Don't Waste Your Time, Jonny! by Fabrizio Bentivoglio

Lascia Perdere, Johnny! (Don't Waste Your Time, Johnny!) by Fabrizio Bentivoglio

Year: 2007 Running Time: 104’
Language: Italian with English subtitles

Summary:

Caserta, Southern Italy, in 1976. In order to avoid being drafted, Faustino “Johnny” Ciaramella (Antimino Merolillo), fresh out of school, has to prove he is employed as a guitarist, and is the sole support of his widowed mother (Lina Sastri). But coaxing a contract out of slippery music manager Raffaele Nigro (Ernesto Mahieux) is proving difficult. Faustino plays for a hodgepodge outfit led by alcoholic Mimmo Falasco (Toni Servillo); but suddenly the summer tour comes to an end at Roccamorfina... When faded ’60s bandleader Augusto Riverberi (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) comes to town, Raffaele makes Faustino the maestro’s personal assistant. A little hustling by Raffaele gets Riverberi & Co. a decent gig, so they hire an amateur crooner renamed Jerry Como (Peppe Servillo) and the local beautician Annamaria (Valeria Golino). But Raffaele absconds with the box office, Riverberi returns to Milan, and Faustino is without a contract once more...

Fabrizio Bentivoglio
His first approach to the movies world began in 1979. In 1986 his career took off when Gabriele Salvatores directed him inMarrakech Express. As an actor he worked with directors like Michele Placido, the Taviani brothers, Marco Bellocchio, Gabriele Muccino and Antonio Capuano. He received many prizes such as: the Golden Sacher, the Golden Ciak and the David di Donatello Award. As a director, Don’t Waste Your Time, Johnny! is his first feature film.