Massimo Marcovaldo is a supporting character in Luca. He is the father of Giulia and a new friend of Luca Paguro and Alberto Scorfano.
Background[]
Official Description[]
- Massimo Marcovaldo, Giulia's dad, is an imposing, tattooed, one-armed fisherman of few words, killing anything that swims. Luca and Alberto can't help but be intimidated by his formidable size and skill with a knife, but Massimo has a soft heart, especially for his daughter.[1]
Personality[]
Despite appearing as a cold, threatening man, Massimo is actually sweet, caring, and a hardworking father who happens to hunt sea monsters as a passion, as he is concerned about his daughter repeating the race due to her getting humiliated and sad last year. There are of course moments where he can be menacing and serious, especially when it comes to his fisherman job, which leads him to be one of the most respected and the most feared in the town. He is definitely affectionate towards others, especially Alberto, having him take him out on fishing trips and even repeat his actions of eating pasta with his bare hands.
Massimo also is shown to have a sense of humor where he once told Alberto that a sea monster ate his arm before he revealed he was joking and that he was actually born with one arm.
Physical appearance[]
Massimo is a bulky adult Italian man with tan skin, short brown hair, bushy eyebrows that cover his eyes, and a short mustache that covers his mouth. He was born without his right arm. He wears a light yellow short-sleeved sweater and brown pants.
Role in the film[]
Massimo is first seen preparing dinner as his daughter Giulia brings in her two friends for dinner to which as Giulia receives an article from her father, she shows the two of an article of a sea monster sighting at Isola del Mare to which Giulia believes that this article is fake. However, Massimo denies just before getting the dinner ready. He then serves the trenette al pesto dish to the four and as the two begin eating the pasta he served them, he asks to know what brings them to Portorosso, to which Giulia explains that Luca and Alberto are there for the Portorosso Cup. After dinner, Massimo discusses with his daughter about participating in the race, explaining to her that he doesn't want her to lose the race because she would always get upset upon losing as well as explaining to her that participating during the Cup is not free and participators must pay to participate in this event. When Massimo explains that he needs to catch more fish for his net, Luca plans to help Massimo catch fish so that he can make money for Giulia to participate during the Cup.
The next day, Massimo tells Giulia to make deliveries to the townspeople while telling Luca and Alberto to catch fish for him. As they arrive at the ocean, Massimo greets Tommaso who tells him to keep an eye out for any sea monsters around as he arrives with his harpoon to protect himself from sea monsters. During a plan to catch fish, Massimo explains that he didn't catch enough fish for the day to which Alberto explains to him that the spot they are at is where most fish will be at the exact spot. Having caught enough fish for him, Giulia thanks her father for the task just before Luca and Alberto approach an ad promoting the Portorosso Cup. That night after a tough training, Massimo offers Alberto to help him with the fishing nets so that he can do the task for him.
During a training montage, Massimo helps Alberto catch more fish to help make more money for the Cup and later teaches Albert how to eat pasta properly. Later after Alberto is forced to return back to the ocean after revealing that he is a sea monster, Luca and Giulia return to Massimo's kitchen (this time without Alberto) to which Luca decides to keep Alberto's identity private so that no one could notice him in sea monster form just before he and Machiavelli leave. Giulia later explains to Luca (who reveals part of his sea monster form) about the dangers of Portorosso, explaining to him that her father hunts sea monsters, telling him to get out of the town before the townspeople notice him to which Luca discusses that his parents are going to send him to Uncle Ugo at the deepest part of the ocean where no humans could detect him, believing that he would feel miserable just before he leaves and sits at the beach.
The next day during the Portorosso Cup, Massimo cheers on for his daughter while his pet cat Machiavelli holds a banner for him. Later, Massimo notices the rain arriving at Portorosso alongside the other townspeople during the bike competition. After Luca, Alberto, and Giulia arrive at the finish line, Massimo notices that Luca and Alberto are both sea monsters as he grabs a harpoon to kill them as Giulia gets protected by the two to get to the finish line. Giulia arrives to her father who notices that Luca and Alberto are not harming her. Suddenly, an angry mob surrounds the sea monsters as fishermen are equipped with harpoons and nets to kill the sea monsters. After noticing Ercole confronting Giulia, urging her to stop the madness just as she argues with Ercole, Massimo then realizes that Luca and Alberto won the race without harming his daughter. Massimo later arrives and realizes that the sea monsters won the race without harming his daughter, explaining to the crowd that they won the cup. Massimo explains to Signora Marsigliese to know if Luca and Alberto are the winners to which she explains they legally are the winners, much to Ercole's disgust. Massimo faces the fishermen to leave now because Luca and Alberto are not harming Giulia, to which they accept and walk away. Later that night, Massimo serves Luca's parents the pasta he makes with sea monsters being accepted to Portorosso.
As Giulia gets ready for school, Massimo makes sure to know if his daughter has her lunch ready as well as the sweater when it gets cold to which she tells that she does just before Giulia leaves for the train leading to Genova, alongside Luca and Alberto.
Trivia[]
- Massimo's mustache looks identical to the muzzle on Machiavelli.
- This could be a possible reference to Enrico Casarosa's short film La Luna, where Bambino compared Papà and Nonno's preferred tool to their facial hair.
- Massimo is the only character in the film to have a missing limb.
- While nothing really calls attention to it at any point in the movie, he and Giulia's mother must be divorced, especially since they live in different cities (though he and his ex-wife must also have joint custody of their daughter).
- In early adaptions of the films, there was a scene called Seamonster Cannery, where they canned 100% Prime Sea Monsters and sold them as cat food. Massimo's daughter Giulia takes out a water gun and sprays Luca Paguro with it and then Massimo stakes him into boiling out oil that turns the Sea monsters into canned versions.[2]
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