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May 14,2006 - May 21,2006 |
Sofia Loren mementoes on display at the Vittoriano
Scicolone, Lazzaro, Loren: three names for an undisputed icon of Italian and international cinema
Originally Published: 2006-04-23
Scicolone, Lazzaro, Loren: three names for the same great actress, Sofia Loren, who attended last week the presentation of an exhibition about her, the undisputed icon of Italian and international cinema: over 4,000 items, recounting 50 years of career. "Sure, I did a lot, but it was so hard!" remarked Sofia Loren. Stemming from an idea of Enrico Gasbarra, President of the Province of Rome, and RAI journalist Vincenzo Mollica, this exhibition will be a unique event, only preceded by an exhibition at New York's MOMA in 1966. This exceptional exhibition will bring together many items from Loren's own collection, integrating them with mementoes kept by her friends and fans, such as Mina Fabbri, from Brisighella, who's been collecting items about Loren for 40 years and has assembled a veritable museum in her own home. Accompanied by an autobiographic catalogue, the exhibition will follow the career of a complete artist, "a woman, a mother and a wife, all aspects joined in one wonderful artist," remarked Mollica. "With great humility, she allowed me to put all this together, retracing the path of her incredible life."
Introduced by family photos and a pedal-powered racecar - a gift from Dad for the child Sofia - the exhibition moves from Loren's first steps in show business, from early beauty pageants to her 1950 participation to the Miss Italia contest. Then comes Rome and small cinema roles, e.g. in Quo Vadis, where a very young Sofia cheers the commanders of the Roman legions tossing flowers with shouts of joy. Behind the showcase glass, visitors can find all the old issues of photo stories that had Sophia as protagonist. At the time (1950 - 1952), she used the name Lazzaro: a director had chosen it for her, maintaining that her beauty could "raise the dead". "When I began to appear in comic stories," said Loren, "I felt like a queen; I thought I had made it." Her way, however, was still mostly ahead of her; a decisive step was her encounter with producer Goffredo Lombardo, who changed her name to Loren during the shooting of Africa sotto i mari. The exhibition presents her beautiful photos, portraits taken by the greatest photographers such as Avedon and Secchiaroli; dresses by Dior and Armani; gadgets; posters; awards; movie scripts; and of course, on a big screen, the scenes from her hundred movies: from La bella mugnaia to Arabesque with Gregory Peck, from The millionairess with Peter Sellers to La moglie del prete, from Ieri, oggi, domani to Il viaggio alongside an extraordinary Richard Burton, from Una giornata particolare to La ciociara, which won her an Oscar. Which does she like best? This proved a hard question for Sophia, who stopped to think back and consider her life and career before replying, "many of them, but I hold 14 of them the dearest, because I worked with someone who will be forever in my heart: Marcello Mastroianni." The exhibition will acquire an international scope, as the Province of Rome has already been asked to allow it to travel abroad; the governor of Buenos Aires would like to host it in the Argentine capital; and in January Esperanza Aguirre, President of the Province of Madrid, signed an agreement to bring the exhibition to Spain. "We know that tourists coming to Rome ask to see the exhibition," remarked President Gasbarra. "Last year we attracted over one million people. This year we hope for twice as many." This is an all-Italian success that has already won world acclaim. "My aspirations did not reach so high," confessed Sophia. "I don't know whether I deserved it, but it was certainly worthwhile."
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