Sordi and the cinema, Sordi and Rome, Sordi and Italy: in short: “Alberto Sordi and his time”, As the title of the exhibition curated by Alessandra Maria Sette, supported by the Sordi Foundation and organized from September 22nd to November 26th at Villa Sordi, the house-museum of the Roman actor and director who died twenty years ago, suggests the Celio Hill, at the beginning of the Appia Antica, against the backdrop of the Baths of Caracalla – by the Sordi Foundation under the patronage of Roma Capitale and in collaboration with Cinecittà, the Archivio Luce and Rai Teche. A life that will also be honored and remembered with the installation of a statue in the park of Villa De Sanctis next to Cinecittà next year, for which an ideas competition for young people has already been announced.
The exhibition is arranged chronologically, from the first post-war period and therefore from the birth of “Albertone” in Trastevere on June 15, 1920 to the day of his death on February 24, 2003 and his burial in the Cathedral of San Giovanni in Laterano. In addition to Sordi’s artistic history, the history of Italy is also included, for example in the style of the television program “History of an Italian” broadcast on Rai, which is traced using photos and recordings from his films from “The Great War” to “I vitelloni”. from “Stardust” to “Pretty, Honest, Emigrant…,” from “The Health Insurance Doctor” to “A Bit Bourgeois,” from “Prisoner Awaiting His Trial” to “Everyone Inside,” from “Intelligent Vacation” to “Travel “. with Dad”, from “Marchese del Grillo” to “Tassinaro” to “Nestore ultima corsa”.
“This place is not a museum and should not be,” explains Walter Veltroni, former deputy prime minister and mayor of Rome, now honorary president of the Sordi Foundation. “It’s a lively place because.” here Albertone thought, imagined, invented; and everything that is done will serve to maintain the idea of a creative laboratory. The exhibition represents a meritorious interweaving of Italian history, the history of cinema and the artistic history of Alberto Sordi: all his films have, to varying degrees, covered the entire history of the Italian 20th century, with the unifying feature of engaging with the theme , to speak and speak to reach the general public. And we want to celebrate this relationship between Sordi and Italy and between Sordi and his Rome, an indissoluble bond, to the point that it was not he who “acted” like a Roman, but the Romans who adapted to his accent and his adapted to his statements”.
For the Cultural Councilor of the Capitol, Miguel Gotor, “it is important to keep this place intact while avoiding a ‘musealization’ of the Sordi character, because nothing would be further from the soul of Albertone, who can say.” now experiencing a second season, thanks to the pills of social media that have the advantage of making him known to the younger generations who were not lucky enough to appreciate him during his lifetime. And we could also think – he assumes – to organize an arena for film festivals within the Roman estate on the square in front of Villa Sordi.
(by Enzo Bonaiuto)
