L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 8 FRANCA HERNANDEZ T he first lump of Roman s oil for w hat w as to become Cinecitta' was dug eighty years ago, on a rainy April day of 1937. Although ambitions were high, not even its founders could have imagined how, thanks to it, Italy would have returned a leader on the stage of the arts, once again caput mundi. Cinecitta' offered Mussolini and his régime an opportunity to establish an autonomous propa- ganda vehicle to promote a fully Fascist vision of a film industry as good as -or better than - Hollywood. He sustained that "la cinematografia è l'arma più forte" – cinematography is our greatest weapon. In other words, Mussolini wanted Italian films, with Italian production teams, using Italian actors, to glorify a modern and vibrant Italy. It was an ambitious sell when you con- sider the giants of the screen w ere in H ollyw ood: F red A s taire, Clark G able, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, and espe- cially Deanna Durbin, particular- ly popular among Italians, first as a singer then as an image of that wholesome womanhood so important in the 1930s and 40s. The dream of a state-of-the art film complex started with the selection of an area in the coun- trys ide of Rome, o n the V ia Tuscolana. The project included about 35 acres with an additional 111 left vacant for future expan- sion. The architect behind it was Gino Peressutti, who applied the tenets of rationalis m to his designs, a 180-degree deviation from centuries of overstated architecture. Ancient Rome was his inspiration, balanced with subdued functionality; there was no place for any type of adorn- ment that would have detracted from a message of power and modernity. The Direzione Generale per il Cinema, in 1934 headed by Luigi Freddi, the promoter and coordinator of Cinecitta', includ- ed a board to censor proposed films. It wanted scripts adapt at fostering the ideals of a progres- sive Italy, but based on values such as religion, family life, and res pect for authority. S ome American films were banned and some censored. For example, Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times was accepted only because of its "comicality." H ow ever, the scene in which Charlot (Italians' name for Chaplin) picks up a red warning flag fallen from a truck and innocently finds himself leading a communist rally was way out there for the censors, and cut. By 1939, Cinecitta' was one of the most important film stu- dios in Europe. With the inclu- sion of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinem atogr afia ( Center f or Cinematographic Experimentation), every aspect of the Italian film industry was consolidated. In 1942, Cinecitta' was able to pro- duce 52 films. Cinecitta' also became an important repository for the hundreds of self-employed arti- sans whose economic world had b e e n s h r i n k i n g , r e p l a c e d b y cheaper mass-produced items. Necessity pushed them to the more modest neighborhoods on the periphery of the city, like Q u a d r a r o o n t h e V i a Tuscolana. An enthusiastic fan base ele- vated Italian actors to the same star status of Hollywood celebri- ties. In fact, the urban train from the central train station, Termini ( a b e a u t i f u l e x a m p l e o f R a t i o n a l i s t a r c h i t e c t u r e ) t o Quadraro was nicked-named the "train of the stars." By the time I lived in Italy, these stars were on television for the weekly l a t e - n i g h t m o v i e f e a t u r e , enjoyed by me and my Roman f a m i l y . A m o n g m a n y g r e a t s were Vittorio de Sica, Amadeo N a z z a r i , L e o n a r d o C o r t e s e , Rossano Brazzi, Alida Valli, Lya Franca, Elsa Merlini, and Anna Magnani. Musical entertainment like opera was too expensive for day-labor and artisan class fami- lies but through films, my moth- er recounted, she could finally see Beniamino Gigli, a beloved and famous opera talent. By the time of the armistice of September 8, 1943, Cinecitta' had been struggling. Its grounds were looted by bands of thieves and the German army used them as a detention camp for resis- t a n c e f i g h t e r s . B e f o r e b e i n g routed by Allied Forces, German troops systematically looted all heavy equipment loading it on 16 train cars. Luigi Freddi, who had been arrested and released, through personal channels was able to recuperate 10 of the train cars and went to Venice. Here, he once again used films as a propaganda tool for the newly o r g a n i z e d R e p u b l i c o f S a l ò , d u b b i n g t h e n e w f a c i l i t y Cinevillaggio, no doubt a com- ment on its reduced size and means. And in Rome, surprising- ly, some films were produced notwithstanding the facility was now used to house thousands of refugees. It was from this disaster that Cinecitta' rose again. The stu- dio, lacking infrastructure and equipment, took to the streets to make films that, given the stark reality of people's daily life, were dubbed "neorealist." It was no longer a factory of vacuous dreams, but a mirror of daily life reality. The actors and direc- tors of the Fascist dream factory did not miss a beat. Young film- makers, like Vittorio de Sica, used streets, piazzas and neigh- borhoods as backdrops, employ- ing non-actors. The Romans, after all, are experts at drama. In these venues, such films as the O s c a r w i n n i n g L a d r i d i Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief ,1948), based on the book by Luigi Bartolini were created. Italians are expert in making v i r t u e o f n e c e s s i t y . I n 1 9 4 9 Cinecitta' collaborated with the French film industry, fueling expansion. Taking advantage of c h e a p s k i l l e d w o r k e r s a n d actors, Metro Goldwyn Mayer began production on the film Quo Vadis. Cinecitta' was still being used to house about 5,000 refugees and they were enlisted as extras for the crowd scenes. The 1950's set the stage to introduce Rome's as Hollywood o n t h e T i b e r . M y f r i e n d Elisabetta remembers friends who found steady work there: "They've all passed on but I still remember Carlo Sindici, the make-up artist for De Sica's films; Nino Foti a dogs-body and extra when needed; Gigi Magni, a director who . . . piu' R o m a n o n o n s i p o t e v a , a s R o m a n a s t h e y c o m e , a n d Umberto D'Orsi, a very talented t h e a t r e a c t o r w h o w o r k e d i n f i l m s w h e n h e w a s s h o r t o f cash." She adds how the unem- ployed of post-war Rome would hang out at Cinecitta' waiting f o r w o r k . T h e y w e r e a l w a y s guaranteed a lunch. Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, and still Vittorio de Sica adapted to the new reality. And the Italian film industry, under a new régime, entered into part- nerships with France, Spain, and the United States. In the 1960s, t h e S p a g h e t t i W e s t e r n g a v e Cinecitta' the highest popularity of the post-war period. Bernardo B e r t o l u c c i a n d D i n o d e Laurentiis contributed with spec- tacular films. With unflagging g r i t , C i n e c i t t a ' c o n t i n u e s t o adapt. In the 1990s, it embraced t e l e v i s i o n p r o d u c t i o n s a n d advanced into digital technology stimulating more growth. And through the enterprise Cinecitta' E v e n t s o f f e r s m o v i e s e t s a s backdrops to meetings and con- ferences. Sign me up! The essence of Cinecittà: modernity - a Vespa - and history - a centurion- of Italy. The studios were known for their majestic peplum movies Recreating Rome: ancient Rome's sets became Cinecittà speciality Cinecitta', Eighty Years as Hollywood on the Tiber LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Cinecittà saw the light of day in April 1937: it was to become the Italian answer to Hollywood Federico Fellini, one of the names symbol of Cinecittà's cinema

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