“The cinema of the Taviani brothers was for me fundamental and pioneering a certain way of looking at cinematic history, diving into popular roots and transforming them into epic and poetry,” Paolo Virzì told ANSA in Campidoglio Hall of the Protomoteca where the secular ceremony takes place for Paolo Taviani. The director's widow, Lina Nerli Taviani, welcomed the coffin along with her children Valentina and Ermanno and grandchildren, as well as Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and City Councilor Miguel Gotor.
Among the many friends and colleagues who came to say their final farewell, Paolo Virzì, Laura Morante, Pupi Avati, Lello Arena, Nanni Moretti, who sat down at the back of the room, Jasmine Trinca, Walter Veltroni, Angelo Barbagallo, Roberto Andò, Mario Martone, Beppe Fiorello, Antonio Manetti.
“There is a special film, The Night of San Lorenzo, which my family and I – adds Virzì – watched with great devotion because it told our story in a tender and moving way. Paolo he was a very kind and generous person, a great friend who welcomed me from a young age, whom I asked for a lot of advice and who often encouraged me. I also asked him where he bought these beautiful Chinese hats and he gave me one that I'm wearing today.
They echo in the hall, waiting for the ceremony to begin. the notes of the soundtrack by Leonora Addio, Paolo Taviani's latest film. On the coffin a cushion of red roses and between the crowns that of the capital Rome. Below is a large screen showing photos of Paolo and Vittorio Taviani on their sets.
In the last months and weeks, “even when he was very unwell, Dad always tried to work angrily and angrily on his new film The Song of the Jellyfish and his greatest wish, until the last moment, was to say two words, Engine and action.” . He says it Paolo Taviani's son Ermanno closes his memory of his father at the secular ceremony in the Protomoteca Room in the Capitol, where friends, admirers and colleagues gathered with the family of the filmmaker, who died on February 29 at the age of 92. A wave of emotions and affection, introduced by the notes of the director's latest film, Leonora Addio, and accompanied by images on a large screen of Paolo and Vittorio on their sets.
Among the speeches were those of the Mayor of Rome, Capitale Gualtieri, the President of the Tuscan Region Eugenio Giani, Marco Bellocchio, the producer Donatella Palermo, Claudio Bigagli, the grandchildren Sebastiano and Emilia.
Gualtieri, affection and gratitude for Taviani
“We feel great affection and gratitude for everything that Paolo has given together with Vittorio”, a “huge thank you for all the emotions that you have made us experience with the depth and humanity of your films”. This is what the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, says in his speech at the secular ceremony for Paolo Taviani, currently taking place in the Sala della Protomoteca in the Campidoglio.
“What they meant to the history of cinema and culture is being written all over the world. “My generation and I have waited for each of their films,” he adds, “we were brought up with these films, with characters that could touch us deeply.” makes us think. Among the memories that the mayor associated with their films “is the evening in November 1978 when my parents stopped me to see Padre Padrone, a film that marked an era, the death on spears of the fascist Giglioli in The Night of San.” Lorenzo, the white mountain of Kaos”.
In the cinema “of Paolo and Vittorio there was the gap between the choices and lives of people and the great events that have shaped us, the relationship between people and a history of individuals”. They had “the natural gift of storytelling, from great authors such as Shakespeare and Pirandello to long passages of folk tales. Her films do not age, they are classic, universal, accessible and projected into the future.”
Those who came to honor the director included Nanni Moretti, who sat movingly in the back of the room, Jasmine Trinca, Laura Morante, Angelo Barbagallo, Roberto Andò, Lello Arena, Mario Martone and Pupi Avati. Speeches included the president of the Tuscan Giani region, Marco Bellocchio, editor Roberto Perpignani, producer Donatella Palermo, Claudio Bigagli, grandchildren Sebastiano and Emilia.
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