“Marcello Mastroianni is known throughout the world as the Latin lover, the Italian seductress, especially after he starred in sweet lifeFederico Fellini’s masterpiece,” says Fabrizio Corallo, director of the new documentary Hi Marcelo, Mastroianni, anti-star. “Mastroianni didn’t like this image. He didn’t want to be seen as an icon, a sex symbol. He didn’t care much about his public image; what mattered to him was his personal life. So, I tried to This unique actor creates an intimate portrait.
Corallo is a journalist and expert on Italian film history. He produced many documentaries for the national broadcaster Rai about the great figures of Italian cinema: Dino Risi, Vittorio Gassman, Virna Lisi ), Ennio Flaiano and Giuliano Montaldo, among others.
Hi Marceloco-written with Silvia Scola, the daughter of Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola, who worked on the 1977 Directed “Mastroianni” (Mastroianni). a special day, The film premiered at the Rome Film Festival and will be broadcast on Rai TV on Sunday, October 27 (available on MUBI in the US). The film comes 100 years after the actor’s birth – he was born on September 28, 1924 and died on December 19, 1996.
Produced by Massimo Vigliar and Adriano De Micheli for Surf Film, Dean Film and Cinecittà Spa, the film provides an in-depth look at Mastroianni’s life and art thanks to audio and video interviews with many of the actors, screenwriters and filmmakers with whom he worked directors. But we can also find in this film a touching interview with Ida Rohr, the mother of the actress Ada Rohr. “We discovered a famous actor, at the peak of his career, who valued his mother’s meatballs above all else,” Corallo recalled.
“This documentary is particularly suitable for younger audiences and those who have never heard of him,” the director continued. “Mastroianni was born 100 years ago, in 1924, and died in 1996 at the age of 72. He appeared in 150 films and received many international honors, including a Golden Globe, two Venice and Cannes awards. He won the Best Actor Award at the City Film Festival and was nominated for three Academy Awards. Through his collaboration with Federico Fellini, he became an international star, and he became Federico Fellini’s alter ego. Forming a wonderful screen partnership with actress Sophia Loren, he co-starred in eight films, but his name may soon be lost among the younger generation, which is why this movie exists.
“What do I like most about him? His simple way of living and doing things: his honest and humble way. The way he presents himself to the audience. His delicate way of acting, which is a very rare quality. He has a great attitude towards everything. Be disillusioned but not cynical.
As for the title of his documentary, Hello Marcelo – Anti-star Mastroianni — Meaning in English is Goodbye Marcelo, anti-diva Mastroianni — Corallo said it was a reference to Mastroianni’s image in the media that he was irked by. “He hated the media labeling him a ‘Latin lover,'” Corallo said. “He didn’t like being a movie star at all. He was quite shy, and he loved real life far more than the glamorous surface of the movie world.
Corallo said he deliberately did not delve into the gossipy side of Mastroianni’s personal life. “He had a tortured love life, including important romances with actresses Faye Dunaway and Catherine Deneuve, but we tried to tell them in a light-hearted way,” the journalist said. “We let him talk about himself, and we let the people who worked with him talk about Mastroianni.”
One of Corallo’s discoveries was Mastroianni’s interviews in other languages, which often allowed the actors to reveal a lighter, funnier side of themselves. “He was more spontaneous when interviewed in other languages. For example, we found a lengthy interview on Spanish television, and another in English, the dick cavitt show In 1977, he and Sophia Loren were interviewed for an hour. They are like-minded, sarcastic, funny, light-hearted and sincere. We only had a minute of the interview, but it was a gold mine.
To connect interviews and archival footage, Corallo used a series of short dramatic reenactment scenes with Italian actors Luca Argentero and Barbara Venturato. “We created these little fictional inserts in which we imagined a young assistant editor, Barbara Venturato, making a documentary about Mastroianni but knowing nothing about him. . And so Luca Argentero – a very familiar face to Italian audiences – explains to his young friend the true greatness of this giant of our cinema.
The director added: “We tried to create an intimate portrait of Mastroianni. I hope we succeeded.
