The First Day of My Life (Italian: Il primo giorno della mia vita) is a 2023 Italian comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Paolo Genovese. It is based on his homonymous 2018 book.
The movie tells the story of four people with different life experiences who all fall into a low point in their lives and decide to commit suicide. And at this moment, a mysterious person appeared and told them: in the next week, they will have the opportunity to be reborn, and the story of how their lives will change after being reborn.
Contents
Plot
In Rome in January 2021, four people are committing suicide:
Adriadne, a police officer, whose 16-year-old daughter died from a sudden illness;
Daniele, a bullied child with diabetes, who intentionally eats 48 doughnuts without taking any insulin;
Emilia, an Olympic gymnast, who became a paraplegic. She is going to commit suicide by falling from a hotel roof; and
Napoléon, a motivator, and is married. He is suffering from depression.
On a rainy night, they all find themselves together as "guests" of a mysterious individual who rescued them just moments before each of them was about to make the final decision of their life. Each is asked for a wish.
At the end of the week, all are asked: to continue their plight, or to live.
Cast
Toni Servillo as the man
Valerio Mastandrea as Napoléon
Margherita Buy as Arianna
Sara Serraiocco as Emilia
Gabriele Cristini as Daniele
Vittoria Puccini as the woman
Lino Guanciale as Tommaso
Elena Lietti as Greta
Thomas Trabacchi as Zeno
Lidia Vitale as Daniele's mother
Antonio Gerardi as Daniele's father
Giorgio Tirabassi as Max
Davide Combusti (it) as Nicolas
Alessandro Tiberi (it) as the nurse.
Production
On 9 November 2019, it was announced that Hollywood Gang, Leone Film Group and Lotus Productions will co-produce the Genovese's The First Day Of My Life from a screenplay by Kirk Jones, Marco Belardi, Andrea Leone and Raffaella Leone. Principal photography began on 18 January 2021 and was scheduled to conclude on 19 March 2021 in Rome, Italy.