Orson Welles in Italia. Nuova edizione ampliata

by Alberto Anile, Pupi Avati (Preface)

In fuga da Hollywood, dal nascente maccartismo e dal fisco, Orson Welles atterrò a Roma nel 1947 e cercò subito di diventare cenò con Togliatti, corteggiò Lea Padovani, recitò con Totò, progettò film con Scalera e De Laurentiis. Ma l’Italia non lo i produttori si rimangiavano le promesse, i critici più influenti lo denigravano, anche le donne lo piantavano in asso. Dei mille film progettati riuscì a girarne solo uno (però un capolavoro), Otello, dopo la lavorazione più pazza della storia del cinema. E nel 1953, dopo aver litigato con tutti, ripartì. Questo libro ricostruisce i sei anni dell’esilio italiano di Welles, un periodo controverso trascorso fra entusiasmi e incomprensioni, fitto di episodi dimenticati o volutamente accantonati, in cui la personalità esuberante del regista, in perenne ebollizione creativa, fu sottovalutata e avversata in modo sconcertante. Sullo sfondo, l’Italia e il cinema italiano nel loro momento più alto e avventuroso, fra l’avvio della Repubblica e la conclusione del neorealismo. Testo ormai classico della bibliografia wellesiana, Orson Welles in Italia torna in un’edizione interamente rivista e aggiornata, con nuove testimonianze e scoperte, fra cui la sceneggiatura dall’Enrico IV di Pirandello e una Salomé proposta a Peppino Amato. “Mentre a Hollywood Welles con opulenza di mezzi filmava l’opulenza, in Italia era con povertà estrema di mezzi che si filmava la povertà. Come farà a frequentare il verosimile colui che si è forgiato nell’inverosimile?” dalla Prefazione di Pupi Avati

579 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Robert Walkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object? In the case of Orson Welles vs. Italy, you get a stalemate. And lots of headaches and heartaches. This book focuses on the years Welles lived in Italy after WWII, from 1947 to the mid-1950s

Once ensconced in Italy, Welles pursued his craft, and he pursued young starlets (this was after his divorce from Rita Hayworth), and he pursued money for his projects. But try as he might, Italy never really became his home, even though he took an Italian wife. This is because, according to Alberto Anile, most Italians never really understood Welles and his art. After a number of years, Welles went back to America (where they also didn’t understand him). Today Welles is probably remembered in the US as much for his pitch for Paul Masson wine (“We shall sell no wine before its time”) as he is for making Citizen Kane, a dubious accomplishment Welles must have foreseen. He died in Los Angeles in 1985. His ashes are buried, along with his wife’s, on an estate in Ronda, Spain.

This book is not for the general reader. It’s more for students and scholars who already know something about the subjects and are looking for more information and sources. On this level, the book succeeds very well. My favorite section is “Reviewing Othello.”

I got interested in learning more about Welles after recently watching The Magnificent Ambersons on Netflix. While the book delves into Welles’ personal life as well as the making (and sometimes abandonment) of several films, the focus is on the Italian reception to Welles, his movies, and movie-making practices. Anile opens his book with an account of Welles’ plane nearly running out of fuel on Welles’ way to Italy. He landed safely. But his life and career in Italy, except for his marriage to Paola Mori, never really got off the ground.

My only complaint abut the book is that it should have included a chronology. Welles does so many things and meets so many people. A timeline of events would have aided the reader in keeping track of it all.