CORE AETERNO

SYNOPSIS

In the “Eternal City” a diverse group of athletes are resurrecting an ancient brutal game that blends the competitiveness of combat with the collective spirit of team sports. The protagonists play for the “Centuria” training every week and preparing for official matches in a national championship currently composed of 4 teams. The quest for a sense of common belonging – the ghost of Rome – becomes the impulse to share punches and hugs, responsibilities and recklessness, joys and fears, an experience that transforms the playing field, often a place of fear, into a paradoxical comfort zone.

An immersion in the sinister environment of “Harpastum”, a kind of team combat sport that comes from Ancient Rome. Harpastum (from the Latinized Greek “to snatch”) was a sport practiced by the ancient Romans involving two teams attempting to throw a leather ball into the opponent’s area. The game was particularly popular among the legionaries and served as a form of recreation during times of war, helping them to stay fit and maintain a sense of unity. Harpastum was also a dangerous game because it involved a large amount of physical contact between players, to the extent that some considered it too brutal. Nevertheless, it continued to be practiced over the centuries, eventually evolving into primitive forms of sports like rugby and soccer (football).

Core Aeterno unveils the dark soul of a fascinating and decadent city, made of late-night taxi rides, Tiber divers, gloomy suburbs and picture postcard images in an immense story from which everyone can steal a fragment to tattoo on themselves. There is not only the sport with its ferocity but also the life of the players: aware of being “beautifully crazy,” they speak candidly about the creation of a cult that leads them from the everyday life to the extreme practice on the field. The green rectangle is where elegance and brutality, fear and blind love alternate as the awaited match for Rome’s birthday is approaching. While it might appear as a showcase of violence among brutes, this arena operates under strict regulations and a natural selection that requires unwavering courage and willpower to fight side by side. Picture boxers, footballers, MMA fighters, wrestlers, rugby and basketball players, all united with the aim of winning, “winning for Rome!”.

Or at least managing to finish the game.

“Violence has always been the most thrilling spectacle throughout history. If a fight breaks out outside your house, you lean out the window and watch.”

“Rome is not the marble of the Senate, but the sand of the Colosseum.”

“When you step onto the field, you know what’s coming. But as a taxi driver, I never know what might happen next.”