Roberto Benigni calls, Castiglion Fiorentino replies: interrupted the great silence
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It’s over the great silencewhat he had for years interrupted the relationship between Castiglion Fiorentino and the most famous person in the world to which the town of Valdichiana of Arezzo was born, Roberto Benigni, who came into the world 70 years ago in the peasant village confidentially called della Misericordia, even if the official name is Manciano. Yesterday, the day after his birthday, the Little Devil called the mayor Mario Agnelli on his cell phone, who even on the eve of the date had complained, even if he wished him well, for this now non-existent relationship. Few words: «Hello, I’m Roberto Benigni» and the long-term chill has finally melted.
It is the first citizen himself to announce it on his social channels and to tell about this absolutely unexpected call, in the ways as well as in the times. Without denying the emotion of the interview: “I’ve never heard Benigni’s voice in my life, a total surprise.” As always, it was Robertaccio who played the part of the showman, holding the ranks of a private show this time to a single spectator, Mario Agnelli. “I read his words, about me, about the good wishes he gave me, and when she invited me to Castiglion Fiorentino she could not have made me more welcome because for this city I have a very special love. I know that you are a beloved mayor, my relatives who still live near Castiglione tell me. I lost my Arezzo accent because I left as a child, but the Castiglionese and Arezzo dialect is very beautiful. I have a great love for this city, a huge love, it all started there. I wanted to thank you so much for thinking of me ».
From Manciano-Misericordia, in the heart of the Leopoldina reclamation of the Valdichiana, Benigni had left at the age of six, when his family, a peasant family, had emigrated in search of a better life in Prato., then urbanizing in the industrial belt, in Vergaio, like thousands of their fellow villagers previously sharecroppers, in the great migrations of the 1950s that had emptied the Arezzo countryside and beyond. And it is in recalling these events that the tone of the phone call becomes confidential, passing from the initial her to the you. «The wishes you have given me are particularly welcome because they come from a place that I loved and love. A hug and thanks to all the people of Castiglione, first to the mayor and through you I extend it to the entire population. My family comes from Castiglion Fiorentino, where all generations were born, peasant families, even poor but of great dignity. You made me happy when you talked about me. Thanks again for the good wishes “.
The call ends here, but it could be the beginning of a happier relationship between Benigni and his country of origin. The mayor, of course, took the opportunity to invite him to Castiglion Fiorentino, Roberto didn’t say no even though he didn’t make any commitments. The long silence was the result of the repeated advances and the many invitations that the town, even with the mayors who preceded Agnelli, had addressed to Benigni but without results. He hadn’t even turned up when the monument dedicated to him to Mercy was discovered, not far from the farmhouse where he was born on October 27, 1952. His parents were there, moved, but not the actor-director. Although the controversial love for his country of origin had also shown it in his most famous film, “Life is beautiful”, one of the first scenes of which is set on the Strada della Foce, behind the historic center of Castiglion Fiorentino.
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29 October 2022 | 12:06
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