“They are my real-life influencers. Absolutely normal guys, and not “special”. They taught me that slowness can be an opportunity»
«A comedy variety show, incorrect and irreverent, which breaks down prejudices. The common thread they are relationships with emotions, art, time and diversity». This is how the actor and comedian from Livorno Paolo Ruffini talks about the show UP&Down, staged on May 25 at the Brancaccio with the Mayor Von Frinzius theater company, made up mainly of disabled actors. “They are my real-life influencers. Absolutely normal guys, and not “special”. They taught me that slowness can be an opportunity, violence is always a mistake and hugs are contagious”.
Producer, screenwriter, and director of Bad boya teen movie about bullying and the damage caused by the pandemic, and a documentary Lost Minda journey through the lives of Alzheimer’s patients.
«I shot it out of selfishness because in this historic moment I needed to get excited. I don’t tell the disease, but stories of indelible affection. Those who suffer from it remind us that the true meaning of life is not to live but to love until the last breath. It’s a film about who’s left who has come full circle with an interview with my father, who passed away a few days after it was released in theaters».
As a film buff, do you still believe in its power to change the world?
«I make films that have something to say. In difficulties the world has managed to create works of art, as in Neorealism. We move them on TikTok and live Instagram. I don’t want to be in the hands of algorithms. Fellini couldn’t work today. Cinema is boring and flattened by political correctness. I only watch films from the 70s. Bertolucci, Scola and Monicelli. The public no longer exists because they are bloggers, influencers and commentators on social networks».
How to get out of cultural flattening?
“We are ravaged by ignorance. There is no more satire, against whom could I do it now? What is real power? What do we tweet? We live in a democratic bundle ».
Back to Rome, where he moved in 1999, after the success with Ovosodo by Virzì…
«I arrived with the patches behind. I lived in a hovel in Giulio Agricola, and for me it was the dream. I looked for a shelf from a carpenter but had no money, so a gentleman pointed me to a refrigerator near the dumpster. He helped me carry it home and I turned it into my closet shelf with my socks in the freezer and my shirts in the compartments. This was my welcome. I love Rome’s alleys and cinemas. In the first months I saw 278 films. I started from the Barberini and ended up at the Atlantic on the Tuscolana. And then Paris and Fiamma. Today I suffer to see them closed ».
info: UP&Downwith Paolo Ruffini and the actors of the Mayor Von Frinzius company, directed by Lamberto GianniniMay 25 at 8.45 pm, Teatro Brancaccio, via Merulana 244, www.teatrobrancaccio.it
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May 25, 2022 (change May 25, 2022 | 07:50)
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UP&Down: Paolo Ruffini on stage at the Brancaccio with disabled actors