Il Guardiano Del Ghiaccio or The Guardian of the Ice, is nothing short of a roller coaster through the experience of an intuitive schizophrenic woman, Cloris and the star–searching genius, Claus, who loves her. Set mostly in an abandoned hostel turned into a modest science lab on a snowy mountain in Italy, we at surface watch as Claus relentlessly and negligently mix astronomy with neurology in search of a cure for his beloved. Director Salvatore Metastasio gives us an enchanted and dangerous love story while exploring the balance of rationality and creativity in humans’ cerebral pursuit of intellectual curiosities. What is love? What is freedom? What does it mean to be evil? Sit and enjoy this imaginative and dark film as you will be left with Salvatore’s answers and a better idea of your own.
See the US Premiere of the feature film ‘The Guardian of the Ice‘ on March 1, 2018 @7:45pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 7th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Winter Film Awards’ Keiona Williamson recently spoke with the director.
The Guardian of the Ice was a thrilling tale of a mad genius scientist. Have you had experiences with mental disorders or been affected by it? Can brilliance drive you insane?
I believe that the maximum expression of schizophrenia was that of the actress, and co-writer of the film, Giulia Morgani. She was my guinea pig, whom I loved and esteemed and then reproduced in the film. As you have noticed the main characters are two, Claus and Cloris, or Giulia and I. I believe humans possess a conflict between creativity and rationality, it’s innate. This, in my opinion, is the greatest cause of intellectual bipolarity. It is clear to me there are brain-like chemical that influence the progression of a disease. “The madman is not the one who lives in an asylum but all those who make him a prisoner,” once said a well-known scientist. I agree because the human mind is by nature changeable and always in conflict. “There is no evil but only a wrong conception of good”.
What role do you think astronomy, most particularly “the stars” play in our lives? Are you a believer in astrology?
I believe in the infinite horizons of the universe and the multiple energy levels. I believe in energy and there is no known element that exceeds the energy quantity of a star. Obviously I exclude the human mind because one thought exceeds the speed of a photon . How can one not take into account how the roof of our house is made? The stars are the most beautiful shelter that existence offers us. The creative part of my mind cannot exist without the vision of the firmament, the influence it has on my imagination is inevitable. Perhaps it’s this process that precludes me to create anything.
Cloris had a wisdom to her observations. Are you saying something about the ones society deems “crazy”?
Cloris is romance. A love frozen by the decadent Claus. We could not not use the literary evolution between the two genres. Giulia and I have studied a lot the social and literary phenomenon that the industrialization of nineteenth-century society has brought to the human race. We met him [Claus] in the phrenology, the most striking and significant aspect of the transition between Romanticism and Decadentism. For this reason, Cloris seems to be the tip of an iceberg. It is through her that we understand the emotionality and the essence of an individual capable of loving but at the same a prisoner of the ice. The greatest human conflict, is not being free to love.
What do you want people to take away from this film?
The original idea was to communicate the importance of not always falling into the same mistake. Then, while creating the film I realized I had to accompany the audience in a live and breathless journey of the human mind. I wanted it to feel as if we were on a rollercoaster inside a dark labyrinth and then understand, it was just a film. In the case I had succeeded, I would have penetrated the last veins of the spirit of those who have dedicated their time to me.
Can you tell me more about your journey into filmmaking? Where and when did the passion start and what type of stories are you compelled to tell?
The passion for cinema comes from the possibility it offers in materializing the visions of my ideas.It all started when I was a child and during Christmas I enjoyed creating cribs, inventing stories, and setting up environments, lighting them up and giving life to my Christmas. Growing up the technology came to me when a friend of my father intrigued me because he had a camera, the classic machine for filming family moments. When we were eleven years old my friend Gianluigi, who acted as the main character, and I made my first short film, a country Horror. Three years later I had to choose which school to attend and by pure chance I rode passed an Italian state-run cinema school based in Rome, the Roberto Rossellini cine-tv. In 2006 I realized I can make a real film, with actual actors and at that point made the film ONE SHOT IN THE AGRI. I burned all my fears and I started to produce and shoot films as a director. Since that film I have not stopped. I have, in my work, 8 feature films 4 short films and many collaborations as a producer, editor and director of photography.
I found Salvatore thoughtful and intriguing. As mentioned, Metastasio is from the South of Italy which created a small language barrier. I have edited the interview, minimally, for the benefit of english readers.
Keiona Williamson
Keiona Williamson is a Sacramento native enjoying life in the big apple. A lover of film and literature she is currently working on her first novel and hopes to turn it into a limited series television show. A voice of her generation she hopes through her work she can create understanding and love amongst all people.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 7th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 22-March 3 2018. Check out our jam-packed lineup of 93 fantastic films in all genres from 31 countries, including Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
