Silent brave

Marcello Mastroianni (Fontana Lira, Frosinone, 1924 – Paris, 1996), whose birth is celebrated this year, was one of those indelible names that marked a generation with fire, albeit on different scales, like Vittorio Gassman, Aldo Fabrizi, Virna Lisi. Alberto Sordi, Giancarlo Giannini, Giuglietta Masina, Gina Lollobrigida, Nino Manfredi, Ana Magnani, Silvana Mangano, Virna Lisi, Lucia Bosé, Massimo Girotti, Renato Salvatori, Ugo Tognazzi or Loren herself. A generation inspired by the foresight of the new reality emerging from the ashes of war, but also A deep desire to liberate Italian cinema from old and iron canons It was imposed by the so-called ‘telefoni bianchi’ comedies, which contributed greatly to the whitewashing of the long and dark fascist period. And on the occasion of this anniversary, premiered in the competitive section of the last Cannes festival and with an uneven reception from international critics, ‘Marcello mio’ (2024), directed by Christophe Honoré and staged by the actor’s daughter Chiara Mastroianni – a film in which an “inexpressible” tribute is made to the legendary actor.

Clear evidence of the versatility that has always characterized his rich professional career is clearly highlighted in the approximately one hundred and seventy feature films and feature films in which he has participated. a wide variety of characters He embodied it. His brief appearances as an extra in more or less irrelevant films such as ‘Marionette’ (1938) by Carmine Gallone; ‘The Iron Crown’ (1940) by Alessandro Blasetti; ‘Una storia d’amore’ (1942) by Mario Camerini or ‘Three in love’ (1952) by Luciano Emmer, are unforgettable performances as a leading figure in many of the most influential Italian productions of the fifties and sixties. The filmography of Federico Fellini, Vittorio de Sica, Francesco Rosi, Luchino Visconti, Mario Monicelli, Jules Dassin, Michelangelo Antonioni, Ettore Scola, Marco Ferreri, Alberto Lattuada, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Luigi Comencini, Ettore Scola, John Boorman, the famous batons of Jaques Demy, Roman Polanski or Liliana Cavani is undoubtedly an indisputable example constitutes.

However, his first and hesitant steps into the acting profession never deterred him from pursuing this profession. healthy self-criticism exerciseAs can be seen in his memoirs ‘(Yes, I remember…)’, published a year after his death, he openly stated: “I made a few really bad films,” he emphasized, “especially at the beginning of my career (and also afterwards). Of all the people I interfered with, More than twenty were really mediocre, really bad. Because in the cinema one has to be seen; he cannot choose the films he wants to make. Sometimes you know that it will not be a good film because of the script, but you always trust luck. Have you ever seen something that shows that the film turned out well? Then, as the success increases, we have to buy a villa, a swimming pool, even a yacht. I did all this, this is pure truth: yes, because these goals represent success at the end of the day and also prosperity, everything needs to be said.

Almost twenty years later, the most glorious names of post-war Italian cinema (Gina Lollobrigida, Eleonora Rossi Drago, Marisa Alassio, Silvana Pampanini, Sandra Milo, Sophia Loren…) were cast in traditional comedies, as if they were the “good guy” roles: with very high grossing but mostly false titles like “A Life of Dogs” (1950) by Steno and Mario Monicelli; “Sensualitá” (1952) by Clemente Fracassi; Without mysterious and flashy ‘peplums’ such as ‘The Thief, His Father and the Taxi Driver’ (1954), written by Alessandro Blasetti, the Spanish-Italian co-production ‘Tirma’ (La pincipessa della Canarie, 1954), filmed entirely in Gran Canaria, directed by Paolo Moffa and Carlos Serrano de Osma, based on the drama of the same name by Juan del Río Ayala, to which a battalion of screenwriters, including Michelangelo Antonioni, were attached. His star took a radical turn after his participation as the ill-fated protagonist in ‘White Nights’ (1957), his first cinematic experience with Luchino Visconti, adapted from Fiódor Dostoyevsky’s novel, for which the Milanese director would receive the Silver Lion award that year. and would give Mastroianni the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival, from that moment on, one of the most brilliant and groundbreaking film careers of its time.

His intervention is as follows: silent hero, in love and defenseless This stylized adaptation of the Russian writer’s novel claims that Carlo Lizzani’s ‘Cronache dei poveri amanti’ (1954); Mario Monicelli’s ‘White Nights’ and ‘Rufufú’ (1958) The star of ‘La dolce vita’ (1960), a particularly brutal chronicle of the corruption of the Roman upper bourgeoisie; it would be followed by other great Italian works of that decade, such as ‘Beutiful Antonio’ ​​(1960), by Mauro Bolognini; ‘The Night’ (1961), by M. Antonioni; ‘The Assassin’ (1961), by Elio Petri; ‘Private Life’ (1962), by Louis Malle; ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’ (1963) and ‘Marriage, Italian Style’ (1964), directed by Vittorio de Sica; ‘The Stranger’ (1967), his second work under Visconti’s direction, inspired by the novel of the same name by Albert Camus; Mario Monicelli’s ‘Rufufú’ (1958), the English John Boorman’s ‘I Read the End’ (1970) or Ettore Scola’s ‘A Certain Day’ (1977) drama about Mussolini’s Italy. A time that allowed him to experiment with a new type of character, above all, far from those he had represented in his mild beginnings as a leading actor in light comedies, an experience he would repeat playing an anthological Giacomo Casanova in ‘Night’. Varennes (1981), also written by Scola himself.

Behind him resounding success The actor who was achieved with the role of a lazy and lost journalist in ‘La dolce vita’, would return as the leading role in four other films signed by the Rimini master, offering performances as unforgettable as that of the filmmaker surrounded by his environment, wandering between reality and dreaming in ‘Fellini 8/2’ (1963); his unforgettable short role in ‘Roma’ (1971); the dreamy man who falls for the fugitive beauty of a mysterious woman in ‘The City of Women’ (1980) or the old dancer who stars in this dazzling and decadent film with Giulietta Massina, Fellini’s wife at the time. The satire about the world of Italian television in ‘Ginger & Fred’ (1985).

But his action framework would continue to surpass other film scripts as radical or more radical than Fellini’s. In 1973, with his bags full of absolutely indescribable characters, he would take on the role of an airline pilot who, accompanied by Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli and Philippe Noiret, embarks on a huge party with the clear intention of suicide. Marco Ferreri. ‘The Grand Comilona’, part of the original script written by Rafael Azcona and Ferreri himself, was its title and was awarded this prize. FIPRESCI award (International Federation of Critics) At the Cannes festival, it caused the next scandal among the circles closest to the Vatican.

Mastroianni starred alongside the Taviani brothers in ‘Allonsanfan’ (1974), a subtle and original historical metaphor against revolutionary adventurism and the ideologies and practices of the Italian extreme left in the 60s and 70s of the last century; his most complex interpretations are accompanied by a superb score by the magnificent Ennio Morricone and the magnificent co-stars of Lea Massari and Laura Betti.