Christian De Sica, a word that describes his father Vittorio well.
“A God.”
Really.
“Actually: my God. So much so that even today, before a theater debut, I never say “My God help me,” but “Papa, help me.”
Is he still talking to her?
“His life and his art lessons speak to me. An elegant, crazy man from another time.”
Unfaithful.
“Bigamist, to be precise. I was the son of the mistress he lived with, Maria Mercader, his wife Giuditta Rissone lived not far away and he loved them both. That would be unacceptable today, but this was the 20th century.
Did the two women hate each other?
“My mother suffered, I know, but after her death they became friends.”
His extended family. Every now and then a sister would show up, as she says in the book Two or Three Things That Happened to Me.
“Once a Spanish woman called me and said: “Hello, I'm Vittoria De Sica, your Hermana.” Dad explained to me that his mother Maria recited García Lorca's poems in a sublime way, and so… Emi, mine Sister, I met her when we were already adults, and not because Dad introduced her to us (not). I never found the courage), but because one day she called home and said: “I am Emilia, your father's daughter, and I wanted to meet you.” I have loved her all my life.
She has been with Silvia Verdone, Carlo's sister, for fifty years.
“Now you’re going to ask me what the secret is, I know. We laugh a lot, we don't take ourselves seriously, we respect each other. I met her when she was 14.
It's not enough. Can you sleep with the same person your whole life?
“Yes. I am confident. And now that I'm seventy, never talk to me about love!'
No, no, I insist: What solidifies lasting unions?
“Hungry sometimes. I was hungry and Silvia was hungry with me. Months of skipping meals or sharing an egg, I remember the years when I was filming a film in Paris. My father died when I was 23, and even though I'm now known as “the one from the Cinepanettoni”, i.e. a blockbuster, there were times in our lives when no one would let me work.”
Why “Son of Art”?
“Yes, for many reasons. I wanted to be an actor at all costs, and many said I should have been content with being a writer. My wife supported and encouraged me, for example when doing theater.”
Is it true that there was an argument with Carlo (Verdone) when he found out that she was courting his then young sister?
“No, there was an argument, but no punches. Carlo is one of the most important people in my life today. Apart from the fact that we often worked together. Even though De Laurentiis often separated us on set because he said that we were wasted together and that we could enrich two films instead of just one.”
The love of money?
“You could think that I became a millionaire with the Cinepanettoni. The truth is that it was the producers, not me. Of course, “Christmas on the Nile” brought in 42 million euros, an enormous sum. But I'll tell you an anecdote: De Laurentiis commented on another film that grossed 20 million and said that “the previous film had grossed more.” Thank God Cortellesi is here today, otherwise I don't see cinemas well. My heart is crying.”
Another great love, his mother Maria.
“I think it's thanks to her that I'm a comedian today: she had more sense of humor than my father.” She and Vittorio were very close, also because dad knew how to fix things.
Was comedy a choice?
“I was a brilliant actor who then found his comedic bent.” But in that field I became number one. If I had made different choices, maybe I would have been number ten? Or a hundred?'
What did your father dream for you?
“Certainly not that I was an actor. He was proud of my art and literature studies, then I told him I wanted to be an actress. He wasn't happy, but he came to the theater and said to me, “It's OK.”
His life seems like a Zavattini story: encounters with unusual characters, funny and dramatic things.
“I once threw a party for Liza Minnelli in Rome. She drank three bottles of Falanghina and when we finally put her in the taxi we discovered that the dog was missing from home. He had taken it and we had to fight to get it back, he said it was his.
Before you met Silvia Verdone, you were engaged to Isabella Rossellini.
“But then she met a painter and left me. Then she went to America and married Martin Scorsese. Today, however, we are good friends.”
And are you still friends with Massimo Boldi?
“Yeah, just remember he was a drummer when I met him. The cinema came later. We also had a reunion after the Cinepanettoni split up.”
Love is also gratitude. Who do you say you are grateful to today, at age 72?
“However, I would like to mention Peppino De Filippo to many. During one of the most difficult times when I was unemployed, he was the only one who helped me.”
Friends again. Unexpectedly we find Bettino Craxi.
“It all started because Carlo (Verdone, editor's note) was afraid of taking a plane. He had gotten married and didn't know what to do for his honeymoon. Silvia and I were planning to travel to Tunisia, so he and Gianna Scarpelli, his ex-wife, came to join us. In a café in Hammamet, I felt a finger tapping my shoulder. I turned around and found Craxi. He told us that he was a fan of ours and invited us to his villa. He was a very friendly person and never asked me for any favors. To be honest, he was even the one who suggested meeting someone from Rai 2 to get me to work, but I was already working and said no.”
She once made Rainier of Monaco drunk, also out of friendship.
“To protect a photographer friend. We were at a party hosted by Ranieri and Grace Kelly. The photographer took great photos with his camera in the room with his then partner and then started photographing Carolina. With lightning-quick cunning, Ranieri took the camera and put it in his pocket. I had to get her back somehow and I could only think of one thing: get him drunk.
Brando and Maria Rosa.
“Our two children, our assets. I don't say this because it's my blood, but they are intelligent, cultured and respectful.
A dream?
“Two. Two films that are there, ready to be made, but no one wants to make them. There are two serious films that I have written. I pay the price of a cameraman and no one believes that I have the trump card of a dramatic actor. Maybe they'll give it to a young man who hasn't done anything, but not to me. Nevertheless, I made dramatic films, like “Lemons in Winter” by Caterina Carone. But that's okay, because Dad always repeated, “Always try to laugh.” Even at funerals. Enjoy every moment because then it will fly by.”