“Hey Joe,” the new film with James Franco shot in Naples Written and directed by Claudio Giovannesi, the work is based on real events reimagined for the big screen

Opens Thursday April 9th

Trailer: https://youtu.be/XJUhKIHLbr4?si=010MsNQ7T-C7TYri

There are casting choices that serve to amplify the message a film wants to convey. Casting James Franco to play a World War II veteran who, in the 1970s, returns to Naples, a city he knew during peacetime in Hey Joe—where he impregnated a young woman before sailing back to the Americas—helps underline the past of a flawed man, seeking a connection to make up for his shortcomings. Claudio Giovannesi, whose previous film La paranza dei bambini Franco appreciated, and knowing of the actor’s admiration for his Silver Bear-winning screenplay in 2019, called him to take on a period film, co-written with collaborator Maurizio Braucci. An updated version of Roberto Rossellini’s *Paisà*, its title acts as a reversed homage, referring to the locals who would call any American soldier simply “Joe.” The setting shifts between post-war memories and the criminal underworld of the narrow alleys in an open-air labyrinth, where the protagonist’s return resurfaces memories as he searches through the streets for the son he has never met.

Showtimes:

4/9 – 7:00pm

4/11 – 5:00pm

4/16 – 7:00pm

4/17 – 7:00pm

4/18 – 4:00pm