Isabella Rosellini said at the
presentation of a documentary on her father's existential and
professional crisis in the mid 50s at the Rome Film Festival
Thursday that the great neorealist director hadn't wanted to be
a monument of Italian cinema.
"Dad always said: there's nothing worse than Rossellini's
followers. The fact is, he didn't want to be a monument, but
then when he discovered I'd secretly watched his films, he was
moved, " she said at the fest where "Roberto Rossellini - More
than a Lifetime" by Ilaria De Laurentiis, Andrea Paolo Massara,
and Raffaele Brunetti was presented in competition ahead of a
theatrical debut on November 3-5.
The wide-ranging documentary tells the story of a genius, a less
provincial Italian cinema, and, finally, a fifty-year-old man in
the midst of an existential and professional crisis.
It's 1956, and Rossellini's successes like "Rome, Open City" and
"Paisan" are long gone.
Things aren't going well with his second wife, Hollywood star
Ingrid Bergman, either, and the films he made with
her—"Stromboli," "Europa 51," and "Viaggio in Italia"—are
critical and commercial failures.
The documentary also features both public accounts
reconstructing the director's presence in the history of cinema
and voiceovers—taken from original writings—that reveal his
intimate side.
On the voice front: Sergio Castellitto plays Roberto Rossellini,
Kasia Smutniak is Ingrid Bergman, Isabella Rossellini plays
herself, as do Tinto Brass and Silvia D'Amico.
Renzo Rossellini, Roberto's son, is voiced by Vinicio Marchioni,
and Aldo Tonti, his director of photography, is voiced by
Pierluigi Gigante.
"I'm truly grateful that my father's voice and message have been
found in this documentary. Dad always told us what cinema was
and how much he hated being called an artist.
"We often talk about my parents and their success, but I can
never truly capture their truth," said Isabella Rossellini, who
saw her parents separate when she was just five years old.
The actress and director added: "I also only saw my mother's
films late, thanks to a Rai program by Gianluigi Rondi that
featured a retrospective of hers. "The problem was that I was
only twelve and had to go to bed early, but luckily an exception
was made to let me see them."
At the height of the crisis, in 1956, Rossellini sailed for
Bombay, where he fell in love with Sonali, hired her as a
screenwriter, and separated from Ingrid Bergman because of her.
'Roberto Rossellini - Più di una vita' extends to May 1977, when
the Cannes Film Festival offered him the jury presidency, where
the Taviani brothers' low-budget TV film 'Padre Padrone'
surprisingly won.
Only a month later, on June 3, 1977, Roberto Rossellini died.
Finally, Isabella Rossellini offered a reflection on the
archives: "They are wonderful because they allow us to
rediscover the art of cinema.
"My family, however, deserves praise because we have been saving
all the letters and papers for fifty years.
"Things that often get lost and some people sell them; perhaps a
letter signed by Federico Fellini could pay the phone bill."
On Driday at the Rome Film Festival, there will be another
tribute to Rossellini.
The Cineteca di Bologna and The Film Foundation will present the
restoration of 'Un pilota ritorna' (A Pilot Returns) from 1942,
starring Massimo Girotti as Second Lieutenant Rossati, taken
prisoner during the Italian campaign in Greece.
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