Daddycon Dakota Johnson e Sean Pennwhich premiered at the Telluride and Toronto festivals in the fall of 2023 and at Tribeca in April of this year, opens in US theaters on June 28but it is not yet distributed in Italy.
This is a low-budget independent film by a first-time writer and director. Christy Hallproduced by Tea Time PicturesDakota Johnson’s production company.
A blonde and elegant woman lands at night at JFK airport in New York and gets into a taxi to get to Manhattan where he lives, begins a conversation with the taxi driver sixty-year-old and talkative, who explains to her that, from his personal experience as a husband who has often cheated on both wives, a man only seeks sex from a young lover, not love. Despite being over thirty years old, Girliethe character played by Johnson, has a name that means “little girl”, given the naivety he demonstrates in believing that the sexual passion of the lover who sends her naughty messages on her cell phone is love, even though it should be clear to her that the man has no intention of leaving his wife and children. She thinks she has found in him a father figureand dad (o daddy-oa variation of “dad” and “daddy” (the name most American children use for their father), as he is the father of three young children. He slowly realizes that this relationship fulfills his the emotional void created in her by her father’s indifference when she was a child. At the end of the race, delayed by a car accident, these two very different types became friends and they discovered many hidden truths about themselves.
Director Hall writes in the production notes: «Girlie is a modern and independent womanaccomplished and aware, but is surprised to discover that beneath the surface he still has a childish fragility. Clark is a A vulgar and outspoken type, he belongs to a generation in which men could not demonstrate their feelings, but he reveals a hidden tenderness. We all want to be understood, but we are terrified of it fear of revealing ourselves vulnerable. During this conversation a deeply human relationship is created between two strangers».
The director and the protagonists participated in a conversation after a screening of Daddy at the offices of Hollywood powerhouse CAA, Creative Artist Agency, on June 14.
Dakota Johnson (34 years old) confessed that it was difficult to find financing for this film which takes place entirely inside a taxi, but Sean Penn’s participation helped a lot. She personally gave him the script, since they are friends and neighbors in Malibu: «Precisely because we know each other and love each other, it seemed to me that it would be possible for us to create this type of tension between two strangerswithout any awkward or weird moments. I wouldn’t have wondered, ‘Does Sean think I’m a terrible actress because he doesn’t look at me in the rearview mirror?’ I was comfortable in the act a little bit like a b*tch at timesbecause we were in this intimate space of the taxi where I feel safe in the back seat. Sean in turn felt protected because the film was produced, written and directed by women».
Sean Penn (63 years old) admitted that he hasn’t found scripts that interest him in years, but working with these two women appealed to him. He was also able to allude to some of his personal experiences through the words of the character of the taxi driver Clark: «At certain moments in my career I felt I was in what athletes call the zone, with stories and directors that I connected with, but for a long time I’ve been out of that zone, I don’t like anything or at least I don’t like it. I can’t find any projects to which I think I can add anything of value. When Dakota showed up at my door with this script, since we are friends and I admire her, I got carried away by the zone she is navigating with the many interesting films that He’s doing. After reading only ten pages I knew what it was about a gift that doesn’t often happen to an actor over sixty like me. It was very well written, so I feel lucky.”.
When asked if he had ever had an in-depth conversation with a taxi driver, Penn responded: «Yes, I once met a taxi driver who had immigrated to the United States from a country that is much talked about these days (perhaps Iran), and given the history of relations between our two countries of such different cultures, we were able to talk about it quite in depth. In that case I wanted to be involved, let my defenses down and express my opinions».
Hall said: «I wrote Daddio like a theatrical comedythinking that it would be presented live on stage, since I had no contacts in the world of Hollywood, but I had always conceived it for the cinema, because there are many films of this type in the history of cinema, with only two people in one room who calmly talk about their problems. Just think of Rear Window (1954) by Alfred Hitchcock with James Stewart and Grace Kelly. So I’m very grateful that you can see it tonight on this big screen.”
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