In Competition At Venice – A Film From A Comic Book

I’d been wondering about the third Italian official selection at the Venice Film Festival, L’Ultimo Terrestre by a new young director, Gianni Pacinotti and I found out – it’s a film from a comic book.

Pacinotti, better known as Gipi and in the comic book world, will premier L’Ultimo Terrestre, The Last Earthling, a science fiction story about the last week of the planet earth before the announced arrival of mysterious aliens. The protagonist is a man who is a loner, hates women, and doesn’t like things that are unforseen or adventure;he prefers a life of routine and solitude. The film’s story is taken from a graphic novel, Nessuno mi farà del male (Nobody will hurt me) by Giacomo Monti, who says it’s “Aliens and alienation for analysis of contemporary humanity.”

No one more surprised by the candidature than Pacinotti himself; he said “Knowing I’m in competition at Venice is like telling myself to go into the ring to box with Tyson”, said Pacinotti. He also says that the story “speaks the truth” and that in the story, “the aliens know what is right and wrong, and it’s a religious experience for them, which seems like an idea that’s never been expressed before.”