L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4 with technological changes. We of L'Italo-Ameri- cano spoke with him for the unveiling of his Star on t h e H o l l y w o o d W a l k o f Fame, placed just beside t h a t o f h i s m e n t o r a n d friend, Lina Wertmuller. Your star, which you dedicated to Lina Wert- muller, was laid right n e x t t o t h e o n e s h e received back in 2019... I m a d e t h e b e s t f i l m s with Lina. She was a genius and was under-appreciated i n I t a l y . I r e m e m b e r w e would come to America car- rying film reels under our arms... Thanks to a produc- er we managed to become known in the US, and some o f t h e m o v i e s w e m a d e together enjoy cult status today. Movies like Seven Beauties and Swept Away continue being screened. It is thanks to her that I am here. How was working with her? W e u s e d t o w r i t e a n d build the stories together, working on them until morn- ing. It was definitely a differ- ent way of working. Some- times I was the one finding the main stories or charac- ters. Can you give us some examples? Michele Schirro's story for e x a m p l e , w h i c h l a t e r inspired Love and Anarchy, b u t a l s o P a s q u a l i n o f r o m S e v e n B e a u t i e s , w h o w a s i n s p i r e d b y a t r u e s t o r y . T h e r e w a s t h i s v e r y o l d Neapolitan gentleman who worked in Cinecittà. He was very ugly but claimed he had had many women. He was a waterman, he would bring water cans with plastic cups and for 5 liras he would sell you drinks. When I learned of him, I recorded twenty- five hours of conversation between us. That was the inspiration for Seven Beau- ties. Y o u , j u s t l i k e L i n a W e r m u l l e r , f e e l m o r e appreciated abroad than in Italy: 'In Venice, they d i d n ' t e v e n g i v e m e a black cat,' you said when you heard about the Star on the Walk of Fame. That just slipped out dur- ing a television interview because I received so many awards but the Venice Film Festival never considered me. In Italy, we award for- e i g n a c t o r s m u c h m o r e . Once, during an interview, I said that Italian actors are the best in the world and that some, like Robert De N i r o a n d A l P a c i n o , a l s o h a v e I t a l i a n b l o o d . I w a s attacked as if I were a heretic but it's true! Italian actors a r e t h e b e s t . W h o i n t h e world has Eduardo De Filip- po, who was both an actor and a writer? We invented c o m m e d i a d e l l ' a r t e a n d opera. Everyone is inspired by us. When Spielberg made E.T. I went to the screening w i t h h i m s i n c e w e h a d become friends and I told him, 'What a great idea you h a d . ' A n d h e s a i d , ' I w a s inspired by Vittorio De Sica's Miracle in Milan, I replaced brooms with bicycles.' Another Italian who found success in Ameri- ca was Dino De Lauren- t i i s . W h a t a r e y o u r memories of him? Dino De Laurentiis loved me very much, he forced me, if you can call it that, to do Hannibal by Ridley Scott. He had originally come to I t a l y s e e k i n g a m u c h younger actor but found no one suitable for the part. Dino told him to consider me and called me one night to say, 'Dye your hair black, speak a little English, and do this audition!' I went and had a very funny audition that I still keep. What's the difference b e t w e e n a n A m e r i c a n and an Italian set? Whether you work with a director fresh from the Cen- tro Sperimentale or Francis Ford Coppola, it's the same, there's no difference for an actor. You're always in front of a camera. More lights, fewer lights...nothing really changes. The Filming Italy Fes- tival this year was dedi- cated to Gina Lollobrigi- d a . W h a t a r e y o u r memories of her? The last time I saw her we were in Matera, I have a nice picture we took together. Many, many years ago, when we met for the first time, she proposed to me to do a play on Broadway, in New York. In the end, nothing more came of it. I never worked w i t h h e r b u t I d i d m a n y f i l m s w i t h M o n i c a V i t t i , A n n a M a g n a n i , S o p h i a L o r e n . V i t t i w o u l d a l s o deserve a Star in my opin- ion. Which modern actors would you like to work with? I d o n ' t l i k e t o n a m e names because there are so many of them I risk forget- ting someone. I have studied a lot of cinema and actors and actresses who have won an Oscar. You always learn f r o m o t h e r s : i t i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t t o h a v e g r e a t teachers. Who were yours? I w a s l u c k y e n o u g h t o have incomparable teachers. The first was Orazio Costa at the Silvio D'Amico Academy, then Marcello Mastroianni, V i t t o r i o G a s s m a n , T u r i F e r r o , w h o t a u g h t m e Catanese in just two days. I a l s o h a d t h e p l e a s u r e o f meeting Eduardo De Filippo who, while he was alive, did not want anyone to do his comedies. But because I'm big-headed, I'm going to tell you this anecdote: he once called me and asked me to work in Gli Esami non Finis- cono Mai. I declined as I knew no Neapolitan. But I r e g r e t t e d i t i n t h e e n d b e c a u s e . . . w h o w a s m o r e brilliant than him? Giannini is the second Italian actor to receive a Star on the Walk of Fame after Rodolfo Valentino, a recognition he wanted to dedicate to Lina Wertmuller: "I made the best films with Lina - he says - she was a genius and was under-appreciated in Italy" Giannini with Luchino Visconti in 1976, on the set of The Innocent (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Public Domain) Giannini, center, with (from left to right) Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli, undersecretary of State for Culture Lucia Borgonzoni and Tiziana Rocca (Photo: Daniele Venturelli)

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