L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano ness, powerfully portrayed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, who moves audiences with a por- trayal so real it resonated with Pirandello's own heirs. T h e m o v i e u l t i m a t e l y revealed the seldom-seen side of a man, father, and grandfather known for his reserve, his generosity, yet rarely for his warmth. Here, the man and the writer meld with his characters, who are, like him, often in search of an author. For the first time, Luigi Pirandello is depicted on screen as he truly was. Draw- ing on firsthand accounts from his heirs, the director and screenwriters have craft- ed a portrayal that respects the nuances of his life and character. The film's dialogue is drawn entirely from Piran- dello's own words, preserving authenticity without embell- ishment. True to form, Piran- dello based his characters on of Pirandello — a side beyond h i s i c o n i c w o r k s l i k e S i x Characters in Search of an Author, The Late Mattia Pas- cal, and the countless stories through which he described the essence of life. But these creations would never have c o m e i n t o b e i n g w i t h o u t Pirandello's own lived experi- e n c e s . E a c h o f h i s w o r k s s p e a k s t o l i f e — h i s l i f e — b e c a u s e , a s h e o n c e s a i d , " L i f e i s e i t h e r w r i t t e n o r lived; I have never lived it except by writing it." Until now, no one has delved so deeply into the heart of our Nobel laureate, into his fami- ly, into his everyday exis- tence. And here, we see the man—no longer just a figure b u t a p r o f o u n d l y h u m a n presence, alongside his wife and children — a family he w o u l d n e v e r a b a n d o n , a source of rare joys and many sorrows. This includes his wife Antonietta's mental ill- everyday life, and, as a man of the theater, he knew that while theater is fiction, it acknowledges its own artifice w i t h o u t p r e t e n d i n g t o b e reality. It is, simply, repre- sentation. L i k e o t h e r v i s i o n a r i e s across time—artists, scien- tists, philosophers, leaders— L u i g i P i r a n d e l l o w a s a dreamer, a genius who trans- formed his own unhappiness into art. This film offers a glimpse into a man who was both artist and human, and managed the coexistence of these two roles — or rather — these two lives. Today, when privacy and the modesty of one's life are increasingly rare, it seems fit- ting to lay bare the inner Pirandello, and offer new and old generations insights into the man beyond his literary achievements. For in Piran- dello, the roles of artist and man, father, husband, and grandfather are inseparable— two sides of the same coin. This complexity is especially evident in scenes depicting his visit to the mines that once brought his family pros- perity, only to collapse later, bringing economic hardship a n d h e i g h t e n i n g h i s w i f e Antonietta's emotional strug- gles. This hardship was com- pounded by the fear of never seeing their eldest son Ste- fano again, after he left for the war. I n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 7 , D e Luca Editori d'Arte published The Forgotten Pirandello, a unique collaboration between Pierluigi Pirandello, Luigi's grandson and only remaining witness to his legacy at the time, and actor Alfonso Ven- eroso. For the first time, the Pirandello family story is explored across three genera- tions: Luigi, his son Fausto, and his grandson Pierluigi. It is neither autobiography nor biography but, as Veneroso describes, a conversation that brings us into the personal relationships spanning three generations of the Pirandello family. A shared thread seems to have bound them together, as Giovanna Carlino Pirandello, Pierluigi's widow, described in an interview with Famiglia Cristiana: "a melancholic and reserved nature softened by a profound sense of irony." Pirandello faced jeers and i n s u l t s a t R o m e ' s T e a t r o Valle for his Six Characters in S e a r c h o f a n A u t h o r . H i s fleeting connection with the German director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, hinting at a cinematic collaboration that never came to be, reveals an intimate portrait of Piran- dello as a man, husband, f a t h e r , a n d a s s o m e o n e deeply enamored with his muse, actress Marta Abba. In this film, we glimpse a new face of Pirandello—the man who wrote about faces and masks alike—revealing per- haps the many identities he inhabited. It's a "Pirandel- lian" Pirandello, as director Michele Placido noted—a portrayal steeped in theatri- c a l i n s i g h t , a s f i t t i n g f o r L u i g i , w h o g r a c e d m a n y stages, as it is for Placido himself. For audiences and readers alike, this is a rarely seen side E ach of our lives m o v e s t o w a r d the same desti- nation, but what distinguishes us i s t h e p a t h w e t a k e t o g e t there. This journey defines us, and if there's one mode of travel that stirs our imagina- tion about where life might lead, it's the train. With a steam train, in particular, we connect to a more human pace, reflecting the slow and steady rhythm of life, even as it speeds up around us. The Forgotten Piran- dello, released in Italian cin- e m a s o n t h e 7 t h o f t h i s month, opens with this very image—a steam train, a sym- bol of life's journey. It carries none other than the esteemed writer and playwright Luigi Pirandello, en route to Stock- h o l m t o a c c e p t t h e N o b e l Prize in Literature. It's 1934, and Pirandello's speech to the K i n g w o u l d b e c o m e a moment remembered in time. Such anniversaries, as we know, are difficult to over- look—especially when they are honored with the story- telling power of film. The movie draws inspira- tion from Il Gioco delle Parti. Vita Straordinaria di Luigi Pirandello (The Rules of the Game: the Extraordi- nary Life of Luigi Piran- dello), a 2010 biography by Sicilian author and journalist Matteo Collura. Collura collaborated on the screen- play with Toni Trupia and director Michele Placido, who a l s o h e l m e d t h e f i l m . A n exceptional cast brings this story to life, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio in the demanding role of Pirandello, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as his wife Antonietta Portulano, and Federica Luna Vincenti as Marta Abba. Rounding out the cast are Giancarlo Com- mare, Aurora Giovinazzo, and M i c h e l a n g e l o P l a c i d o a s Pirandello's children, Stefano, Lietta, and Fausto. Ute Lem- per makes her debut in an Italian production, adding another layer to this remark- able ensemble. The film had its premiere at the 19th Rome Film Festival on October 19. P i r a n d e l l o ' s j o u r n e y becomes a chance to revisit h i s p e r s o n a l a n d a r t i s t i c memories—his ghosts, his p a s t . A l o n g t h e w a y , h e encounters figures like Albert Einstein, another Nobel lau- reate in 1921, the very year TERESA DI FRESCO The hidden life of Luigi Pirandello comes to the big screen LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE The poster of The Forgotten Pirandello (Eterno Visionario)

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