L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano " Raphael - Prince of the Arts," the 3D film produced by SkyItaly in collaboration with the Vatican Museums and Magnitudo Film, made its American West Coast debut with a preview at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles. Here, spectators filled the room, gripped since the very beginning by the emotions and little known details about Raffaello, the won- derful artist depicted in the film. Few managed to reflect emo- tions as intensely and richly as Raffaello Sanzio. He died at the young age of 37, yet he was able to leave an indelible mark in the history of art. Mind and heart, emulation and invention, compo- sure and confusion, vice and virtue, these are the facets of his personality: Raffaello's fate seems to be written in his contro- versial roots. In an unprecedented and inno- vative dialogue between the world of art and the world of cin- ema, the life of the great artist intersects with moments of accu- rate artistic digression, informed by the passionate work of presti- gious experts like Antonio Paolucci (director of the Vatican Museums up to 2016), Vincenzo Farinella (associate professor of Modern Art History at the Scuola Normale di Pisa) and Antonio Natali (director of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence from 2006 to 2016). An art course that runs in 20 sites, including 15 museums, and analyzes over 70 art works, including more than forty of Raffaello's best known and representative paintings. One of the peculiarities of the movie is the historical recon- struction of the sets, inspired by paintings of the eighteenth centu- ry, picturing Raffaello's times: fragments of his life, delicate and evocative moments able to emo- tionally engage spectators by introducing them to chapters of artistic digression. Scenographies were created by the joint effort of Italian mas- ters of the field, including the famous Bottega Tifernate, which works regularly for many muse- ums and has faithfully repro- duced paintings in the scenes - including Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece's "La Gioconda" and Raffaello's "Transfigura- tion," rendered in a majestic 157 x 118 inch format. The costume department used more than 40 outfits, all tailor-made for the actors, including the rich and sensual "Velata" lady's dress, with a faithful reproduction of colors, fabrics and materials. An accurate historical study is also applied to scenographies, where hundreds of objects have been used to meticulously represent settings such as Raffaello's stu- dios. The movie has been intro- duced by Davide Gasparotto, curator at the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. In his speech he said: "I will try to provide the framework to let you understand the importance of the work done by Raphael for art and culture. Raphael's works are incredibly realistic. They are a celebration of painting, drawing, light, mod- eling and expression. He shows us people and objects exactly as he saw them and only he knew how to reproduce them in such details. It's unbelievable how realistic his paintings are. The "Transfiguration," Raphael's last and definitive work, is a kind of spiritual testament, divine revela- tion and human action at once, where calm and confusion are dramatically brought together." Cosetta Lagani, Creative Director of Sky 3D, talks about this amazing cultural project: "We believe this project is, above all, a symbol of Italian excellence, that exalts the cultur- al heritage of the Bel Paese. But it's also a cutting-edge product because it has been shot with the latest 3D and 4K technologies, the Ultra HD. The script of the story is captivating, exciting but at the same time authoritative. We are pleased with the suc- cess our art movies have been gathering around the world and we are proud to have reached the United States, with Raphael and other films realized before, like "The Vatican Museums," "Florence and Uffizi Gallery," "St. Peter and the Papal Basilicas of Rome." With all of them, we reached more then 2,000 cine- mas in 60 countries. We are proud to announce that we already started the production of two new movies, "Caravaggio" and "Michelangelo," sure that they will get the same great suc- cess." "SkyEurope and the Vatican Museums chose to invest in art and culture to tell the unique her- MARA OLIVETTA Raphael enchants Los Angeles itage of Italy in a very innovative way. Creators and producers are convinced these movies can attract the interest of an increas- ingly wide-ranging and heteroge- neous audience. Ours is a free and independent, cultural and business choice, that enters a market made of quality and origi- nality, and contributes to the visi- bility of our cultural heritage, even in competitive markets such as the American. This evening's movie is the first ever made about Raffaello Sanzio, one of the most famous and best loved artist in the world. The film tells the story of the artist and his immortal works, starting its jour- ney from the small town of Urbino (Raffaello's birthplace), moving on to Florence and final- ly landing in Rome and the Vatican, where he concludes his short but brilliant existence." Valeria Rumori, the Director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Los Angeles, talks about the movie and all the initiatives com- ings this month, October, also known as the Italian American Heritage Month: " This movie's premiere comes in a very busy week where we celebrate the Italian Language in the world, so I am very happy to be part of this amazing celebration of Italy's heritage. I really enjoyed the movie, it was beautiful and very well done. Someone during the projection told me, with all the respect for Sorrentino, this is also the -True Beauty of Italy-! And I agreed. We are a country full of art, history and brilliant minds. In this contemporaneity that often tends to forget the past and its cultural roots, a movie like Raphael - The Prince of the Arts - help us reflect, through the union between culture and entertain- ment, about past and present." The film will be released in the movie theater of the United States on October 20, distributed through Trafalgar Releasing and rotating for 4 weeks, reaching 100 rooms. LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY Raffaello Sanzio was a controversial artist: his fate seemed to be written in his controversial roots "Raphael -Prince of the Arts" made its West Coast debut at the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles

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