In "Fellini: The Dolce Vita", I read Fellini's preface to the book "Marcello Mastroianni: The Fun of Cinema", in which he mentioned his beautiful and profound friendship with Marcelo, like a middle school where the wind is out after class The classmates are in a relaxed and natural state of getting along with each other. Fellini also denied the idea that Marcelo was his stand-in in the article, saying that he put the hat on Marcelo's head to give him a hint that "he already has an image on him. helping him."
In Fellini's tender eyes, Marcelo considers himself "no one" and is always on set in a state where the characters in the play don't know what will happen next, and he would rather "discover it day by day" , and often look helpless, "like a convalescent patient", "like a person sentenced to death".
This book about Marcelo has not been introduced into China, so let's move it here for the time being. It ends with a moving account of Fellini's own unease when he mentions "Women's City" to Marcelo, as well as a moving moment of avoiding eye contact.
Marcello, dear, incomparably good Marcello, faithful, devout, and wise friend: such a friend is only found in stories or in some American films of the thirties.
Marcello and I met rarely, almost never. Maybe that's one of the reasons our friendship has endured. This kind of friendship does not expect anything from the other party, does not force the other party, and has no rules to restrict the other party. This friendship is beautiful, sincere, and trusting each other without reservation.
Working with Marcello was a pleasure: he was gentle, intelligent, and cooperative, he never asked questions, and even got into roles accurately without reading a script.
"Knowing in advance what's going to happen," - Marcello said - "what's the point of that? I'd rather find it day by day, like the characters in the show."
Marcello had people disguised, dressed, combed, and manipulated, no objection. He only asked the right questions, and with him, everything was so peaceful and soft, relaxed and natural. He's so natural that sometimes while filming, even filming his scenes, maybe sometimes taking close-ups of him, he'd be there for a nap.
It is his mentality of transcendence that is free from the plot and hardly disturbed by anything that enables him to participate in the performance with the most free and relaxed mind. He does not have the conceit and tension of a professional actor, in other words. , He was able to experience the characters with himself, and gradually entered into the adventures that the film was narrating with confidence and a game mentality. Moreover, he did not regard film as a profession, but turned film into his way of life.
On certain days, in my own office in the movie city, I have no mood to work, I feel low and sometimes bored, I get bored close to the window, look down at the Linyuan path below, and sometimes look at the building opposite the dressing room. at a glance. If I happened to know that Marcello was wearing makeup there, I would be eager to go downstairs to find him, get close to him, and share the vivid moments of life.
As you walk up the stairs leading to the makeup department, you hear music and songs, and the more you walk into the corridor leading to the makeup room, the more prominent the sound effects are. Walking into the long corridor with dressing rooms on both sides, I saw that the doors of each dressing room were closed, and there was a small note on the door with the user's name on it. Sometimes I see notes on the door of such and such famous actors and international stars. Once, I saw a small piece of paper glued to the door of a dressing room that said: "I am no one".
But in the hall that was converted into a dressing room, the door was always open. There was a frenzy of commotion there: the sound of the program on the little radio, the shouting, the metallic rumbling of the assistant director's camcorder and the incessant chirping of the walkie-talkie, and I bet five minutes later, no one knew where to hide. Somewhere the actors are ready, even they're going downstairs. It was here, in the crowd of costumers and assistant make-up artists, in the hustle and bustle of which I just mentioned, that I found Marcello: a steaming helmet covering his entire head , an extra-large white sheet wrapped from the upper body to the feet. This was Marcello, and I recognized him from the hanging hand, a lit cigarette between my fingers, rising to the roof in a cloud of smoke.
There were still people around Marcello, but I knew he was there, and old Snapoloz (the hero of the film "Women's City") was sleeping. Finally, he caught a glimpse of me in the mirror, so he raised the hand holding the cigarette and greeted me, afraid of choking me, he hurriedly used the other hand to expel the smoke.
I've always had a strange feeling that Marcello is filming with someone else: whether he's wearing a pirate costume, or a 19th-century gentleman with a beard, a big beard, or a priest Faria, I'm going to endure it. I keep recommending the makeup artist to darken his eyelids, add a little more wrinkles or curls or lift his face up his neck to make his double chin appear smaller. At this time, he stood up, straightened his legs, and looked at me with a smile, with a helpless expression on his face, like a convalescent patient, like a person sentenced to death. He snuffed out the cigarette and lit another. We walked in the hallway together. We have nothing to say, just love being together, like two boarders out of class, two free-spirited soldiers. His mouth was crooked when he spoke, because he was about to blow the smoke to one side. We stumble across the costumer Rolandona passing by, holding up a bridal gown on a pallet, and we greet her cheerfully; then we meet the hairdresser, Jussie, and we both Everyone liked her very much, and she bent over, honored to see us, and answered our greetings with gratitude.
