La Passione (1996 film)

Film

The film was released in five UK cities cinema from 16 May 1997. It is a tale of 10-year-old northern boy, the son of an Italian immigrant ice-cream making family, who develops a lifelong obsession with motor racing and especially with the real-life racer Wolfgang Von Trips, who was killed in his sharknose Ferrari 156 at the Monza Grand Prix in 1961.

The movie is partially inspired by Rea's childhood experience. Rea commented how "everyone's got a Von Trips in their life ... for some people it happened through football or movies - a day when a boy's empty, innocent mind suddenly has all kinds of new stuff blown into it".

Rea initially wanted to direct his own screenplay but Warner Vision, the film's distributors, did not let him and appointed John B Hobbs, a retired television director. The studio executives kept trying to turn his simple tale of childhood fantasy into something else, with which he felt disappointed. Rea commented that "there was a lot of hard work in making La Passione, and a lot of grief, because I had very set ideas about how I wanted it to be, and everyone else had a different idea ... I wanted none of it. My thing was about how fantasies occur, about passions, enjoying them".

Soundtrack

On the film soundtrack Shirley Bassey provides vocals on two tracks. The soundtrack was redone in recent years, and will be possibly re-released in 2015.

Track listing

All songs by Chris Rea.

1. "La Passione" (Film Theme) - 4:55
2. "Dov'è II Signore?" - 6:04 (Vocals Toby Draper) Recorded at The Mill Studios Cookham 23/11/93
3. "Shirley Do You Own a Ferrari?" (Vocals Chris Rea/Shirley Bassey) - 4:43
4. "Girl in a Sports Car" - 5:16
5. "When the Grey Skies Turn to Blue" - 3:43
6. "Horses" - 3:05
7. "Olive Oil" - 4:26
8. "Only to Fly" - 5:42
9. "You Must Follow" - 5:29
10. "'Disco' La Passione" (Vocals: Shirley Bassey) - 4:57
11. "Dov'è II Signore? Pt. 2" - 2:31(Vocals Toby Draper)
12. "Le Mans" - 3:59