“This note applies to every letter I have ever written to you. By the way, you’re always the prettiest. Luke». Marina smiles, the two stare at each other in the crowd and then – bam – Riccardo Cocciante’s hoarse voice begins: “That flash in the eye, bye/ Alright, it hurts, bye, but you/ You won’t die inside me more/ Celestial Blue Nostalgia». The final scene with Jerry Calà has been a super classic for 40 years.
However, time flies Marina Suma = Sapore di Mare, you cannot stop.
“Fans still send or ask me about it. This is where the heart of the film is contained. And that look between Jerry and I tells of the melancholy of loves that end, the lightheartedness of the summer that passes and the good years that don’t come back».
What was he thinking at that moment?
‘To my summer flirtations, to the sea, to us playing guitar on the beach, the same friends every year. When we were having little fun at midnight on August 15th and the swimming seemed like an adventure to who knows what, to the thrill of a kiss while playing the bottle. Today’s kids would think we’re crazy.”
Do you remember the set?
“It was an ensemble film, we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately I went with my friend Angelo Cannavacciuolo who played my brother Paolo. And while he was crying on one side because he wouldn’t close, on the other Jerry was courting me in his own way and I couldn’t take him seriously, I felt like laughing.”
Was the ad successful?
“Nooo. Just a kiss, nothing more.«
Virna Lisi.
“Wonderful friend, lady, intelligent, beautiful, I looked at her with those two eyes. In those years I encountered the myths of cinema: Gassman, Tognazzi, Manfredi, Mastroianni, Vitti, Sordi».
Albertone when?
«I met him in the 80s at the Ischia Festival. Very nice, he slapped my face and called me “Marina bella”».
She didn’t want to be an actress, but a stewardess.
‘When I was a little girl, my bedroom was full of photographs of airplanes. I had also taken a flight attendant course and passed selection at Alitalia. Then Salvatore Piscicelli called me to Le Occasiona di Rosa».
That was also Marina’s chance.
«I was very careful, I didn’t want to know, my friend Angelo convinced me that he was the protagonist. There were very strong sex scenes and at least I shot them with him.”
At 21 he won a David di Donatello and a Nastro d’Argento and found himself walking the catwalk at the Venice Film Festival.
‘Everything was new to me, the Excelsior, the Lido… I turned around and there was a star: Ornella Muti, Eleonora Giorgi, Gillo Pontecorvo. One evening I saw John Travolta a few feet away from me, a hallucinating cooler, I got electrocuted. And Rob Lowe, with certain blue eyes, not bad…».
Suggestions flooded.
“The first film was God Makes Them and then pairs them with Johnny Dorelli and Lino Banfi, directed by Steno, the Vanzina’s father. A little guy, skinny, very smart, very good on the set, he was always there, giving me advice, correcting me, but in a friendly way. Dorelli was a true gentleman. And Banfi is a sweetheart, a simple, humble person who I love very much».
He never worked with the Vanzinas again.
‘No, and I don’t know why. I was hoping for it but they never called me, I was a bit disappointed I’ll admit it. Not even Piscicelli looked for me again, except Metropolitan Blues, but he was known thanks to me».
Maybe he’ll pass for a difficult guy.
‘Not at all, I’ve never had a fight with anyone. I have my own character, of course, but I’ve never created any problems. It remains a mystery to me too.”
«Sing Sing» with Adriano Celentano.
«Nice guy Adriano, charismatic, he joked a lot. In one scene I was wearing a hat, my visor suddenly went down and I couldn’t see anything.”
Did he court her too?
“No, Claudia Mori was on the set.”
“Hearts in the Storm” with Verdone and Lello Arena.
“A scream. Already a hypochondriac, Carlo took the whole pharmacy with him. At that time he was suffering from labyrinthitis, poor thing, every now and then he would get dizzy and we had to stop. Then I discovered that I was also a hypochondriac and went around with a bag of meds, but smaller. I’m obsessed with prevention.”
And the Lello Arena?
‘Verdone used to joke with him. For a scene aboard a ship, we dressed up as a carnival. Lello wore a rabbit costume and Carlo squeezed his stomach to make the doll’s sound or pulled his tail. And now and then he got angry.
Massimo Troisi.
“One night he invited me to a party at his house, he was already ill and had low energy. I didn’t act in it, but I always took it as a point of reference. He had a good head and could talk about love.’
She was working very hard, then we lost sight of her.
“But I never left the cinema. That’s how it works in Italy. When you become famous with one film they immediately make you do many more, they squeeze you like a lemon and that’s it, they move on to the next one. I’ve done things with more distance over time. Three years ago I went to the theater with Sandra Milo. Last October I was in Bulgaria for the film Axes of Life. Now I’m filming in Naples. Born with criminals, I am a boss’s wife».
The business call you wish to receive.
«From Sorrentino or from Ozpetek, I love them».
He loved paragliding.
«When I had a friend in Milan, we went to Lake Lecco, to Carnizzolo, I knew everything about thermals. I must have made a hundred flights. I love dangers and extreme sports. I’ve also climbed Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa. And for two years I was diving: in the Maldives, in the Red Sea, in the Seychelles, in the Aeolian Islands».
She was against marriage and did not marry.
“I think it’s against nature, we were born to be free, why do you tie yourself to the same person all your life?”
Did you ask him?
‘Two or three times, but I said no. Now I’ve been single for three years and I’m enjoying life between Rome, Naples and the island of Salina. I don’t waste time with men anymore.’