Italian movie “The Happiness Theorem” premieres in Montreal this week

An Italian movie premiering in Montreal this week is all about family, altruism and the road to happiness.

“The Happiness Theorem” is a movie by Italian director and producer Luca Fortino starring Canadian actress and producer Marie-Ange Barbancourt.

It premieres in Montreal Wednesday.

The screenplay is set during the first COVID lockdown in Italy, as scientists around the world work to fight the virus.

The movie is set in Sicily, where a child discovers the secret to truly help the elderly in his neighbourhood.

“It’s a story about a grandfather very close to his grandson that cannot see because of a conflict with his son,” said Fortino. “So family is what the movie focuses throughout. It’s all development.

“Helping people rediscover the road to happiness. Even in difficult times it’s possible to be happy.”

It’s a message that touches everybody, says Barbancourt. She plays Yvonne, a Canadian tourist travelling to Italy to escape a state of deep depression caused by the traumatic loss of her husband and child.

“I think this film is going to be very important for everyone because this is a fable about happiness,” she said.

Fortino credits an incredible cast that was able to bring this story to life.

“It was an immediate chemistry,” he said. “The actors were amazing at materializing the characters that I imagined in my mind to the point that people who were observing from afar were captured by those emotions.”

Barbancourt couldn’t agree more.

“I’m on the set with Andrea Tidona, Anna Attaademo and the kid, Antonio Cadili, an incredible actor,” she said. “This is the first time he is on the screen. I don’t believe it.”