Inspiration from Parmigiano Reggiano DOP allowed Paolo Genovese to make a truly splendid film, ‘The Amigos,’ which even garnered criticism from the Grana Padano Consortium.
Food communication finds a new paradigm, current and artistic, without rhetoric. Behind the scenes, an interview with those who came up with the idea and coordinated the development of this major project.
THE AMIGOS. THE FILM.
‘The Amigos‘ (Italy, Akita Films, 2021)
‘Gli Amigos‘ is the 25-minute medium-length film presented on 9/14/21 by Paolo Genovese for Akita Films and the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano DOP. With the great Stefano Fresi, made famous by the comedy ‘Smetto quando voglio,’ young talents Niccolò Gentili, Barbara Venturato, Francesco Gaudiello, Elena Funari, Marianne Leoni. And award-winning chef Massimo Bottura.
A friendly cooking teacher accompanies a small group of students, in an old camper, to where the cheese to which a contest is dedicated is born. The gestures, looks and expressions of the children drive a shot that is therefore intense. Courtly images, lapped in the background, at times meet voices and silence. To dwell on the wonders of a supply chain that will lead them to the Refettorio Ambrosiano, the good and the good for all.
A vision not to be missed
The short film deserves to be watched carefully. The images of breeding, production and aging of cheeses on the large organic farm of Ciaolatte in Noceto (PR) express as much as can be imagined, but it is the vision through the eyes of the 25-30-year-old protagonists that makes the smells, flavors and freshness of the cheeses come alive.
‘Shape be with You‘ – a Reggio Emilia variant on the famous greeting of the Jedi knight from Star Wars – exemplifies the lighthearted levity, the great strength of the film. It is the emotions of the protagonists, realistic and recognizable by each in real life, that hold the thread. The uncertainties they touch on, between individual and social growth, work, feeling.
Beyond the commercial, the art
The commercial to the king of cheeses that many might expect, in reading its logo on the channel hosting ‘The Amigos,’ seems more like an occasion than the motif of cinematic art. As if it were just the first episode of a series that one would like to see continue, on Netflix or RaiPlay. What happens next, where do the kids go, how does the Ambrosian solidarity refectory work?
The art is still to suggest scents and flavors without describing or emphasizing them, in an essential aesthetic. As is then that of the prize winner. But ‘regardless of victory, the further you go, the more opportunity you will have,’ mentions Master Fresi as the modern-day Pierre de Coubertin. Without flattery, this film is beautiful and captivating, perhaps the best one has ever seen to tell a product. (1)
BEHIND THE SCENES STRATEGY
‘People will buy less and less what you do, but why you do it and howyou do it’ (Simon Sinek).
Carlo Mangini – marketing director at Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, after a long career at Noberasco – recalls Simon Sinek’s quote to share the path taken. ‘The work started in 2019, when we presented our Brand Manifesto and launched a first one-minute commercial.
‘Parmigiano Reggiano is the most imitated cheese in the world–but it is inimitable. Because ours is not just ‘a piece of cheese’ to sing the praises of, but the symbol of a unique set of values that characterize its identity.’
From commercial to film, the idea
”Only the cinematic narrative could encapsulate the contents of the vision and communication shared with the Consortium president,” Carlo Mangini continued. ‘Thus we started the collaboration with Cesare Casiraghi and Paolo Iabichino, and then plotted with Pietro Rovatti the project of the film. In October 2020 we submitted the brief to top Italian production houses and the feedback from Paolo Genovese, submitted to us by Akita, we understood that the road could be taken.
In mid-March, Paolo and his co-writers, Paolo Costella and Rolando Rovello, came for a two-day full-immersion in our wonderful area. To learn about the people, places, trades and great passions that enhance our product and our forage, milk and cheese production. The script was born there, among the phrases, gestures, stories, expressions and testimonies of the people of Parmigiano Reggiano.’
The cast and the Ambrosian Refectory
‘Back in April we shared the story and its protagonists. Thus began the auditions to select the 6 leads (the teacher and the five students). And the most difficult task, convincing Massimo Bottura-who had never taken up the invitations of the ‘TV show’-to become our great chef. So. himself.’
Massimo Bottura took the opportunity to present the refectory developed with Caritas in Milan, a symbol of excellent cuisine in the ‘quality of ideas and not just ingredients.’ Where tons of food waste is recovered to make tens of thousands of delicious, free meals for needy guests.
