Kevin Spacey at the Turin Cinema Museum: “Thanks for having the balls to invite me”

“Thanks for having the balls to invite me here tonight.” Kevin Spacey he says it right in Italian: “le balls”. During the awards ceremony that saw him receive the Stella della Mole at the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, the two-time Oscar winner wanted to thank several people and launched into what appears to be the first comment, albeit indirect, worldwide on his legal case. Many people thanked for the recognition from Turin: from his partner Evan Lowensteinto the Undersecretary of Culture Vittorio Sgarbi – who quotes Caravaggio before the award ceremony -, up to his Italian voice actor Robert Pedicini (present with a lot of motivation for the award read live) and to the fans without whom “I would not have had this career”. Spacey in a black tuxedo and purple/burgundy bow tie recalled his first role at school, that of a comwboy who robbed banks, the first of many who “filled” him: “put on someone else’s shoes, understand the people behind the characters it has become my life”. Finally, before sitting down and starting the masterclass on his career, here’s the jab that will cause discussion far beyond the Po: “My heart is full of gratitude for the Cinema Museum which had the balls to invite me here tonight”. The reference to the weight of silence suffered in the last five years when Spacey was canceled from the films made is clear (All the money in the world), removed with a claim for damages from the set of House of Cardsessentially erased from the history of Hollywood cinema.

It was there prima exit publish actor’s world of American Beauty, Seven e The usual suspects after the cyclone of sexual harassment allegations that swept him in November 2017 essentially stalling his career. However, Spacey recently won, with a not guilty verdict, the mother of all accusations: the trial that saw Anthony Rapp as a victim, the one who had first accused and then denounced the actor for harassment back in 1996. In other proceedings held in the United States, Spacey was found not guilty, or the case was dismissed, or the accusation was dropped due to sudden death of the accuser. But today they remain in to be set accuse ended up in court on British territory by three men regarding sexual misconduct between 2001 and 2004. It was from Turin, where he had already arrived for several days, that Spacey connected himself via video to one of these trials, in front to the judge of Southwark Crown Court in London, pleading not guilty to the seven charges against him. This is the judicial premise before the assignment of the Turin prize which took place after a masterclass at the Cinema Museum. To the controversies of recent days for the award to the Oscar-winning actor, the Museum had replied: “No second thoughts. We reward Spacey’s artistic life, we are the Cinema Museum, the home of cinema and we are talking about cinema”.