“I can’t say I really ‘invented’ the modern man’s crisis. But I can say that I at least anticipated it as a topic for discussion ».
In his books there are always very strong and determined women, Antonella Boralevi. But from here to the “killing” of manhood, a lot of water flows under the bridges …
“I related less to novels and more to working on television. Although I wanted to bring my nature as a writer to the screen. I thought about this when I created a lengthy talk show in 1994 devoted to then-nonexistent themes of “the soul.” It was called Men on Rai2. And thirty years ago, men rarely talked about their innermost feelings. It was felt to be too feminine.”
Have men opened up to her?
“In one episode, Luciano Pavarotti told me that he no longer wanted to be with his wife (Adua Veroni, his first wife), in another, Maurizio Costanzo told me that he wanted to have a child with Maria De Filippi … and he said it first me than you. If I’m a writer, it’s because I believe in others, in other people’s feelings. I want to say that.”
In his latest novel “Magnifica Creature” (La Nave di Teseo), the two sisters are protagonists, emblematic figures in relation to this argument: there is the relationship between them, that with men, their role in society… But it is fixed more than half a century ago. Today the world has changed.
«My field of study has always been the human heart. I’m deeply interested in relationships, in feelings, especially those that are untold, in that part of emotions that we often keep secret even from ourselves. I believe what the philosopher Epictetus said: that a man’s character is his destiny. That applies to me, maybe it applies to everyone, it certainly applies to my characters. Feelings and emotions change according to you and not according to the time you have lived. What changes is the story. And there comes a time in life when history pats you on the back and forces you to change, it’s the time when you have to confront yourself. You feel the same things as before, but react and act differently. In the 1950s and 1960s, women were assigned only one destiny, marriage. But it was an Italy that believed in dreams and dreams were possible. Today we are tested differently».
The underlying theme is: Believe in yourself. And it’s in all his books.
«To know how to bring forth the magnificent creature that is within you. That’s why I chose this title ».
When did Antonella Boralevi start believing in herself?
“I remember that day well. I was ten years old, I was playing a tennis match at the Cascine. And I lost the first set 0-5. When changing places, I pass the bench where my father and my opponent’s father were sitting. I hear the latter say a phrase to his daughter like “You ate it now” and I made eye contact with my daughter as a parent. He’s staring at me and it’s like I’m reading these words in his head: “But really you want to give it to him”? Then I understood. i believed it And not only did I win that set 7-5, I also won the other two sets 6-0 and 6-0. Because I felt that he believed in me and that’s why I could believe in me too».
With such an image in mind, tennis will have become very important in his life…
“And how. And in fact I still play with it, albeit very occasionally, just for fun. I also ski and sail at sea. But I only consider these activities as a way to feel good among friends ».
And when did she realize she was going to be a writer?
“I always thought and imagined that I wanted to write. When I was in fifth grade, going from private to public school, it was a terrible year, I seemed doomed. Then one day the teacher gave a topic about summer memories, and what I wrote suddenly catapulted me into the outcast of the class to the student whose topic was read in all departments. Kind of a role model for everyone else. I told about my summer in Forte dei Marmi and ended with the sentence “and the sea continued to wet the pebbles in the sand”. That’s when I realized that writing is my nature. But my children, who I had very young, still ask me to summarize the concepts ».
She had clear ideas early on…
«Right after graduating in Philosophy of Language, a brand new discipline in the History of the Italian Language course, Professor Giovanni Nencioni gave me the opportunity to join a research group at the Normale di Pisa. But in the meantime I was a hostess at Pitti and watched a preview of the fashion shows. One evening it occurred to me to write an article about one of these fashion shows and I went to drop it off at the hotel where I knew all the journalists were staying. After reading it, one of them made me an offer of cooperation. When I found myself at the Scuola Normale and sat down in front of Professor Nencioni, I said to him with an open heart: I’m leaving school, I want to be a journalist ».
“I still remember the light shining on him from the right and his face. He was so handsome, tall, elegant… he looks at me and says, “Ah, did they call you at the Corriere della Sera?” I could only stare at his inkwell, I didn’t have the courage to look him in the face. I took strength and replied: “No, to the Santa Croce sull’Arno shoe magazine”. Was my first piece, titled Boccaccio’s shoe, found in Certaldo? ».
He had a lot of courage.
“When I decided I really wanted to be a journalist, I made an appointment with the editor of a Florentine newspaper. The interview took place in a room where he, the theater critic and one of the main names on the front page were present. They were three men in their 50s. And I was 22. You represented the Florentine journalism establishment. I’m a bit surprised by the idea of meeting three people, I don’t even have time to sit down and the director says to the other two: “Here she is the one who wants to be a journalist ha ha ha ”. laugh huh He laughs. At that point, it became my concern to prove that this humiliation would be the start of something important.
What was the moment when, looking back, she said: Have I never been so brave?
“When I waited three days to be received by Giovanni Minoli in a Rai corridor for the opportunity to make men. I waited a whole morning, a whole afternoon, then another morning, another afternoon… Until eventually he opened the door for me. He said he thought “this one must really have something to say to me or she wouldn’t be so stubborn”.
And the moment when, looking back, she thought: Have I never been so cowardly?
“It never happened. Never had a moment of weakness. I always took all the risks ».
And the moment she thought she was delusional?
“Men have never deceived me. But some women did: they seemed like girlfriends, but they could really hurt me in my career. And they did. I remember one editor who suddenly stopped publishing my interviews and the fourth time I went to the editor to protest. To show him that this person is boycotting me, that he wanted to destroy my reputation.
Men never fooled her, but love?
“I don’t consider the word love ‘neutral’ and it has been overused for the past twenty years, we use it to mask all manner of baseness, from murder to betrayal of principle and trust. I’ve never had love disappointments in the Trap of Mental Openings: They made me realize that the relationship in a relationship is not with the other but with yourself.
Pick a year in your life that you see as a turning point for some reason.
“When I moved to Milan, I left Rai 2 to go to Rete 4, which at the time was just the telenovelas channel and they wanted to make it an in-depth network with the Shadow Lines program, a talk show about forgiveness , by Illness, Loneliness, Love and Betrayal, which talked about fathers and children, about adoptions, where Marta Russo’s mother and the man who carried his heart in his chest came. We are in the late 90’s and I have found that life in Milan is very different from life in Florence. Because when I was working for Rai in Rome, I stayed in Florence to live there. Then it was no longer possible ».
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May 23, 2022 | 06:56
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