Daniele Ceccarini: "Tina Pica was a rock"
Tina Pica was a rock, a milestone in our cinema, one of
the few characters that managed to become a protagonist and more, turning the
performer into a character. In 1955, at the age of 71, she played the lead
actress in 13 films, for a total career, from 1916 to 1963, of over 60 titles.
Today, 50 years after her death, comes the documentary Tina Pica directed by
Daniele Ceccarini and written by Paola Settimini, presented at the Naples Film
Festival.
How did the idea
of telling the life story of an actress like Tina Pica come about?
The idea of making this documentary was born during a
train journey one night. Last year Paola Settimini and I were returning from
the Ischia festival, where we had been guests with another documentary. We had
stopped in Naples, a city we love a lot and during one of our heated
discussions about cinema and the importance that some Italian authors have had
in the world cinema, Paola suddenly realized that 2018 would be the fiftieth
anniversary of death of Tina Pica and so the discussion turned into a draft of
a project that we wrote without stopping, during the return trip.
How did the
realization work set up?
We started work of a long research on the life and career
of Tina Pica, covering all the movies we have always loved, we were in Naples
several times to make inspections and to discover the places where she lived
and worked, knowing the family and after drawing a script we started filming
and doing interviews. The greatest difficulty was to be able to find people who
had really known her or who had worked with her, because unfortunately her
being died 50 years ago many of the great people with whom she collaborated are
now gone.
How was the
collaboration with the family?
We met her nephews who are both called Franco Pica, they
welcomed us with great warmth, telling with sympathy and enthusiasm numerous
and friendly anecdotes of "Aunt Concetta", like her passion for
cooking, her original way of praying and the relationship of love and hate with
the great Eduardo. They showed us some of her items including the Silver Ribbon
and gave us some of the photographic material that was then used in the
documentary.
What are the
particularities of this great actress of our cinema and theater?
She is a unique, unreplaceable actress, with an
unmistakable voice and walk. She was able to turn those weak points into
strengths that made it irreplaceable for all the great directors she worked
with. One expression was enough to make a laugh, only the great actors have
this talent. Her great theatrical school allowed her to be direct, immediate
and to get to the viewer's heart then like today. It is one of those characters
that give you joy, serenity.
What was the
artistic career of this great actress?
Tina Pica started as a child, she can say she was born in
the theater, from a family of actors: her father was Giuseppe Pica, who with
her family and other actors, from Naples reached the most remote countries.
They called them the "scavalcamontagna" and with them she learned a
very strong technique that combined with natural talent made it a myth of
Italian cinema and theater. She then appeared in the theater with Eduardo, with
whom she had a relationship of love and hatred that was born and accompanied
them throughout their lives. Also in the cinema she started very early,
starting with the great Elvira Notari and then working in over seventy films,
most of which marked an era. To quote some of the great people with whom she
worked: De Sica, Totò, Alberto Sordi, Dino Risi, Steno, Mario Soldati and
Monicelli.
What will be the
path of the documentary?
We decided to embark on the path of the festival and we
are very happy that the film has started its journey from the most appropriate
setting, that of the Naples Film Festival where the national preview was held
and from which we hope will continue its journey in many other festivals.
Tina Pica
A 2017 Italian production [Associazione Cinema &
Cultura 2018 (Rome)]
Producers: Daniele Ceccarini, Paola Settimini
Directors: Daniele Ceccarini
Story: Paola Settimini
Photography: [color]
Music: Livio Bernardini, Egildo Simeone
Running time: 46 minutes
Story: A documentary dedicated to Concetta Annunziata
Pica in art by Tina Pica, an unmistakable actress who worked with the greatest
Italian directors. The documentary traces her career.
Cast:
Tina Pica [archive footage], Franco Pica, Valerio
Caprara, Giulio Baffi, Steve Della Casa, Lello Arena, Matteo Taranto
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