The American Backyard

{{Infobox film

| name = The American Backyard

| native_name = {{Infobox name module|it|L'orto americano}}

| image = L'orto americano.png

| caption = Italian festival poster

| director = Pupi Avati

| screenplay = Pupi Avati

| producer = {{Plainlist|

{{ill|Antonio Avati|it}}
{{ill|Gianluca Curti|it}}
Santo Versace

}}

| based_on = {{Based on|The American Backyard|Pupi Avati}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

Filippo Scotti
Rita Tushingham
Armando De Ceccon
Roberto De Francesco
Chiara Caselli
Romano Reggiani
Morena Gentile

}}

| cinematography = Cesare Bastelli

| editing = Ivan Zuccon

| music =

| production_companies = {{Plainlist|

DueA Film
Minerva Pictures
Rai Cinema

}}

| distributor = 01 Distribution

| released = {{Film date|2024|9|7|Venice|df=yes}}

| runtime = 107 minutes

| country = Italy

| language = Italian

}}

The American Backyard ({{langx|it|L'orto americano}}) is a 2024 Italian gothic horror film written and directed by Pupi Avati, based on his 2023 novel of the same name. It premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2024 as the festival's closing film.

Premise

In 1940s Bologna, a troubled young man falls in love with an American nurse, Barbara. The following year, he travels to the American Midwest and settles next door to Barbara's mother, who hasn't heard from her daughter since the end of the war, leading the man to embark on a tense search for her.

Cast

Filippo Scotti as the young writer
Rita Tushingham as Flora, Barbara's mother
Armando De Ceccon as Glauco Zagotto
{{ill|Roberto De Francesco|it}} as Emilio Zagotto
Chiara Caselli as Doris
{{ill|Romano Reggiani|it}} as the public prosecutor
Morena Gentile as Arianna
Massimo Bonetti as the presiding judge
Mildred Gustafsson as Barbara
Robert Madison as Major Capland
{{ill|Nicola Nocella|it}} as a nurse
Patrizio Pelizzi as the assizes court judge
Cesare Cremonini as Ugo Oste
Andrea Roncato as the marshal
Claudio Botosso as the legal expert
Alessia Fabiani as the innkeeper

Production

Regarding the macabre crimes in his film, Avati stated, "I didn't invent anything. These are stories that happened from the Monster of Florence to now. It's the least inventive and most realistic part. I'm more interested in the psychological and psychiatric part. Mine is a story of enormous and extreme loneliness. The protagonist is the loneliest man there is."{{cite web |last1=Lucchini |first1=Giulia |title=Pupi Avati, "Torno al gotico per parlare con i morti" |url=https://www.cinematografo.it/riflettori/pupi-avati-torno-al-gotico-per-parlare-con-i-morti-syj9nihk |website=Cinematografo.it |access-date=7 September 2024 |language=it |date=7 September 2024}} Principal photography took place in Rome, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Forlì, as well as Davenport, Iowa, in the United States.{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Linda |title=Avatis' film, with parts shot in Davenport, to close Venice Film Festival |url=https://www.ourquadcities.com/news/local-news/avatis-film-with-parts-shot-in-davenport-to-close-venice-film-festival/ |website=WHBF-TV |access-date=15 August 2024 |date=27 July 2024}} Filming began in December 2023 and continued into 2024.{{cite web |last1=Santacatterina |first1=Manuela |title=L'orto americano: intervista a Pupi Avati |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.it/film/film-italiani/pupi-avati-intervista-2023-l-orto-americano-trama-una-gita-scolastica-forza-italia-centro-sperimentale/71181/ |website=The Hollywood Reporter Roma |access-date=15 August 2024 |language=it |date=3 December 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Cau |first1=Marco |title=Pupi Avati torna al cinema con "L'orto americano", un film gotico tra amore e mistero |url=https://www.shmag.it/show/cinema/12_12_2023/pupi-avati-torna-al-cinema-con-lorto-americano-un-film-gotico-tra-amore-e-mistero/ |website=S&H Magazine |access-date=15 August 2024 |language=it |date=12 December 2023}}

Release

A teaser trailer was released on 26 August 2024. The film closed the 81st Venice International Film Festival on 7 September 2024.{{cite web |last1=Cappelli |first1=Valerio |title=Pupi Avati: «Torno a Venezia con un thriller gotico ed è la prima volta che giro un film in bianco e nero» |url=https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/cinema-serie-tv/24_agosto_04/pupi-avati-torno-a-venezia-con-un-thriller-gotico-ed-e-la-prima-volta-che-giro-un-film-in-bianco-e-nero-d034c865-81c0-42e6-87bb-4fced837fxlk.shtml |website=Corriere della Sera |access-date=15 August 2024 |language=it |date=4 August 2024}}{{cite web |last1=De Marco |first1=Camillo |title=Pupi Avati presents his new gothic horror film, L'orto americano |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/464792 |website=Cineuropa |access-date=15 August 2024 |date=25 July 2024}}

Reception

Davide Abbatescianni of Cineuropa called the film "a truly over-the-top noir gothic thriller, unsettling and ridiculous".{{cite web |last1=Abbatescianni |first1=Davide |title=Review: American Backyard |url=https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/466791/ |website=Cineuropa |access-date=9 September 2024 |date=9 September 2024}} Emanuele Di Nicola of Cinematografo.it gave the film three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it "an arcane and mysterious story, a tale of fear that is also a declaration of being".{{cite web |last1=Di Nicola |first1=Emanuele |title=L'orto americano |url=https://www.cinematografo.it/recensioni/lorto-americano-vajzre40 |website=Cinematografo.it |access-date=7 September 2024 |language=it |date=7 September 2024}} Alessia Pelonzi of Badtaste called the film "fascinating but unresolved".{{cite web |last1=Pelonzi |first1=Alessia |title=L'orto americano, la recensione: Avati omaggia Hitchcock e il gotico padano in un racconto affascinante ma irrisolto |url=https://www.badtaste.it/recensioni/l-orto-americano-recensione |website=Badtaste |access-date=7 September 2024 |language=it |date=7 September 2024}} Paola Casella of Mymovies.it gave the film two-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "Avati is, as always, very skilled at creating suspended atmospheres, even if here he risks disorientation."{{cite web |last1=Casella |first1=Paola |title=L'orto americano |url=https://www.mymovies.it/film/2024/lorto-americano/#recensione |website=Mymovies.it |access-date=9 September 2024 |language=it |date=8 September 2024}} On the other hand, A.S. Chianese of Nocturno gave the film four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote, "The American Backyard testifies to Avati's firm will to handle at all costs that refined film material that went to compose the American horror classics."{{cite web |last1=Chianese |first1=A.S. |title=L'orto americano |url=https://www.nocturno.it/movie/lorto-americano/ |website=Nocturno |access-date=16 March 2025 |language=it |date=8 September 2024}}