Direction: Mario Martone
Country: Italy
The Great Beauty’s star, Toni Servillo, took to his role like a duck to water in The King of Laughter, an upbeat biopic-comedy centered on the beloved Neapolitan actor and playwright Eduardo Scarpetta, whose dedication to theater and illegitimate procreation were remarkably consistent. The film, co-written by Ippolita di Majo and director Mario Martone (Leopardi, 2014; Capri Revolution, 2018), who ensures that all conflicting moments are leavened with a light touch, depicts Scarpetta’s complex family environment as well as his legal dispute with the famous ultra-nationalist poet/playwright Gabriele D’Annunzio, who sued him for writing a parody of his tragedy The Daughter of Iorio.
Teeming with staging lucidity, a dynamic pace and some intentional excess, this is a tasty portraiture of the theater buff whose clownish acting is taken to a hilarious effect during a memorable court session. His inflamed speech, packing in a lot of insightful remarks about the Italian art and political criticism, is pure laughter.
Both the lively rhythm and classic filmmaking are adequate, in a campy but effervescent tribute film that makes for a spikily funny watch. This is also an opportunity to watch Servillo chewing up the screen for 133 minutes and making the show outrageously entertaining. You’ll be likely to leave the theater with a smile on your face, bathed in the evocative soundtrack of Neapolitan songs, and the sharp imagery unfalteringly tuned by expert cinematographer Renato Barta, who worked with masters Louis Malle, Alain Resnais, and Jacques Rivette in the past.
