films?
B: I am preparing a new film with Christian, very soon we will be back behind the camera together. It is definitely a more ambitious and spectacular horror film than Fairytale, I can't wait to get started!
A: An opinion about this interview!
B: Very challenging! Joking aside it is always flattering to be interviewed, from the questions you ask I understand how much passion you put into your work, I feel among friends...
A: Leave a message for friends of DarkVeins!
B: Dearest, making horror in Italy and particularly at this time is very difficult, those who make it certainly do not think of getting rich, they just chase their dreams and want to share them with those who love this genre. I hope to give you some thrills and scares as soon as possible, thank you and long live fear!
A: I thank you Ascanio!
