L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano W i t h i t s h i s t o r y c o n - n e c t e d t o t h e mysterious Knights Tem- plar, the walled village of Alberona could easily be used as the set for a neo-noir film. This atmospheric and depopulated Puglia borgo 30 minutes from Foggia would be perfect for an intriguing storyteller such as Brian De Palma, who found his métier in the psychological thriller that artfully com- bines neo-Hitchcockian style with the operatic sensibility of the Italian gialli genre. I believe Alberona is an ideal filming location for the prodigiously talented "New Hollywood" filmmaker and s c r e e n w r i t e r . A l u c i d l y scary, voyeuristic De Palma tale would work well in this woodland that has suffered substantial depopulation in the last seven decades due t o i t s i s o l a t i o n . B e n e a t h these pristine forests, some- thing terrible could lurk… And a thespian lady person- ifying beauty and danger would effuse dark eroticism into a wilderness that goes beyond the forces of nature. Brian's personal history is already associated with this green gem perched on Mount Stilo, in the Daunian M o u n t a i n s . H i s p a t e r n a l grandparents, Pasquale De P a l m a a n d L u c i a F i n o i a , were born in Alberona in 1881 and 1885 respectively. They lived in this unspoiled hill village until 1910 when the young married couple fled to New York, then soon s e t t l e d i n N e w a r k , N e w Jersey. The Mayor of Alberona, Leonardo De Matthaeis, tells me that years ago Brian D e P a l m a ' s a g e n t M a r k Lombardo reached out to t h e A l b e r o n a c i t y h a l l t o trace Mr. De Palma's family h i s t o r y . " I w a s n o t y e t mayor, unfortunately," he says. The maverick American film director and screen - writer, the son of Antony De Palma, an orthopedic sur- geon, was born in Newark in 1940 and studied physics. But at the same time, he felt a dedication to the movies. He has an extensive body of w o r k b u t h i s m o s t i c o n i c films are Carrie (1976), The U n t o u c h a b l e s ( 1 9 8 7 ) , Carlito's Way (1993), Blow O u t ( 1 9 8 1 ) , D r e s s t o K i l l (1980), Scarface (1983) - w r i t t e n b y O l i v e r S t o n e - Mission: Impossible (1996) and Sisters (1973). De Palma will turn 80 on September 11. "We would be honored to have him in our village as his roots are here," the mayor says. "We would love to make him an hon- orary citizen of Alberona and give him the keys to the borgo. I take this opportuni- ty to send him an invitation message. I have been work- ing on getting in touch with h i m t h r o u g h m y b r o t h e r who lives in Florida." Mayor De Matthaeis is fond of Mr. De Palma's movies. He adds that "our village is available as a filming location. I would be so thrilled to have one of his next movies shot here." Perfectly suited to travel- ers wanting a sense of place and contact with locals, the borgo is the source of a mul- t i t u d e o f w i n d i n g c r e e k s , streams, and rivers that flow t h r o u g h t h e p l a i n I l Tavoliere delle Puglie into the Adriatic Sea. That is why Alberona has so many foun- tains, at least a hundred. Located at the gate of the village is the Fontana Muta intended to provide fresh drinking water for horses. Entering the borgo, visitors encounter many other foun- tains such as the Fontanella, the Fontana Belvedere, the F o n t a n a P e l o z z e , a n d Fontana Pisciarelli. A r o u n d t h e y e a r 1 0 0 0 , Alberona was founded by a C a l a b r i a n f a m i l y w h o e s c a p e d t h e S a r a c e n s ' a t t a c k s i n t h e i r r e g i o n . "They found shelter under a big poplar tree over here," s a y s t h e m a y o r . T h e Alberona gonfalone, the vil- lage's official banner, depicts three green mountain peaks on a blue background. On the central mountain stands a b i g t r e e w i t h l u x u r i a n t branches and leaves. " S p e c i f i c t r a c e s o f o u r C a l a b r i a n o r i g i n a p p e a r throughout the village," says the mayor. "First of all, there i s a r o a d c a l l e d V i a C a l a b r e s e a n d t h e r e i s a Calabrian arch as well." Alberona is not a popular destination for bucket-lis- ters seeking opulent palaces and soaring basilicas. The village's patrimonial trea- sures are often tucked out of sight as if waiting to be given their moment. One is the intriguing Grand Priore T o w e r w i t h i t s u n d e r - ground tunnels and another the Mother Church, both b u i l t b y t h e K n i g h t s Templar. The territory was given as a f i e f t o t h e O r d e r o f t h e Knights Templar in 1197. "The Templars chose Puglia towns including Alberona f o r s t r a t e g i c r e a s o n s , " explains the mayor. "They used our woodland because they needed valuable wood t o b u i l d t h e i r M e d i e v a l s h i p s r e a d y t o l e a v e t h e MARIELLA RADAELLI A charming view of Alberona's winding streets (Photo: Leonardo De Matthaeis) Continued to page 32 Alberona, the dense woodland village of Brian De Palma and Knights Templar LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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