Appointment at 6.30 in the morning at the Vatican. Christian De Sica, accompanied by his director son Brando, left the set of his new film “Cortina Express” for a few hours and showed up on time to take part in the audience with Pope Francis together with 106 other comedians from all over the world (one sixty Italians). The Roman actor, 73 years old, was in the front row.
Had you already met the Pope?
«Once, a few years ago, in St. Peter’s Square. Already on that occasion, Your Holiness told me that my father’s film “Miracle in Milan” was her favorite, she had seen it at least 5 times in Buenos Aires in the company of her father.”
Did you repeat it to him in this last meeting?
«Yes, he explained to me that he had seen the film again the evening before the hearing. After all, he also spoke about “Miracle in Milan” in the TV interview with Fabio Fazio in January. I sent him a letter of thanks to which he responded with a handwritten message. And yesterday, in the Vatican, I revealed a little secret to him.”
Which?
«On the very day in which dad filmed the scene in which the poor rise to heaven, Bergoglio’s favourite, I was born in Rome: it was 5 January 1951 and my mother was accompanied to the clinic by the actor Memo Benassi, a family friend, because my father was on set.”
What struck you most about the hearing?
«The words about us comedians: he said that we make God smile. And to think that we would be satisfied with making someone laugh…».
And what did you think when Francis said that you can laugh even at God?
«That we have a very intelligent Pope. He is a great communicator, often wittier than us comedians. During the hearing he made jokes, he raised his hands in the air. He is one of us.”
How did you judge his gaffes about homosexuals?
«A misunderstanding due to the language, there is no doubt. The Pope spoke of “faggot” without realizing the offensive meaning of the term. Even my mother Maria Mercarder, who was Spanish, often said inappropriate words but only because she did not have a command of Italian. How many times did we as a family defend her by explaining that she was not rude but foreign…».
Who is Pope Francis for you?
«I am a baptized Christian but I have never believed in priests. Now Bergoglio is the man who, thanks to his open-mindedness and humanity, is bringing me closer to the Church.”
Will he be able to change it, in your opinion?
“He has already done a lot, but he has many enemies to deal with.”
Would you like to meet him again in a private audience?
“Certainly. I plan to ask him when the project I care about most comes to fruition: directing the film that tells the story of the love between my father and my mother that blossomed in 1944 on the set of “The Door to Heaven”. Now I’m old to be a protagonist, but maybe I’ve found a producer.”
If you could show Bergoglio one of your films, which one would you choose?
«One of the last: Lemons in Winter, directed by Caterina Carone, in which I play an elderly professor who experiences a platonic love with his neighbor. It is the story of two solitudes.”
But it’s not funny: since the Pope wanted to meet you comedians, wouldn’t you show him one of his cinepanettoni?
«Are we joking? I would be too ashamed.”
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