Q&A in Venice 80 between the actor and Andrea Iervolino on how, from Gucci House to Ferrari, to entrust Italian roles to non-Italian actors. And how to restart our industry
Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images; ILBE
On the sidelines of press activity Slowly Stefano Sollima, Pierfrancesco Favino sparked the first controversy in “Venice 80”, which concerns the assignment of Italian roles to actors who are not Italian. “Gucci had a New Jersey accent, didn’t you know that?” – the actor joked, meaning House of Gucci Ridley Scott, where Lady Gaga and Xi played the role of Patricia Reggiani and members of the Tuscan haute couture dynasty, against the background of stereotypes and increased imitation of the Italian accent by the performers.
“There is a topic of cultural appropriation, it is not clear why, not me, but actors of this level,” Favino said, referring to colleagues from Slowly Toni Servillo, Adriano Giannini and Valerio Mastandrea “are not involved in this film, which instead confides in foreign actors far removed from the real protagonists of the stories, starting with an exotic accent. If a Cuban can’t make a Mexican, why can an American make an Italian? Only here. ferrari at another time Gassman would do it, today Driver does it and no one says anything. It seems to me that this is a disdainful attitude towards the Italian system: if these are general laws, then we participate in them.”
And the response from Andrea Iervolino, CEO of the ILBE group and producer of the film, came just in time. ferrari, which highlights the lack of a “made in Italy” star system: “Over the past thirty years, Italian cinema has not created a star system recognizable to the world, as it was in Gassmann’s time,” he commented, comparing with other European industries. “Other non-American countries, on the other hand, have taken a different, possibly successful approach: Banderas, Bardem, Cruz, Kassel, Cotillard, Kinnaman, Mikkelsen, Schoenaerts, Kruger have now become international names. On the other hand, in Italy, to bring out Italian talent, you need to make international films with both foreign and local actors. Only in this way will Italian talents, of which there are so many, but not yet all revealed, begin to gain worldwide fame. Italian cinema must go beyond its own country and realize synergy with an international industry that wants to invest in iconic “Made in Italy” productions. Films like ferrari they promote Italy and the Italian genius in the world, giving prestige and visibility to the true talents of our country.”
And more: “To restart Italian cinema, we must make films with stories that speak to the whole world, with international stars who work side by side with our talents and with our local workers. Let me give you an example: in our film Modiglianidirector Johnny Depp, Riccardo Scamarchio will be one of the main characters, he will be joined by Al Pacino and many others.