“The manipulator plays with words and normalizes everything, until you doubt your perception.” During the Roman press conference, talking about the film La Lezione, Stefano Accorsi addresses the theme of psychological violence and stalking, a form of often invisible abuse that continues to mark the life of many women.
In the debate on gender violence we often talk about physical aggression, eclarant episodes that fill the news pages. More rarely, another form of abuse is faced with the same clarity: psychological. This is precisely the ground on which La Lezione moves, and on which Stefano Accorsi pauses reflecting on the role of manipulation in human relations.
According to the actor, the manipulator has a precise characteristic: the ability to alter the perception of the reality of the other person. “Play with words and normalizes all the time,” he explains. The result is a slow and progressive process in which the victim ends up doubting his feelings and his memory.
It is a subtle mechanism, often difficult to recognize. That is why it is extremely dangerous.
In the film Accorsi plays Professor Walder, an ambiguous man who constantly destabilizes the protagonist, played by Matilda De Angelis. History is not that of a sentimental relationship, the actor points out, but the theme remains the same: the way someone can creep into the mind of the other until they encrypt his perception of the world.
To join, understanding these dynamics is also fundamental to overcome one of the most popular common places: the idea that it is easy to recognize who manipulates.
“The manipulators are not so easily known,” he says.
Indeed, in affective relationships the problem can become even more complex. In love, in itself, changes the way we perceive reality. If you add to this a person able to insinuate doubts and distort facts, identifying the problem becomes very difficult. It is a particularly significant reflection on the day of the International Women’s Day, a precious occasion to talk about all forms of violence, even those less visible.
Accorsi addresses the theme with a certain personal sincerity. He tells that in the past he happened to be possessive and jealous and that, with time, he had to question these behaviors. A path of awareness built through relationships, friendships and the will to evolve.
“When you are in certain dynamics it is difficult to realize that something is wrong,” he admits.
In building the character of Walder, the actor wanted to avoid a too simplified representation of the manipulator. According to him, those who practice this kind of control often build a distorted narrative of reality even for themselves. “It does not play only with the perception of the other person,” he explains. “Somehow he also plays with his own”.
Behind this behaviour, it suggests Welcome, there are often deep fragility and the need to cover limits that you do not want to recognize. A complex mechanism that the film chooses to leave deliberately ambiguous, without offering explanations too net.
To prepare the role, documentation work was intense. The director Stefano Mordini shared with the cast books and materials on the theme of stalking, while the contemporary chronicle unfortunately continues to provide numerous real examples.
Accorsi tells that during the preparation they analyzed even the different types of stalkers and the recurring behaviors that emerge in these situations. But it was a real encounter that struck him more than any study. During the shooting of another film, a troupe woman told him she had a very heavy stalking. A story that deeply marked him. “When they tell you it seems almost unreal,” he says. “You realize that he is a person you see every day.” Among the things that struck him was a reflection of the woman: the power of the stalker was nourished by the fear of the victim. When that fear began to shrink, its presence also lost strength. “When he began to defuse fear, he began to exist less,” recalls Accorsi.
But understanding how to react in these situations remains extremely complex. Every gesture can become, paradoxically, a way to feed the obsession of the manipulator.
Precisely for this reason La Lezione also introduces an element of reaction and awareness. The protagonist takes a path that leads her to seek an objective truth, something that confirms that what she perceives is real. A passage that, according to Accorsi, gives strength to the character interpreted by Matilda De Angelis and which assumes a wider symbolic value: reaffirming the legitimacy of his perception.
In the end, he concludes the actor, telling these stories also means this: remembering that manipulation exists and that can infer in an imperceptible way in everyday life. And that recognizing it, even through cinema, can be the first step to break its power.
L’articolo Stefano Accorsi: “The manipulator makes you doubt and normalize everything” comes from IlNewyorkese.
