Human Capital (2013 film)


Human Capital is a 2013 Italian thriller film directed by Paolo Virzì. The film is based on the American novel Human Capital by Stephen Amidon. For her performance in the film, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi was awarded Best Actress at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. It was selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated.

Plot summary

The film is set in a town in Brianza and in Milan. On Christmas Eve, a waiter cycling home from working at a prestigious private school gala is hit by a car. The driver flees, leaving the waiter lying in the street badly injured. The waiter is hospitalized and close to death. The next day, two well-known families' lives are connected by the incident.

Filming locations

Even though the story is set in a town in Brianza, most of the urban scenes were filmed in February 2013 in the cities of Varese. Principal photography began on 18 February 2013 and lasted eight weeks. and Como, in the countryside of Osnago in the Province of Lecco and in Arese for the villa with the swimming pool. The beautiful villa of the Bernaschi Family is located in Fortunago, a medieval village in the Province of Pavia.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

Human Capital holds an 81% rating and a weighted average of 6.8/10 on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 reviews, with the consensus being, "Part character study, part socioeconomic fable, Human Capital offers trenchant commentary as well as absorbing drama." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 19 critics.