«The Spring of Italian Cinema – Federico II Award» is enriched with new guests: tonight at 8pm, on the stage of the Citrigno cinema Cosenzatogether with the actor Fortunato Cerlinoit will go up Alessandro Pondi, director of «A dangerous comedy». A “mystery” comedy with unpredictable implications, with nuances coming from different film genres. A celluloid melting pot…
Films for TV and films for the cinema, is there still a dividing line?
«Well, let’s say it would be nice to also see the great TV films at the cinema. I am a theater lover, but the current trend is to immediately produce for the TV platform. It’s a question of education in going to the theater. Today going to the cinema is more complicated. I believe that a good film can do very well in theaters and then have its whole life ahead of it when it is shown on various platforms.”
Mystery, emotion, mystery… but how much fun did you have writing and then directing “A dangerous comedy”?
«I had a lot of fun! It’s all the cinema that made me grow, that made me become who I am. It’s what I loved, from the great 007 classics to Blake Edwards’ Pink Panther but also Woody Allen and auteur cinema, I’m thinking of Kurosawa. So, I put inside the memories that I liked the most.”
How much did the funny and awkward profile of Peter Sellers’ Clouseau influence the character played by Brignano?
«A lot, also because I know Enrico Brignano well, I have already done “Tutta un’altra vita” with him and we had the opportunity to experience his comic verve first-hand. Enrico with his physicality, a little clumsy, robust, acts awkward. And I played on that. Clearly Peter Sellers is a master to be inspired by.”
It is not the first collaboration with Brignano, but the Roman actor’s stylistic signature in the film is not the one that made him famous…
“Yes, it’s true. I always try to write stories that can be played by actors playing characters and not characters playing themselves. And although in “Tutta un’altra vita” his role might have seemed closer to his character, in reality the inspiration was Alberto Sordi. Perhaps, Enrico Brignano is the Italian actor of today closest to Alberto Sordi. There’s also Max Tortora, who imitated him for a long time, but I’m talking about physicality and, perhaps, type of comedy. This time it was important that Enrico Brignano truly became Maurilio Fattardi.”
When you were writing the screenplay, did you already imagine Brignano in the role of the protagonist?
«Let’s say almost after the second page (laughs). When we started with my co-writer Paolo Logli to outline the character of the character, a little awkward, a little awkward, solitary, curious and in love with life, Enrico immediately came to mind. And it was all much easier.”
It’s the era of sequels and prequels… will there be a second case for Mao?
«I enjoyed inserting a sort of relaunch into the finale. But that relaunch is also a closure. I’m afraid that a sequel might take away the curiosity about the type of narration of the story. If they proposed it to me, I would think about it for a long time…”.
The event continues tomorrow at 8pm, at the San Nicola cinema, with «Rapito» by Marco Bellocchio, in the presence of Barbara Ronchi.