The Embalmer (L'imbalsamatore)

Inspired by a real incident reported in the Roman press in 1990, Matteo Garrone's 2002 neo-noir drama The Embalmer is called L'imbalsamatore in Italian and is also known as The Taxidermist. Garrone wrote it with Ugo Chiti and Massimo Gaudioso for the producers Fandango; the Italian production was shot in Italian and runs 101 minutes. The Italian ministry's film directorate recognised it as a work of national cultural interest.

Three people stand at the centre: the taxidermist Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux), the young Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo) who comes to work with him, and Valerio's girlfriend Deborah (Elisabetta Rocchetti). Peppino takes Valerio under his wing, and the arrival of Deborah strains the arrangement. Foglia Manzillo, a former model, made his acting debut in the film. The cast also includes Lina Bernardi, Pietro Biondi, Bernardino Terracciano and Marcella Granito. Filming took place at Villaggio Coppola, a district of Castel Volturno in Campania, and in Cremona in Lombardy.

The film was selected for the Directors' Fortnight at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival under the title L'étrange monsieur Peppino. Mahieux won the David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor for playing Peppino; the film also took the David di Donatello for Best Screenplay and two Nastro d'Argento awards, for best editing and best producer.