FIRST PRESS REACTIONS "NOWHERE SPECIAL"

We are thrilled to share the glowing press reactions for

NOWHERE SPECIAL
by Uberto Pasolini

after its world premiere in the Orizzonti Competition at this year's Venice Film Festival.

REVIEWS

"James Norton tries to find a home for his young boy in Uberto Pasolini’s tender tearjerker."

"A sensory experience."

"A keenly sympathetic performance by James Norton." 

"Gorgeous Daniel Lamont."

"Norton and Lamont have an easy, cheerful rapport in scenes which can be largely silent but never oppressive."

"When we demand that cinema opens up to under-represented voices, John is one of them: white, poor, uneducated, alone, and with a troubled past. It’s perhaps odd on paper that he would be played by an actor like Norton, but it’s also hard, having seen it, to imagine who would do a better job."

"Pasolini and DoP Marius Panduru have an eye for the nondescript in every-day life and draw a pleasing visual symmetry from locations which would look ordinary under any other lens." 

(Screen International) 

"Uberto Pasolini brings tenderness to the Italian festival, with a story about a young father who learns how to let go."

"Nowhere Special has its heart in the right place."

(Cineuropa) 

****
"A beautiful and exceptionally moving experience."

"The world may well be forever grateful that [Pasolini took] this meticulous approach, as this latest project proves to be a gut-wrenching drama exploring the delicate themes of loss, family values and death."

"Based on a true story, Nowhere Special grabs you from the opening scenes."

"Norton shows yet again how far his talents go. His on-screen partnership with the adorable Lamont is lovely to behold, as authentic as any father-son relationship can be. It’s this that makes the tale so powerful."

"Pasolini approaches the subject of bereavement and passing onto a different place so beautifully, presenting the greatest level of complexity possible through the inclusion of the innocent and unknowing Michael, whilst at the same time elevating scenes with very little dialogue through exceptionally moving direction."

"Expressive, sensitive and incredibly touching."  

(The Upcoming) 

"A superb James Norton." 

"Great credit, in addition to the director, goes to Norton, capable of a subdued, subtracted one man show, which leaves no way out so much for him as for us."

(Cinematografo) 

"Beautiful and heartbreaking. Beautiful for the composed and elegant classicism with which he directs and films a man and a child; heartbreaking because of the story. But more than the story itself the way that Pasolini tells it to us is striking. Virtually without tears, without melodramatic blackmail, without even the usual hospital procedures that explain the evolution of the disease: only the daily life of a father with his son and the efforts to find a family that through social services can adopt the child when he is not there will be more."

"A direction that skilfully moves between economy of means and small intuitive gashes James Norton is capable of transmitting the drama that grips him without resorting to superfluous words but is most expressive in the affection and protection towards his little Michael. The four-year-old Lamont is extraordinary in summing up the pain of his heart only with his eyes, as the awareness of what is happening takes shape.

"Had they been in the competition, they would have defeated all opponents for the Volpi Cup. But the question is: why is such a film not in competition?"

(Corriere della Sera)

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"Heartbreaking." 

"James Norton shines." 

"Director Uberto Pasolini, meanwhile, crafts a stripped-back naturalistic drama, eliciting a miraculous performance from Norton’s young co-star, Daniel Lamont."

(South China Morning Post) 

"Drawing serious and sustained buzz [in Venice] was Uberto Pasolini’s Nowhere Special, starring James Norton."

(Variety)

"Daniel Lamont, who was four at the time of filming, is marvelously connected to the seriousness of the story and the tenderness he shares with his father. There is a great understanding between Norton and the little actor on screen."

(Isole24)

"Nowhere Special is a film that shows the expectation of death and speaks of love."

"It's not so much about death, but above all about the time left to live."

"Nowhere Special has the sensitivity to capture the relationship between father and son through small gestures and glances of complicity."

"It must be said that Daniel Lamont's performance as Michael is simply impressive for its incredible naturalness."

(SENTIERISELVAGGI)



Watch the Behind the Scenes video of NOWHERE SPECIAL here.