Marcello Mastroiani is one of those classmates who reminds you of someone at the same table: hit it off, love each other, and that's the foundation of our friendship. For Marcello, friendship is not a moral imperative. Just meet up, stay together, or play games together, play pranks and weave lies together. And all this makes you feel that this kind of middle school student life seems to continue on the set. At the scene, although Marcello appeared as a real actor, he maintained the mentality of a young man: he played the characters intelligent, gentle and feminine, which is exactly the character imagined by the author, so for me, he is the ideal actor. Before filming, I would have a few chats with Marcello, but rarely, just to let him understand what we're going to do together, the journey we're going to take together. I told him what I knew, and sometimes, I myself didn't know how the story was going. Marcello, who never asks embarrassing questions, came to the set out of curiosity to see what was going on, and his performance excites the writer: the writer's sense is that the characters don't know what the next scene will be. what will happen. So, Marcello continued to be innocent and sunny. He was much better than he thought himself, and he had an instinctive talent for coordinating things. He does not have the common problems of ordinary actors: conceit, excessive exposure, showing off, self-satisfaction, narcissism, etc., which pose risks and cause harm to actors. So, Marcello's modesty protects himself from harm.
Marcello and I became friends through Giulietta: Marcello and Giulietta were playing together at the time, and she told me about him. But the protagonist of the movie "Sweet Life" wasn't made for him. At the time, producer De Laurentiis insisted that Paul Newman be in the role, but how could a big star be cast as a reporter wandering the streets of Veneto, and he was followed by a group of friends like Paparazzo, which was difficult Convincing. But to be honest, I was also hesitant and confused about Marcello at the time, and while I did my best to defend him, nothing else but to convince the producers.
I imagined what kind of person was that suspicious, ambiguous, chatty, unfaithful reporter who was unfaithful to women?
I met a lot of actors, and after considering various solutions, I finally decided to meet Marcello too. We drove together and talked to each other like two little children. Those words are only said by old friends. We have a common discovery, that is, in life and interpersonal relationships, we can use some strategies, Tactical, dexterous approach. In this way, our thoughts hit it off, and the protagonist must be him. I want him to lose weight, 10kg (I always do, I ask him to lose 10kg before every movie), and I do everything I can to make him flirtatious: make him wear fake eyebrows, look pale, and There is a little light yellow, with eye circles, with a bit of evil in the eyes, black clothes, black ties with a bit of sadness...
It's not true to say that Marcello Mastroiani is my film stand-in, another me: Giulietta Massina, Anita Eckberry, and all the others in my films The actors in the show and even the huge "prop ship" in "The Boat Row" is my alter ego. I put my hat on Marcello's head, not to make him identify with me, but to give him a signal, an intention, to give him a hint, that is, to create a smooth channel for the transmission of ideas, so that He felt that there was already an image in him that was helping him... I thought, I made him look like me, and for me, it was my way of looking directly at the characters and their stories: a very delicate act , but not everyone can do it, only a friend who has such deep friendships with Marcello can do it, only an actor with a thick skin and a strong desire to perform can do it.
That night, when I talked to Marcello about Ladies City, I didn't mention him as the protagonist, because at that time the producers wanted Dustin Hoffman, and honestly, I liked this actor too, I think this should be a very exciting choice. Marcello listened indifferently, like a person listening to something unrelated to him, but out of friendship, out of politeness he had to listen, and occasionally showed a bit of curiosity. "This is the story of a man..."--I said to him--"he revolved around the woman, looking at her from the top to the bottom, from the inside out, attracted by her charm, stunned by her beauty. He stared at her She doesn't seem to want to know her either, but just thinks she's pleasing to the eye, watching her, feeling shock and excitement, at the same time a little dejected, a little sad. Maybe he's scared, because finding a woman he likes and getting her, then It means that he has to submit to her, he will disappear, he will die. So he would rather keep looking for a woman, but never get her."
Telling a film in this way makes me a little nervous myself, I'm almost moved by my own narration, I watch Marcello silently, and he's silent too. For a while, we avoided eye contact. At that point, we had almost decided, subconsciously, that we were going to take part in the filming of "Women's City" together.
Do I still have a movie with Snaponards old? I sincerely hope that we can still work together. And hope to realize this wish as soon as possible.
Federico Fellini
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