L'Italo-Americano

I n 1956, when Anna M a g n a n i w a s a n n o u n c e d a s t h e winner of the Acade- m y A w a r d f o r B e s t Actress for The Rose Tattoo, the Roman actress was not seated among the celebrities inside the Pantages Theatre i n H o l l y w o o d . S h e w a s a t home in Rome, asleep. Con- vinced she had little chance of winning and fearful of fly- ing, the star of Rome, Open City had decided not to cross t h e o c e a n f o r t h e m o s t important night in American c i n e m a . I t w a s M a r i s a Pavan, who had also been nominated for the same film, who accepted the statuette o n h e r b e h a l f . T h e n e w s reached Magnani in the mid- dle of the night by phone, and she initially believed it was a prank. Her absence, rather than diminishing her reputation, only strength- ened her legend. At a time when Hollywood celebrated glamour, Magnani appeared e v e n m o r e f a i t h f u l t o h e r own nature: an almost rebel- lious figure, uninterested in the rituals of fame. A l m o s t s e v e n t y y e a r s l a t e r , H o l l y w o o d i s s t i l l telling that story of strength and authenticity. The film Anna, written, directed, and p e r f o r m e d b y M o n i c a Guerritore and dedicated t o t h e l i f e o f t h e g r e a t Roman actress, opened the 2 1 s t e d i t i o n o f t h e L o s Angeles, Italia – Film, Fashion and Art Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre during the week leading up to the Academy Awards cer- emony. For Guerritore, the pro- ject is deeply personal, born from a desire to restore the most intimate and combat- ive dimension of Magnani. " F o r m e i t w a s d i f f i c u l t , because I don't like flying, j u s t l i k e A n n a , " s h e explained. "But when you have to bring into the world t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t w o r k you've ever done, you cannot step back. It was too impor- tant to give her breath again, to give her a voice again." O n c e i n L o s A n g e l e s , t h e actress immediately realized how alive Magnani's memo- ry still is. "When I told the driver I came from Rome, he immediately said: 'Magnani.' E v e r y w h e r e , y o u s t i l l f e e l affection for her." It is no c o i n c i d e n c e , G u e r r i t o r e notes, that actresses such as M e r y l S t r e e p a n d H e l e n Mirren have cited Magnani as a source of artistic free- dom. "Anna is still speaking to the world." Anna is your first film as a director. Was it a project you had wanted to make for a long time? No, actually I had never thought about it before. I h a v e b e e n d i r e c t i n g a n d writing for the theater since 2004. I've told the stories of figures such as Joan of Arc and Oriana Fallaci, and I r e w r o t e H u s b a n d s a n d Wives and The Good Person o f S z e c h w a n b y B e r t o l t B r e c h t f o r t h e s t a g e . I n 2022, I realized it was the fiftieth anniversary of Anna Magnani's death, and I felt the need to ask myself what had really happened in the life of this woman. What did you feel was missing in the way her story had been told? Magnani has always been d e s c r i b e d a s a s t r o n g woman. But over time, her gaze changes: from aggres- sive, it becomes dark and shadowy. I began studying h e r l i f e , t r y i n g t o v e r i f y every detail and discarding a great deal of material. I was interested in finding the elements that could sug- gest a parallel story through what remains unknown. Was there a discovery t h a t s t r u c k y o u m o r e than others? Yes. During the famous r u n n i n g s c e n e i n R o m e , Open City, when Anna runs after the truck in which the Nazis are taking away the man she loves, she had just experienced something very similar in real life. Shortly b e f o r e t h a t , s h e h a d r u n after her partner Massimo Serato while their son Luca was gravely ill. That scene was later described by Ser- g i o A m i d e i a n d F e d e r i c o Fellini as a lovers' quarrel. B u t i t w a s n ' t l i k e t h a t . I t h o u g h t : l o o k a t w h a t i s happening in Anna's life. She has to film a dramatic scene while her son is dying. T h a t r u n s y m b o l i c a l l y becomes her whole life. In her story, there is a l s o t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p with Roberto Rossellini. Yes, it begins just as the success of Rome, Open City arrives. An almost acciden- t a l s u c c e s s , w h i c h a l s o m a r k s a l o s s . T h e f i l m r e a c h e s A m e r i c a , I n g r i d Bergman sees it, and sends a f a m o u s t e l e g r a m t o R o b e r t o R o s s e l l i n i . I n A n n a ' s l i f e , m o m e n t s o f great success are often fol- lowed by great pain. What kind of love was theirs? I t i s p e r h a p s t h e m o s t romantic love I have ever had to portray. It is a love that disappears but never t r u l y e n d s . S h e k e e p s i t i n s i d e h e r s e l f , a s O r i a n a Fallaci used to say: "Things i n s i d e m e w e r e s e e k i n g shelter." Anna did the same. I n t h e m o s t d i f f i c u l t moment of her life, she calls h i m a n d s a y s , " Y o u m u s t not let me die." And he real- ly does come back, staying beside her until the end. It is on these emotional truths that I built the screenplay. If you could meet her today, what would you ask her? Actually, I no longer see her as a stranger. She is like a continent I have explored. I k n o w t h e p a r t I h a v e crossed; other areas remain mysterious, but I no longer f e e l t h e n e e d t o a s k h e r questions. W i l l y o u g o s e e h e r star on Hollywood Bou- levard? I will go tomorrow. I did- n't go immediately because I didn't want it to be a for- m a l g e s t u r e . T h e m o s t important thing for me was t o b e h e r e , b e c a u s e s h e never came out of fear of flying. The love I felt in the theater yesterday felt like l o v e f o r A n n a d e l a y e d i n time. H o w d i d t h e A m e r i - c a n a u d i e n c e r e a c t t o the film? It was surprising. At first, t h e y l a u g h e d a l o t ; t h e y understood all the jokes tied t o t h e R o m a n s i d e o f t h e character, almost more than audiences in Italy did. Then I f e l t t h e a t m o s p h e r e change: her story began to speak in another way. At the end, two men were crying. As an actress, did you f i n d s i m i l a r i t i e s w i t h your own experience? Many. When she says, "I want to go back to theater," I understand that very well: for us actors, theater is life. It is there that we find what lifts us up. And then, as a theater actor, the obsession with looking perfect disap- pears. She came from the theater, where this obses- s i o n w i t h a p p e a r a n c e d o e s n ' t r e a l l y e x i s t . T h a t saved me, too: not feeling the need to change my face. Theater gives us an inner artistic life, not an aesthetic one. What message would you like to leave today? I would like this film to show an alternative. Female characters are often por - t r a y e d i n a u n i f o r m w a y : fragile, simple, all the same. But reality is different. Just look at an audience full of women: no one looks like anyone else. So why should there be only one model? None of us truly recognizes ourselves in it. Anna Mag- nani made that clear for all of us. She said: "Look at me. There is another way." SILVIA NITTOLI A n n a M a g n a n i , t h e e n d u r i n g m y t h : Monica Guerritore brings her back to Hollywood THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano Monica Guerritore (center), with Consul General Raffaella Valentini and IIC LA director Emanuele Amendola (Photo: James Rivas) LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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