We’re in the middle of binge watching the Netflix series, Marco Polo, and we’re loving Lorenzo Richelmy.
Born in La Spezia, Italy in 1990 his family moved to Rome when he was 4, and he acted there at age 8.
We first saw him at the Venice Film Festival in a movie that didn’t get much attention but was actually a pretty good sports movie about a boy who has a life changing experience with rugby.
Predictable and sentimental, Il Terzo Tempo made me cry in the end. If anybody else there at the Venice Film Festival left the Sala Grande like me, sniffling and putting on her sunglasses to avoid looking foolish, I can’t say, but the applause was warm and appreciative never-the-less.
Director Enrico Maria Artale tells the story of Samuel, played by Richelmy, in and out of juvie and on his way to doing hard time. His mother is a drug addict and he never knew his father, so when his parole officer, an ex-rugby star played by Stefano Cassetti, gives him the chance to play on his rugby team, he’s able get a little of his aggression out of his system and discover the value of working with a team.
There’s a love story thrown in for the girls, one that makes no sense at all but lets Richelmy play kissy face with the very pretty Margherita Laterza, who plays the coach’s daughter. One of my favorite actresses, Stefania Rocca, is in it too, playing the daughter of the team’s founder and I honestly don’t know what she was doing in the movie at all. And there’s Marco’s son Pierluigi Bellocchio in a cameo role as an opposing team’s coach.
As for Marco Polo; watch it! It’s gorgeous, exciting, the acting is amazing, and has the added value of teaching me about Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. Pierfrancesco Favino appears in a couple of episodes as Marco’s father.
WATCH SEASON ONE OF MARCO POLO
I Love Italian Everything 