«Chomme accumminciato? I was ‘nu guaglione, I had gone to see a great film, Rome open city. I had come out of ‘o cinema with all those images dint’ ‘a capa and all the emotions inside. I stopped ‘nu mumento and m’aggio ditto… Massimo, when you grow up you must be a surveyor». It was a joke, of course: Massimo Troisi – who would have turned 70 on February 19 – did not let himself be intimidated by Rossellini’s masterpiece and at the cinema it is Then dedicated, as an actor and as a director. As two documentaries now recall, Someone down there loves me by Mario Martone (will be presented at 73rd Berlin Film Festival) e Happy birthday Max Of Marco Spagnoli, broadcast on February 16 on Rai 3 at 21.25.
Two titles that add to My legend Massimo, documentary film by Alessandro Bencivenga released at the cinema in December, and From tomorrow I get up latemade by his nephew.
Massimo Troisi from Sorrentino to Ficarra and Picone
“I always thought that Maximum was a great director, unfortunately a lot underratedand into Someone up there loves me (in theaters February 23, ed) I try to demonstrate it by also talking about what links all his works, and how these intertwine with his great power as a comedian, which ended up prevailing in the collective imagination» explained Martone.
In editing they alternate clips from Troisi’s films and conversations with artists who were affected by it (from Francesco Piccolo and Paolo Sorrentino to Ficarra and Picone), critics who studied it (Goffredo Fofi and the editorial staff of the magazine Wild trails), plus Michael Radford and Roberto Perpignani, the director and editor of The postmanwhose success he could not enjoy (he died in his sleep, of a heart attack, a few hours after the end of filming, on June 4, 1994).
Massimo Troisi loved strong women
«The public will be able to discover how this artist, who is upstream of everything, has overturned a certain way of seeing Neapolitan culture, starting from a series of stereotypes constantly questioned» continues Martone, who made use of the collaboration of Anna Pavignanowriter, screenwriter and Troisi’s partner for ten years.
«Anna was also invaluable in showing something that is very close to my heart, the way in which Massimo rewrites the relationship between man and woman by portraying female figures completely new in Italian cinema and stubbornly staged film after film. Strong women from whom he is constantly put in crisis. At the heart of his cinema is love and the impossibility of reaching it. And then there’s Naples, the dissatisfaction with a city that always remains the same».
There is also Francesca Neri
Spagnoli’s approach is different for Happy birthday Maxon February 17 premiered at 21.25 on Rai 3 and on RaiPlay from February 19, which points – as well as on significant archival materials – on the testimonies of those who knew Troisi: from Renzo Arbore to Eugenio Bennato, from Enzo De Caro to Francesca Neri. An exceptional guide on this journey through Troisi’s life and “artistic and social” legacy is the writer Maurizio De Giovanniwho belongs to his own generation and who recalls the impact of his cinema and beneficial influence on Naples.
With some surprises, such as the participation of Frank Matanowho was only five years old when the actor and director passed away but who considers him one of his sources of inspiration.
Massimo Troisi in “The Postman”.
The family archive
Instead, it is already in the hall From tomorrow I get up late Of Stephen Venususthe nephew of Maximum who trained with him before completing his studies in Los Angeles. The story is inspired byhomonymous novel in which Pavignano recalls the love story with Troisi and imagines him at a mature age. Starring John Lynch (as Maximum) and Gabriella Pession (Anna). Excellent location for the preview, the National Archaeological Museum of Napleswhich until March 13 is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the illustrious (and much loved) Neapolitan.
Di Veneruso has also arrived in the bookstore My favorite verb is avoid (Rizzoli), tribute for words and images (many unpublished, coming from the family archive). “We had a fifteen-year age difference with Massimo,” explains the author. «He was born on February 19, 1953 and I on December 26, 1968. We grew up in a very healthy family. My mother Annamaria is the older sister and Massimo was the fifth of six children. Theirs was a very strong, tender relationship of great affection. Even if no one in the family was an artist, at the same time they were artists and they all are, artists in the way they faced and still face life».
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