Speravo de morì prima

Directed by Director's notes
  • Luca Ribuoli
Directed by
  • Luca Ribuoli
Year
  • 2021
Length
  • 6x40”
Year
  • 2021
Length
  • 6x40”
Cast
  • Pietro Castellitto
  • Greta Scarano
  • Monica Guerritore
  • Giorgio Colangeli
  • Gian Marco Tognazzi
Synopsis

The last year and a half of Francesco Totti’s career. Between present and past, public and private, “Speravo de morì prima” seriously, but with the tone of a comedy, retraces the eighteen months that go from Luciano Spalletti’s return to the Roma bench to the most poignant farewell to football in the history of the sport. A year and a half of war against two opponents who don’t give even Francesco Totti any quarter: time and the coach. A war that divides a city and the football community. A war fought with passion and torment by a footballer who doesn’t want to and, above all, can’t put an end to a dream career, lived entirely wearing only one jersey.

Director's notes
  • Only those who live in Rome can truly understand what Francesco Totti means to this city. When Mario Gianani proposed "a series about Totti" to me, I felt an immense sense of responsibility for the undertaking. For me, it was about telling the life story of a living, famous person for the first time, a figure adored by his fans like a deity. I devoured Paolo Condò's book in one night: 500 pages of gaming and life adventures spanning 40 years. I found it epic and entertaining. I laughed, I was moved, I stopped reading to watch game highlights, even those I already knew, from Roma or the 2006 World Cup. By the end of the book, I had already decided, even though my heart told me I was scared.

    With screenwriters Stefano Bises and Michele Astori, with whom I had already worked on "La Mafia uccide solo d’estate - la serie," we set out to understand which parts of that autobiographical account could become a serialized story that would embrace the audience without displeasing Roma fans. Totti has always been a good guy, loved by everyone, likeable – very likeable – even to those who aren't fans of his team. Getting to know him confirmed what I had instinctively felt. He is also charismatic; it's impossible not to be struck by him, by his frankness, his genuineness, his cool and quick eye when he talks about football and his achievements.

    We decided, therefore, to tell his private life, his affections, and the locker room with its intrigues, amidst victories and defeats, and his relationships with coaches. While Bises, Astori, and Maurizio Careddu dedicated themselves to the narrative, I thought about how to make it effective and how I would like to represent it. It was difficult to find references for a story so close to current events, about sport, that was both entertaining and engaging at the same time. Sport has mostly been told through documentaries. I thought that to create a fiction narrative, it might be useful to draw inspiration from English comedy, especially generational comedy, or from the involuntary comedy of "commedia all’italiana."

    Filming a movie about Totti in Rome means encountering smiles, great willingness, adoring glances, and phrases like: "How beautiful he is!" or "Don't touch the divinity." So, I immersed myself in "Roman-ness" because Rome was the essential starting point.
Directed by
  • LUCA RIBUOLI
A series by
  • Sky Original
Screenplay
  • STEFANO BISES
  • MICHELE ASTORI
  • MAURIZIO CAREDDU
Based on
  • “UN CAPITANO”
  • by FRANCESCO TOTTI and PAOLO CONDÒ
Produced by
  • MARIO GIANANI with LORENZO GANGAROSSA for Wildside, a Fremantle Company with CAPRI ENTERTAINMENT by VIRGINIA VALSECCHI, THE NEW LIFE COMPANY and FREMANTLE
Executive producer
  • for Wildside OLIVIA SLEITER
Executive producers
  • for Sky NILS HARTMANN, SONIA ROVAI
Delegate Producer
  • for Wildside LUDOVICA RAPISARDA, MARTINA VELTRONI
Delegate Producer
  • for Sky CLAUDIO FALCONI
Assistant Director
  • ANDREA REBUZZI
Editing
  • PIETRO MORANA
Scenography
  • LUCA GOBBI
  • SONIA PENG
Director of photography
  • IVAN CASALGRANDI
Costumes
  • EVA COEN
Original score
  • NICOLA TESCARI
Sound engineer
  • ALBERTO AMATO
Casting
  • FRANCESCO VEDOVATI
  • BARBARA GIORDANI
Series Treatment
  • STEFANO BISES
  • MICHELE ASTORI
General organizer
  • LELE LOMIRY
International sales
  • FREMANTLE
Director's notes
X

Only those who live in Rome can truly understand what Francesco Totti means to this city. When Mario Gianani proposed "a series about Totti" to me, I felt an immense sense of responsibility for the undertaking. For me, it was about telling the life story of a living, famous person for the first time, a figure adored by his fans like a deity. I devoured Paolo Condò's book in one night: 500 pages of gaming and life adventures spanning 40 years. I found it epic and entertaining. I laughed, I was moved, I stopped reading to watch game highlights, even those I already knew, from Roma or the 2006 World Cup. By the end of the book, I had already decided, even though my heart told me I was scared.

With screenwriters Stefano Bises and Michele Astori, with whom I had already worked on "La Mafia uccide solo d’estate - la serie," we set out to understand which parts of that autobiographical account could become a serialized story that would embrace the audience without displeasing Roma fans. Totti has always been a good guy, loved by everyone, likeable – very likeable – even to those who aren't fans of his team. Getting to know him confirmed what I had instinctively felt. He is also charismatic; it's impossible not to be struck by him, by his frankness, his genuineness, his cool and quick eye when he talks about football and his achievements.

We decided, therefore, to tell his private life, his affections, and the locker room with its intrigues, amidst victories and defeats, and his relationships with coaches. While Bises, Astori, and Maurizio Careddu dedicated themselves to the narrative, I thought about how to make it effective and how I would like to represent it. It was difficult to find references for a story so close to current events, about sport, that was both entertaining and engaging at the same time. Sport has mostly been told through documentaries. I thought that to create a fiction narrative, it might be useful to draw inspiration from English comedy, especially generational comedy, or from the involuntary comedy of "commedia all’italiana."

Filming a movie about Totti in Rome means encountering smiles, great willingness, adoring glances, and phrases like: "How beautiful he is!" or "Don't touch the divinity." So, I immersed myself in "Roman-ness" because Rome was the essential starting point.