Il Messagero, 01.04.2001
The director celebrates "his" workers at Cinecittą: «Stupendous, these Italians!»
by SALVATORE TAVERNA
The motors roar, apparition of luxurious cars, yes, the cars of the production pass quickly. For the last choral supper of Martin Scorsese, Cinecittą is armored. All together must be protected: guards of the Studios, ten ,,custodian angels" of our house, about twenty gruff and unpleasant American ,,gorillas". The filters work to the perfection, and the people who have worked for six months at the studio 5 of Cinecittą, in Gangs of New York, can enter in peace. Crowd of Stars? Not even for a dream! Carpenters, electricians, tailors and truccatori, propmen and operators, people who are used to work behind the scenes: yes, the people of artisans that works in the Roman studios. «Children, you have been great», king Scorsese thunders. Ten minutes and he disappears swallowed by the paths of Cinecitta. The crowd (seven hundred guests) exults. How pleasant it is to see an angle in the New York of the middle of the nineteenth century again: the small brick houses, the factory of beer, the Chinese pagoda with the wood galleries around and the little church that Martin, king of Hollywood, didn't want to realize anymore. «It costs too much», he told the set designer Dante Ferretti. But shortly before the work started, last summer, Tom Cruise said: «A village without church frightens». And Martin agreed.
Everybody searches him! On the set, unbelievable, it was forbidden to the extras to greet him. Leo DiCaprio, the superbandito, after having strolled around together with the gorillas with a golf car, storms right into the party. He launches smiles, sips Italian spumantino (sparkling wine, Sekt), makes ciao with his hand, pounces on the pennette primavera (noodles) and tastes a bit of bufala with pachinos (something of buffaloes???). Then he dances wildly for about twenty minutes.
But all glances are aimed at her: appearance and escape of Cameron Diaz? But never! Here it is only the diva's double. The most likeable? Daniel Day Lewis, the gangster- butcher, violent, bold, playful. And of the Italians, who is there? Felice Laudadio, president of Cinecittą, the super director of the Holding Francesco Gesualdi with his beautiful wife Cristina, the entrepreneur Matilde Bernabei, the director Margherita von Trotta, the manager of events Tiziana Rocca, the pornostar Eva Henger and the lawyer of the cinema Gianni Massaro: he greets those he knows and he goes quickly to the little meal in the house of Antonello Venditti.
Four orchestras perform jazz passages, musicians alternate as at New Orleans, toasts (Trinksprüche) one after another, hunting of sweets, candies created by maestro Vanni. But, nothing dawn. At 2.00 in the morning, lights are gone out, the voices are kept silent, in the dark, people whisper: «good night, to the next adventure». The cars of the production roar, goodbye stars of Hollywood, the ,,aliens" leave !
Translated by Mona Lisa - thank you !
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