Body Odyssey is the debut feature film by Italian director Grazia Tricarico (b. 1986). The film tells a story of an elderly female bodybuilder, 45 year old Mona, portrayed by professional bodybuilder Jacqueline Fuchs, who has repeatedly secured a place among the top ten world-class bodybuilders. Fuchs, in real life, is seven years older than her character in the film. The movie also features British actor Julian Sands, who passed away in January 2023 at the age of 65. He went missing during a hike in the Mount Baldy area of California and was found dead several months later. Therefore, Body Odyssey stands as one of Sands's final film roles, and the director has dedicated the movie in his honour.
The film delves into the human body, the pursuit of beauty, and the obsession with the body. The entire life of a bodybuilder revolves around maintaining their body and its form. However, Mona still desires to become a mother, which her profession hasn't allowed so far. She admires other female bodybuilders who have embarked on this path. She also dreams of love, which has been scarce in her life, despite having admirers and not living in complete celibacy. Nevertheless, her relationships aren’t what Mona desires.
I spoke with director Grazia Tricarico about the film.

1. Why did you decide to make your first feature film in English?

The choice of English is tied to the film’s cinematic language. The screenwriters and I wanted to create an abstract, surreal world, a microcosm that is not geographically identifiable. This is not possible in an absolute sense, but resorting to English, as it’s an international language, provides a first level of decontextualization.
Moreover, there are different accents within the film, and actors of different ethnicities and backgrounds, because the conflict with one's own body concerns the entire human species. We narrate Mona’s fall into an abyss, and from the very beginning, she lives in a distorted, changed, artificial reality. The film’s locations are places of her mind, so even the way characters speak English sounds unusual or altered. The rhythm of the lines is often slow, and the acting never pursues naturalism.

2.Did you also write the screenplay in English? You had three screenwriters working on this film, how difficult was the creative collaboration? Who initiated the idea, and how did the working process unfold? How many drafts did you write before the final version? How important do you think it is to have a solid, well-detailed screenplay before starting shoots? At what stage did you begin writing the film? Did you have an idea first or did you encounter an inspirational event/person first?

When I was still attending the CSC – National Film School in Rome, I discovered female bodybuilding and made a short film about it, Mona Blonde: an exercise I saw as a study of the subject for a future film. A few years later, together with two other authors, Marco Morana and Giulio Rizzo, we developed my initial idea and brought the screenplay to life. The writing process was deeply engaging, both artistically and as a human experience. With them, discussing the many themes of our story was always an opportunity for growth.
We wrote in Italian, working on three or four screenplay drafts that were not too different from one another, in order to clarify the meaning and refine the dramaturgy. Then, together with two translators, we worked on the final draft in English. However, I believe the term final draft bears little meaning. I believe a film evolves, changes, and gets rewritten until the end of the production process as it confronts reality. The crucial thing is to remain true to its essence.

3. What led you to choose bodybuilding as the theme of your film? Do you have a personal connection or experience in that area? It seems you have studied it extensively; could you describe your exploration?

Unfortunately, I'm not inclined to physical activity. Before shooting the short film, for me the gym was an almost unknown, mysterious place. When I delved into the world of female bodybuilding, solely as a researcher, I met women who were incredibly confident, proud of their bodies, and entirely immune to the often scornful glances of others. This deeply struck me.
I began to understand how much they were willing to sacrifice and how much effort, especially on a psychological level, it took for them to achieve a specific aesthetic ideal. The ability to control their own body, the precise knowledge of every reaction it has: the relationship a bodybuilder has with her body is not just through physical exercise, diet, or anabolyzers. It's a deeper and more complex dialogue, and in this, I found genuine beauty.
After ten years of study I'm aware I don't have all the answers, but I hope I have asked the right questions to myself and through this story, I aim to share them with the audience.

4. Your film contains numerous sex scenes and a significant amount of erotic tension. Many directors and actors find these scenes challenging. With your film filled with sexual tension, did you face any challenges while filming and creating this atmosphere? Please describe.

Body Odyssey explores the theme of physicality, and sex is one of its expressive forms. It’s essential for understanding the story and nature of all the characters. When we meet Mona, sex for her is a workout, more mental than physical. But as her conflict with her own Body progresses, she begins to associate this dimension with emotional desire.
Working with the actors to create those scenes was a stimulating process and was crucial in setting the tone for the entire film. Sexual tension is a pervasive element in every scene, because Mona is not a monster or a freak; on the contrary, she embodies beauty and the aspiration for perfection. The hands of Kurt, Sveta, little Clacy, and even those of the fans, all yearn to touch Mona's body: a sacred temple, an object of veneration and desire.

5. One of your stars, Julian Sands, died in January and you dedicated your film to him. Please describe your cooperation and working process with Body Odyssey. What kind of person was he, did you have a good synergy?

