On Sunday 19, the great and versatile actress, who passed away in 2013, would have turned 80. “If she were here I would give her a magic wand to give her health and love”
«I am melancholy thinking about this anniversary. I lose my panache and my positivity. I darken ». On Sunday, Mariangela Melato would have turned 80. A woman with a rare and precious talent. As Alda Merini said of her, “a woman full of grace”. His artistic life is so varied, so full of theatrical, cinematographic, television and musical successes that it would be impossible to summarize them. Remembering her also brings us all to a name: Renzo Arbore, “Melancholy”. Their love is important, a precious story, an affection and a friendship that has never been extinguished. Until the very end.
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We are sorry to sadden you Renzo, asking you about Mariangela
«I love to remember Mariangela, her extraordinary talent, her grace, her uniqueness. Of course, anniversaries bring with them regrets and many reflections. But I am happy that it is remembered, indeed we should do it more. The first episode of “Illuminate” on Rai3 will be broadcast on Thursday 30 September, entirely dedicated to Mariangela Melato. I’m here too . We will see a lot of her, it is a beautiful tribute ». (And in the book “Mariangela Melato”, editions “Bianco e nero”, edited by Maurizio Porro we can learn about unpublished aspects of her life and career, ed).
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The world knows about Melato’s unforgettable artistic skills. You also tell us unpublished aspects of Mariangela: how old were you when you met?
“I was 36-37 years old (she was 4 younger than me). I met her at the Sistina Theater while she was collecting an award. I realized that among all the personalities present, the most modern and curious was that strange girl with short two-tone hair, who spoke quickly and with great knowledge of the facts. An exceptional talent. I invited her to my house one evening and she came with her sister ».
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How did the courtship continue?
“We went to Agostina Belli’s house where there was a party. I had convinced my friend Lucio Battisti to come with us. Lucio did not like parties and did not go anywhere because he said: “Then they make me sing”: I convinced him by saying “You’ll see that it won’t happen, let’s just eat one thing. I guarantee ”. He came. And it was he who, seeing a guitar, of his own free will took it and began to sing “I would, I would not, but if you can … how can a rock stem the sea …”. Mariangela and I looked at each other. We were already cooked ».
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And so a great love story was born …
«I began to frequent his house and an unforgettable love was born, very strong, respectful, very smiling. We laughed a lot. Yes, a smiling and extraordinary love story, without ever a fight. Never. I respected her opinions and she respected mine. We weren’t talking to be argumentative. I recognized her reasons, she mine, but more often I recognized hers, because women are more mature in that season of life. I was not a male chauvinist, but I carried with me a bit of “man is always a man” heritage, but with her that aspect had disappeared ».
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He speaks as if he had been completely kidnapped by her, by her soul, by her grace precisely.
“That’s right, I liked everything about her. Mariangela was self-made, she had a great culture, she read, studied, studied, studied. Theater was his great passion. In our story, I pretended not to know and when we went to the theater I asked to explain the plot ».
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Did you hang out with so many actors?
“We frequented many directors, especially those who worked with her. Franco Rosi, Mario Monicelli, Ugo Tognazzi, Elio Petri, Gian Maria Volonté, Lina Wertmuller, Alberto Sordi, Giuliano Montaldo. It was a good time because I got close to important cinema, thanks to le. “Il pap’occhio” was also born (directed by him, in 80, ed) where Mariangela very nicely played herself ».
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Have you ever sung together?
«Yes, I made her sing with my orchestra“ Solo me ne vo ‘per la città ”which then became our song».
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Were you in Rome for a long time then?
«Yes a lot, but at that time we also frequented Milan a lot. Mariangela’s parents were from Milan and she spoke an extraordinary, popular Milanese. There was also a magical cultural fusion between us: my Neapolitan character – songs, poems, characters of Neapolitan culture – and his Milanese character that he communicated to me through my frequentation with Jannacci, Gaber, Strehler, the Legnanesi. We have always graciously joked between the Milanese and the Neapolitan teasing ».
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Are there moments that are particularly etched in your memory?
«His 40th birthday and a New Year’s Eve: we had lots of invitations to lots of parties. We gave everyone a hole and spent that New Year at home, in Rome, with cotechino and lentils, just the two of us. We were too in love ».
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What is the adjective that best defines Mariangela Melato?
«Alda Merini defined her as“ A girl full of grace ”, a sentence engraved in my mind. I, who was beside her in good and bad times, who followed her until her death, can say that I have touched that grace with my hand. All time. He had no habit of actresses, he had no envy of anyone, he hated gossip, never any smallishness. Until her last breath (Mariangela passed away on 11 January 2013, ed), her sister Anna, her two best friends Annabella and Giovanna, and I assisted her. We assisted her in the painful years of her illness. My role until the day before the farewell was to make her smile ».
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Why and when did your love story end?
«Mariangela, in the early Eighties, went to the USA to try the American card. At that time there were no mobile phones and we got distracted. And we had also said to ourselves: “Be careful that we get distracted” … She had American meetings, I was distracted alone in Rome and so when after almost two years she returned we realized that we no longer had fun together. We tacitly let ourselves go, without arguing. It was a sweet departure, with no hard feelings. Except then resume after years (in 2007, ed). More adults, the couple has reformed also because the affection had remained intact even in the period of separation ».
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«Some loves don’t end, they make huge rounds and then come back» Venditti would say.
«An unimaginable story, ours is very anomalous. He has always kept us tied up in a thread. I traveled and bought gifts for her, when I could I called her by phone, we told each other our stories. An extraordinary woman in the literal sense of the term, one of those who hardly meet. She had her own popular nobility, but very pure, due to the effort she had made to become Mariangela Melato. He had a great ability to absorb the events of his life and of others. And he had great attention, great respect ».
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I guess she misses everything about her.
“Yup. I miss the great affection, the sentiment and its codes. Mariangela had codes: honesty, not thinking about money, fairness, superiority towards gossip, love for reading, information, studying. We talked about politics, we discussed ».
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Melato artist: how he tells it.
«A unique talent, an unparalleled artist. Many great actors, including Michele Placido, have always told me that she was the greatest theatrical actress of our time and Giancarlo Giannini said “I learned to act by watching her”. She did well in everything: from dramatic roles inOrlando furious, O Medea, a Filumena Marturano interpreting a Neapolitan genre that was certainly not his. And then many female characters in the cinema and on TV always to claim the power of women, their strength and independence, but she was also very good in the light show, she sang and danced in a divine way. She will be rediscovered as the great actress, like Duse “
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How would you celebrate Mariangela’s 80th birthday on Sunday if she were here?
“I would give her a magic wand, because she was linked to the world of fairies. A wand with which to live the years of the third age that would have brought us health, success and love. I would have gotten a fake magic wand, the American ones, to give her that wish she would have been very happy about. She was modest, a small gift was enough and she was happy ».
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Have you made yourself many gifts?
«Yes, many, with a lot of mutual generosity. I gave her a bracelet from my mother, in Art Nouveau style. The little things made her happy. One of the most beautiful is a self-portrait of Mariangela that Mario Tullio Giordana had. I will be eternally grateful to him for giving it to me. Mariangela had done it with the fabric of the scarf that you see in the film “The working class goes to heaven”. I have it in my bedroom and I look at it every day and she always looks at me ”
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September 19, 2021 (change September 19, 2021 | 07:09)
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