One of the most beloved and dedicated actors of our cinema, Pierfrancesco Favino recently started filming a new movie called Commanderwhich tells the true story of Salvatore Todaro, a hero of the seas who commanded the submarine Cappellini Regia Marina in 1940.
The film was shot by a Neapolitan director. Edoardo De Angeliswho wrote it with Sandro Veronesi and that Veronesi himself is the author novel of the same name was born from this project that will come out in bookstores January 25, 2023, published by Bompiani.
This is the story of Todaro as told in the movie that is significant:

During World War II, Salvatore Todaro commands the Cappellini Regia Marina in his own way: a steel-reinforced bow for incredible ramming, cannon shots in the surface to face the enemy, and a crew armed with daggers for impossible hand-to-hand combat. – manual combat.
In October 1940, while sailing across the Atlantic, in the darkness of the night, the silhouette of the Kabalo merchant ship, which later discovered that it was of Belgian origin, was sailing with the lights off, suddenly opened fire on the submarine and the Italian crew. .
A short but fierce battle ensues, with Commander Todaro sinking a merchant ship with cannon shots. And it is at this moment that the commander makes a decision that is destined to go down in history: to save 26 Belgian shipwrecks, doomed to sink in the middle of the ocean, in order to land them in the nearest safe harbor, as required by maritime law. To welcome them on board, he would be forced to sail for three days, making himself visible to enemy forces and endangering his life and the lives of his men.
When the captain of the Cabalo, disembarking in the bay of Santa Maria de Azores, asks him why he put himself at such risk against the directives of his own command, Commander Todaro responds with words that have made him a legend. Why are we Italians?

Edoardo De Angelis issued this note on the occasion of the announcement of the start of filming, which will take place over the course of eight weeks in Taranto and Rome:

The man who piloted a Roman trireme two thousand years ago is the same man who commanded a submarine in 1940 in the Atlantic, at the height of the war. This man’s name is Salvatore, and he’s strong. Sink enemy ships with iron without fear and without pity. But a defenseless enemy is no longer an enemy, he is just another person, and therefore he saves him. Because the truly strong man is the one who is able to lend a hand to the weak. Salvatore knows the eternal laws that govern the sky and the sea, and knows that they are above any other law.
Salvatore was born two thousand years ago: he is Italian.

So instead Sandro Veronesi comments on writing the screenplay and, together, the novel based on this story:

How can a script generate a book? An independent book other than a simple script rewrite? I did not believe that this could happen, or rather, I never thought about it. Then came the Comandante: a dive to the bottom of the sea with Todaro and the crew of Cappellini, with all the microstories, fears, languages, dialects and points of view that the cinema adheres to and unifies and that the book can free – a kind of flowering. So the script generated the book, which apparently generated the script. It was a pleasure to make this round trip and I really think it wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for two.

As part of Commanderoutside beansstand out, be noticeable Massimiliano Rossi (indivisible) As well as Sylvia D’Amico (Don’t be naughty), and special effects, obviously of paramount importance, were assigned to Kevin Tod Haugwho did he work with David Fincher in Fight club As well as Room of fear. Workflow Supervisor – Oscar Winner David Stumpand there are prizes for the costumes Massimo Cantini Parrini.
For the filming of the film, it was recreated in every detail. 1940 Cappellini submarine 73 meters long for 70 tons of steel, recreated from designs found in the Historical Office of the Navy. More than 100 specialists, including engineers, builders and craftsmen, took part in its implementation in cooperation with Cinecittà. The work lasted 8 months and ended with the launching in the arsenal of the Navy.

Commander is an Indigo Film production with Rai Cinema, O’Groove, Tramp LTD, VGroove and Wise and is produced by Pierpaolo Verga, Nicola Giuliano, Attilio De Razza, Edoardo De Angelis in collaboration with Marina Militare, Cinecittà and Fincantieri, in collaboration with production co with Beside Productions. It is a film produced with the support of the Creative Europe – MEDIA Program of the European Union and the Directorate General of Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture with a contribution to the development of the region Campaign Regional Travel Agency Puglia Promotion with the cooperation of the Apulian Film Commission.
Comandante will be distributed by 01 Distribution.