Julian was an extraordinary sapiens; such exceptional individuals are rare. His acting talents are widely recognized, but I had the privilege of knowing him also as a man, being his friend, and playfully calling him my shaman. There was an immediate, deep connection between us. Julian loved this project and believed in me, perhaps more than I believed in myself.
He was a man of great moral depth, possessing a vivid imagination and unparalleled charisma. The kind of person you'd follow to the end of Earth. The first time I saw him in a film, I was just 13; it was a dream to be able to work with him. Julian was a free spirit, a sharp mind, always searching for alternative routes to approach a scene and exceptionally adept at embracing unexpected emotions. A lover of nature, art, poetry, and fine wine. We had other films to make together; his absence is irreplaceable. I believe that having worked with him on this first film has had a profound, enduring impact on me.

6. One of your stars is bodybuilder Jacqueline Fuchs. You did a short film with her back in 2014. Did she inspire you to make a full length feature film? Are you friends in real life?

We met online since we lived in different cities, and then we met in person in Rome to make the short film. Jay has a sweetness, a solar energy, and a positivity that comes through surprisingly, creating an intriguing contrast with her physique. This complexity of hers instantly captivated me and certainly influenced the writing of the film.
Over the years, despite our very different lives and distinct personalities, we built a strong friendship. Our harmony stems from sharing an intense passion for what we love: Jay dedicates her life to sculpting her body, while I strive to create my films, which I see as an extension of myself. In this sense, we immediately recognized each other and connected.

7. At 37, this is your debut full-length feature film. Was it challenging to reach this point? Were there moments when you considered giving up? Was making a full-length film your dream? Please describe your journey from your first short films over 10 years ago to this forthcoming release.

I didn't just think about giving up; I actually tried, but I never succeeded. Even though my short films had a good festival run, the transition to a feature film was a challenging journey. I'm not referring to the artistic aspect, as I went through the entire process with great serenity, but rather to the challenges related to financial and production aspects. I think that a director's debut film is a demanding test for all, but it's even more so when venturing into uncharted territories, when choosing to tell a story from a viewpoint that doesn't conform to market standards.
I acknowledge that "Body Odyssey" is a film that takes considerable risks to provide an alternative, and for some, uncomfortable perspective on themes like femininity, the body, and the construction of one's own beauty standards. This wasn't the most convenient choice for my debut, but I felt that discussing these topics, in this way, was necessary ten years ago and still is today. The gratification that comes from it, beyond the film's success, compensates for all the efforts.

8. I understand many directors dislike this question, but have you already begun work on new film projects? What are your expectations for the future? How do you envision yourself in the next 10 years?

At the moment, I'm working with my screenwriters on a film that is very different from Body Odyssey, aiming to deconstruct the master-slave relationship between two characters. The story takes place entirely in a garden, and for this reason, we refer to it as a gartenspiel - a worldplay on kammerspiel.
That said, over the years, Marco, Giulio, and I have developed many other ideas, and I hope to find the right conditions to bring them to life soon. Regarding the future, I have more wishes than expectations: I'd like to go on making films for at least the next twenty years, at a faster pace than the first one.

9. Lastly, please share your thoughts on body image in today's society. Can someone become trapped in their own body or become obsessed with it? Is it akin to a sickness like addiction? Should individuals find contentment with their body or to what extent can they push to alter their appearance? Does outer appearance affect inner thoughts, self-awareness, and one's attitude toward the world?
I believe that the pursuit of beauty, shaping the world, and transforming ourselves is intrinsic to our nature. Animals don't concern themselves with being beautiful or ugly, beyond reproductive dynamics; this issue, as far as we know, is uniquely human and exists on various levels. For some, it may simply mean wearing clothes when leaving the house, while for others, it can unfortunately become a pathological, self-destructive mechanism. As in Mona's case.
The reasons why this happens are always subjective. I think it is partly due to the fact that our bodies, our shells, are constantly exposed to a series of opposing forces trying to shape them. Society imposes unrealistic aesthetic standards on us: one must always be beautiful, young, and fit. In recent years, aesthetics, because of the toxic positivity of social media, has combined with an ideal of psycho-physical well-being that turned health into a performance, too.
The evolutionary step that would solve our conflict with appearance would be to free ourselves from the body and become immaterial consciousness. Perhaps we are already doing this on the internet, where our avatars allow us to experience a virtual identity separate from our physical one. But for now, this is a theoretical reflection, as the body remains a fundamental part of our experience and identity.
I believe the real challenge lies in reconciling one's perception of their appearance with a deeper understanding of the value and intrinsic beauty of every individual, which must be independent of ideals and social expectations.

10. Please tell us one wise advice that you would give to your child - what is important in life?
Integrity towards yourself, while respecting the integrity and freedom of others, is essential. However, we live in a corrupted world, and I would rather not procreate.