6 days of filming, 2 months of post-production
‘On May 31 the excitement of the first take,’ resumes Carlo Mangini, ‘And the start of the shooting. 6 unforgettable days, full of energy, participation, and inclusion from all the many people who contributed to the production of the film.
From Milan the camper departs for the lands of Emilia, the hills of Parma, the places where history took its cinematic form. And the jokes, from script turned script, were enriched with spontaneity and improvisations of the moment.
On Saturday, June 5, in the evening, the company broke up with a hint of melancholy and a great desire to see everyone again on September 14, for the press conference to present and launch the campaign. After the summer work of post-production, editing, soundtrack, and everything else made it possible to produce a medium-length film of about 25 minutes, from which to extract 6 episodes of the TV mini-series and the 6 spot-trailers that we launched in sequence from September 20 and will be broadcast in the coming months on TV and digital. Following are translations into the languages of all the countries where Parmigiano Reggiano is sold‘.
‘THE AMIGOS‘ AND THE STRAW TAILS
Milk from fresh forage and hay, preservative-free cheese
The Amigos
mentioned in the film are the ‘magical’ lactic acid bacteria – Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Paracasei and Lactobacillus Rhamonosus – that develop on forages. And feeding the cows fresh fodder and hay (instead of silage. See next paragraph) allows the three Amigos to move into the milk.
This very milk thus makes it possible to produce a cheese from raw, semi-hard cow’s milk, intended for long aging, without the need to employ preservatives. As indeed Parmigiano Reggiano DOP is, strictly ‘preservative-free,’ with quality parameters in further evolution thanks to the recent reform of its specification. (2)
Milk from silage, cheese with preservatives
On the other hand, feeding cows with silage-that is, fodder stored in silos (e.g., silomais) in an acidic environment where ‘good’ microorganisms (lactobacilli) as well as ‘undesirable’ ones (clostridia)-are fermented is allowed in the Grana Padano PDO supply chain specification. And many of its Manufacturers are therefore forced to add a preservative, lysozyme (3,4).
An average of 12 g of lysozyme is used in one form of Grana Padano, the extraction of which requires 60-100 eggs. (5) It all depends on how the cows are fed, as those fed pasture and hay produce milk with the ‘good bacteria’ (lactobacilli) and without the ‘pestiferous’ ones (clostridia). And in fact there are Mr. and Mrs. Grana who are themselves ‘preservative-free.’ (6)
Straw tails
The straw, or rather silage, tails seem to be vibrating somewhere at the Grana Padano Consortium. Who, via PEC 27.9.21, in fact notified the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium of an injunction to change a couple of passages in Paolo Genovese’s splendid film. Deducing that it would be a ‘comparison between two PDOs,’ even prohibited without, however, explaining under what standard. (7)
The affair has since receded immediately, indeed some doubt that the Board of the Grana Consortium could have approved such a reckless initiative, an understatement. Also taking into account that some of the largest contributors are members of both consortia. Rather, one would say that ‘the Amigos‘ has hit the mark, as have the policies and strategies of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO more generally.
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Instead, a cloying example of product placement was seen, for example, in Woody Allen’s film To Rome with Love. See author’s review in Food Fact https://ilfattoalimentare.it/woody-allen-to-rome-with-love-product-placement.html
(2) Dario Dongo, Silvia Giordanengo. Parmigiano Reggiano, new specifications for the king of raw milk cheeses. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 8.2.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/parmigiano-reggiano-nuovo-disciplinare-per-il-re-dei-formaggi-a-latte-crudo
(3) Dario Dongo. Grana Padano cheese and egg lysozyme, preservative needed? The Italic anomaly. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3.7.21, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/grana-padano-e-lisozima-da-uovo-conservante-necessario-lanomalia-italica/
(4) Moreover, lysozyme is not allowed in the TrentinGrana specification. Nor is it used in the production of excellence, such as the ‘Hay Selection’ of the Latteria San Pietro cooperative, a leader among other boasts in the production of organic Grana Padano. See footnote 6
(5) There is lysozyme and lysozyme. Milk. 8/28/14, https://www.lattenews.it/ce-lisozima-e-lisozima-2/
(6) Dario Dongo. Latteria San Pietro, Grana Padano ‘Hay Selection’ in a digital experience. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 11.6.20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/innovazione/latteria-san-pietro-il-grana-padano-selezione-da-fieno-in-un-esperienza-digitale
(7) Leonardo Grilli. A commercial divides The cheeses. Reggio Gazette. 30.9.21
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
