La Carica delle patate

La carica delle patate is a movie from 1979 directed by Walter Santesso. It’s the story of two juvenile gangs that “operate” in the Venice lagoon, “I Leoni di San Marco” (San Marco Lions) and the “Sparvieri della laguna” (The Lagoon Vultures), always clashing for supremacy of the territory. One day, a kitten belonging to Anna, one of the Leoni girls, is kidnapped. The search leads to a circus run by a group of evil men, and soon the two gangs realize that the danger they face is real and join together to fight the evil circus in a potato war.

A movie for boys (as written on the poster) of all ages, full of emotion and character, sees another film music giant at work on the soundtrack: Francesco de Masi. The score features melodies both melancholic and comedic, realized through a symphonic orchestra, that were a pleasant rediscovery for us when the original ¼ inch master tapes were transferred in Beat Records’ studios. More than once we popped up in the recording studio in which our sound engineer, Enrico De Gemini, was working on the music, amazed by the quality of this score composed for a movie with such a light, funny plot.

Collaboration with the harmonica player Franco De Gemini and with the choir Coro di voci bianche dell’Arcum diretto da Paolo Lucci added a precious contribution to the quality of the soundtrack, finally available in its definitive version and for the first time on CD which comes in a jewel case featuring a 12-page booklet designed by Alessio Iannuzzi, liner notes by Filippo de Masi and mastering by Enrico De Gemini.