“My task is to accompany the inner feeling of a character.” The music of Carlo Virzì for the cinema of his brother Paolo.
Director–composer partnerships have always shaped the identity of Italian cinema, and the collaboration between Paolo Virzì and his brother Carlo, both hailing from Tuscany and born in 1964 and 1972 respectively, is no exception. From their early work on Ovosodo to their latest effort Cinque secondi (CAM Sugar), their creative language has continually evolved, giving rise to truly memorable film scores. We spoke with Carlo Virzì about it.
With Cinque secondi – in cinemas from October 30 – Paolo Virzì returns to portraying human frailty, imperfection, and the tenderness that hides behind failure, with a prominent cast starring Valerio Mastandrea, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Galatea Bellugi and Ilaria Spada. These are the themes that have always run through his filmography, from Ovosodo to The First Beautiful Thing, from Human Capital to Like Crazy. This time, however, his gaze feels more intimate, almost suspended in time, as if the Tuscan filmmaker wished to pause and look within himself. The film, poised between melancholy and irony, becomes a reflection on fatherhood and remorse, and on the fragile possibility of reconciling with oneself and with what has been lost.
By his side once again is Carlo Virzì, his brother and creative partner for three decades. Theirs is one of the longest-standing and most cohesive collaborations in Italian cinema – a constant dialogue between image and sound that renews itself with every project. Like other legendary creative duos in Italian film – from Fellini and Rota to Sordi and Piccioni – the Virzì brothers have forged a shared language, one that gives their stories a distinctly musical and deeply human resonance.
In Carlo Virzì’s artistic journey, music has always been a form of storytelling, perspective, and emotion. From his beginnings with the band Snaporaz, when pop and rock tones fuelled the vitality of his brother’s early films, to the more intimate and reflective scores of recent years, his evolution has mirrored Paolo’s own. In Cinque secondi, these two sides of his musical identity coexist: the melodic lightness of folk and Beatles-inspired ballads meets the emotional depth of suspended, time-marking compositions that give voice to the characters’ silence. Here, music – like the film itself – becomes memory, nostalgia, and the possibility of renewal.
We spoke with Carlo Virzì about the creation of the Cinque secondi soundtrack, released by CAM Sugar, and about his enduring relationship with music for the screen.
CAM Sugar Journal: Cinque secondi explores a complex theme – one that feels particularly resonant today – the experience of separation and the resulting relationship between parents and children. How does such a multifaceted emotion translate into music? Which instruments did you turn to?
Carlo Virzì: The aim was to evoke a sense of longing – something deeply emotional but not despairing, with a touch of sweetness. I mainly used wind instruments: the transverse flute, clarinet, and an old Native American fife, all played by Maestro Alessandro Papotto, who has patiently accompanied me for over twenty years. The musical themes are like sighs – that was the guiding image.
CSJ: Cinque secondi has a strongly symbolic title: time, the moment, irreversibility. Did you try to capture that idea through the music?
CV: Since I was involved in the film’s writing phase, some ideas emerged even before we saw the footage. One thing Paolo and I often talked about was the importance of incorporating – alongside the sense of suspension – a minimal, deep rhythmic texture, something that could suggest both a heartbeat and the ticking of time.
Adriano Sereni (Valerio Mastandrea), original drawing by Paolo Virzì, 2025.
CSJ: In your experience, how much should music reflect and interpret a character’s psychology, and how much should it remain independent, creating its own poetic space?
CV: My task is to accompany the inner feeling of a character. In this case, the protagonist – especially in the first part of the story – is immersed in his own silence and in the sounds of his surroundings: the countryside, the passing seasons. It’s within this natural soundscape that the noise of that lively, chaotic group of youngsters stands out; and that’s where we focused our work, creating for them a repertoire of songs, ditties, and orchestrated shouts – drunken chants, Beatles-inspired or folk ballads. This forms the sound fabric of the film’s first half. Then, as the story gradually takes shape, the music helps us delve into the characters’ inner lives.
CSJ: Your collaboration with Paolo is one of the most enduring creative partnerships in contemporary Italian cinema. Do you think this artistic dialogue would be different without the fraternal bond that underlies it?
CV: It all happens naturally. It always has, ever since the days we shared a bedroom.
Giuliana (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), original drawing by Paolo Virzì, 2025.
CSJ: Your musical career began in rock, as a member of Snaporaz, with whom you also composed your first film scores: Ovosodo and Baci e abbracci, works that are now considered cult classics. The 1990s were indeed a formative period for alternative rock in Italy, and at the same time for a new wave of Italian cinema taking shape. How has your musical language evolved over time, both in your personal listening and in your approach to film composition?
CV: That’s true. The 1990s were a laboratory for both cinema and music. After the on-the-road experience with Snaporaz, which was a very collective process, I fell in love with this new, more solitary, more intimate dimension, constantly searching for sounds. But in this film, I once again had the opportunity to write songs and have them performed by the group of youngsters – much like we used to do back then.
CSJ: Among the recognitions of your career, in 2011 you received the Ennio Morricone Award for your work on The First Beautiful Thing. Regarding the Maestro, have there been inspirations from the world of cinema and his music that influenced your artistic path?
CV: I never even tried to imitate the Maestro, basically because I’m ignorant in comparison, and his music comes from a profoundly monstrous technique, a sensibility and ability more rooted in Contemporary Classical Music than in the craft of film scoring. Once, I found myself whistling to double a theme, and for a moment I naively thought: “Morricone-style,” but it was just a tiny thing, a little crumb. I’ve had the honour, however, of using in the past some of the instruments he personally played at Studio Forum, in particular a celesta and an old upright piano.
CSJ: Which soundtracks today serve as a creative compass for you?
CV: I’m very struck by the soundtracks of certain TV series. I think they are currently the most interesting territory. I hope I get the chance to work in that context.
The young idealistic students, original drawing by Paolo Virzì, 2025.
