Portrait of the Neapolitans' compulsive gambling, which is firmly rooted in tradition, and where every event and object has a direct connection with a number.
In subdued black-and-white, the Neapolitans' compulsive gambling and firm belief in it is mapped out in this film by Milan-born Anna Bucchetti. She took her camera and moved in with the two sisters Maria and Angela, who run a century-old lottery office in the centre of Naples. Their customers, like every Neapolitan, do not choose the numbers that should bring them luck lightly: in Naples, events and objects always have a direct connection with a number. When a daughter dreams her father stepped into a bucket of water, the next day she goes and buys the numbers 53 (foot), 4 (bucket) and 39 (water). The numbers are from the Book of Numbers. The older the book the better, because the Neapolitan superstition is ingrained. In personal interviews and atmospheric images, Bucchetti captured many examples and stories, from the lottery players to a transsexual who organises bingo nights three days a week to a widow who - vainly - keeps on playing with her deceased children's birth data.
Credits
Director
Producer
Scenario
Camera
Set geluid
Sound Design
Montage
Muziek
Production company
Armadillo Film
TV company
NTR
Distributor NL
Cinema Delicatessen
Gouden Kalf nominees
Beste Lange Documentaire (2006)
Anna Bucchetti
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