Verdone, a real beauty. Five thousand people gathered in Piazza Maggiore for the restored film.
Bologna, July 14, 2025 – “I wasn't expecting such a welcome. I'm very excited.” Before taking the stage in Piazza Maggiore , Carlo Verdone would stop to shake the hands of everyone who'd been waiting for him all afternoon.
A crowd has formed near the barriers, with postcards and pens in hand, confessing to having traveled 450 kilometers to be ' Under the Stars of the Movies '.
For the first time, the Roman director takes to the Cineteca's summer stage (former Prime Minister Romano Prodi is also in the audience).
45 years after the release of his debut film, Un sacco bello , the time has come to celebrate the restoration , carried out by the L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, under the supervision of Verdone himself, and promoted by the Cineteca in collaboration with Mediaset – Rti, Minerva Pictures and Siae.
Five thousand people gathered under the Towers for the film's presentation: "It's a great act of love and affection," says an emotional Verdone. He shoots a video of the packed square on his cell phone until Gian Luca Farinelli , director of the Cineteca, calls him back to join him on stage. A film that today "would never be possible again," he confesses. "Life has changed, people have changed. Even the poetry of the streets has changed."
Verdone has never hidden the fact that he drew inspiration for the story of Un sacco bello from the " bar stories " of the Roman summer. "I stalked artisans, mechanics, and glassmakers," he says. "I was curious. I listened to mythomaniacs and megalomaniacs recount their exploits with women."
This is how his first three cinematic characters were born: the hippie Ruggero, the wild Enzo and the clumsy Leo, who were already part of the 1977 theatrical shows, Tali e quali and Rimanga fra noi ..., and the television programme Non stop (1978-1979).
He also had a memory of his friend Lucio Dalla : “We used to meet in Trastevere, at his house, or in Capri, where he would dock his boat. He was a very intelligent and witty person, one of the greatest poets we ever had. We were lucky to have him.”
Thus Verdone before the ovation of the square and his return to the crowd waiting for him under the stage.
İl Resto Del Carlino
