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Let’s start at the end.
As always.
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Piero Portaluppi
died on 6 July 1967.
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00:02:20,719 --> 00:02:23,039
He passed away of
old age in his bed,
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00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,319
in his centuries old home,
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00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:27,101
across the street
from the Church of
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00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,960
Santa Maria delle Grazie in
Corso Magenta in Milan.
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00:02:31,159 --> 00:02:32,360
His Milan.
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00:02:34,439 --> 00:02:35,960
At the same time in London,
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00:02:36,319 --> 00:02:39,240
the Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper’s
album was triumphing
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00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:41,919
and in Vietnam,
the U.S. Marine offensive
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00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,599
was failing on the Mekong Delta.
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00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:02,360
A few days later, Luisa,
the beloved daughter,
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00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:06,120
rowed a boat into the
middle of Lake Maggiore.
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00:03:06,639 --> 00:03:08,319
As soon as she was far enough
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00:03:08,479 --> 00:03:09,960
away from shore,
with her son’s help,
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00:03:10,319 --> 00:03:13,520
she dumped some large,
black bags into the lake.
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00:03:14,439 --> 00:03:15,639
They sank to the bottom.
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00:03:16,719 --> 00:03:18,319
Or so the legend goes.
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00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:20,719
We don’t know what
was in those bags.
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00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,840
We’re not even sure
whether the legend is true.
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00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:26,360
But this is where
our story begins.
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00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,039
Because what is left of
a man, after sifting
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00:03:30,199 --> 00:03:33,919
through memories, is but
a handful of anecdotes.
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00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:36,560
The black bags
that sank to the bottom
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00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:41,439
tell the fate
Piero Portaluppi was destined to.
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00:03:42,719 --> 00:03:43,919
Famous during his lifetime,
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00:03:44,439 --> 00:03:47,599
ostentatious,
a champion of his times,
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00:03:48,199 --> 00:03:52,360
in the forty years following
his death, he too sank.
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00:03:54,479 --> 00:03:55,479
He was forgotten.
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00:03:56,319 --> 00:03:59,520
The Amateur
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00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:46,079
Many years later, his
great grandchildren found
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00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,160
dozens of 16 mm film
reels in an old trunk,
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00:04:50,399 --> 00:04:53,160
perfectly preserved
and catalogued.
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00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:57,600
They were films shot,
edited, and archived
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00:04:57,759 --> 00:04:59,599
by their great grandfather
throughout his life,
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00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,199
left locked up for thirty years.
37
00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:03,399
Piero Portaluppi’s formidable
career begins
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00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,199
as Old Europe’s civilization
is coming to an end.
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00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,120
On all fronts, the corpses of ten
million young, idealistic men
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00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,560
fall in the trenches
of the First World War.
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00:06:18,639 --> 00:06:21,639
Portaluppi also joins
the war as a lieutenant.
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00:06:22,079 --> 00:06:24,360
And he too, son of an engineer,
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00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,280
alongside the
proletarians in the trenches,
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00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:30,079
discovers the dizziness of war
and the faith of national pride.
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00:06:34,079 --> 00:06:35,879
Fighting side-by-side
with millions
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00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,839
of illiterate farmers,
he, like them,
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00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:40,720
feels the death of an era and
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00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:42,680
the beginning of a new one.
49
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:49,759
However, he gets detailed to the
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00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,560
hydroelectric power
plants in Val Formazza.
51
00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,759
The family says that after the
defeat at the Battle of Caporetto,
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00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,759
he asked to be
reassigned to active duty.
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00:07:02,399 --> 00:07:04,040
No one in the family
knows, however,
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00:07:04,199 --> 00:07:06,199
whether the request
was approved.
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00:07:08,639 --> 00:07:11,439
In Val d’Ossola and
Val Formazza, Portaluppi designs
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00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,560
grandiose, fairy-tale-like
hydroelectric power plants
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00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,839
for Ettore Conti, a magnate and
pioneer of the electricity industry.
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00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:27,439
Massacres and culture.
Catastrophe and progress.
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00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:36,640
The walls enclose the thundering
roar of the turbines inside,
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00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,360
but outside,
Portaluppi’s power plants
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00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:42,080
look like whimsical
castles from another age.
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00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:45,679
The overall
appearance is, in fact,
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00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,480
that of a neo-Medieval fantasy.
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00:08:53,919 --> 00:08:55,199
There is a modern
element though;
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00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:56,860
the electricity powered
by mass quantities
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00:08:56,879 --> 00:08:58,440
of water in movement.
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00:08:58,639 --> 00:09:01,360
But to the young
architect, modernity
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00:09:01,919 --> 00:09:03,320
is a mere production design.
69
00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,440
A gala evening, a social event,
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00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:09,960
and brilliant
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00:11:15,879 --> 00:11:19,639
Let’s take a step back.
Even Piero Portaluppi
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00:11:19,799 --> 00:11:22,519
has a family history.
Like all families.
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00:11:31,919 --> 00:11:34,840
His biological father, Oreste,
a lower middle-class man,
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00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:37,600
died when Piero was
only ten years old.
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00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,720
The early death of his father
causes a seismic fault
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00:11:43,039 --> 00:11:45,600
of profound insecurity
to open up in young Piero.
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00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:50,559
It manifests itself throughout
his childhood
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00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,000
and adolescence as a
very pronounced stutter.
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00:11:54,879 --> 00:11:58,519
Piero compensates with
early signs of artistic flair:
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00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,200
as a child he starts to show
great talent in drawing.
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00:12:06,399 --> 00:12:09,759
He expresses this gift by
sketching exuberant cartoons
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00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,360
later published
in the Guerrin Meschino,
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00:12:12,919 --> 00:12:14,759
a satirical humour
magazine edited by the
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00:12:14,919 --> 00:12:16,559
Milanese Scapigliatura
artistic movement.
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00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,240
Even his aptitude for
dancing on the edge
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00:12:23,399 --> 00:12:26,720
of things and events
manifests itself early on.
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00:12:27,279 --> 00:12:30,200
It will stay with him
forever, until the end.
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00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,639
Right before the war, young
Piero gets engaged to Lia Baglia,
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00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,120
the electricity magnate,
Ettore Conti’s niece.
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00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,000
The couple get married
in June 1913.
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00:12:47,879 --> 00:12:50,759
Lia keeps a secret
diary until the eve
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00:12:50,919 --> 00:12:53,240
of her wedding.
After that, the pages are blank:
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00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,000
the story of the Amateur begins.
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00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:44,800
Casting off his
grey-green uniform,
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00:14:45,039 --> 00:14:47,759
Portaluppi enters
the Milanese jet set.
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00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:49,840
He makes quite a
spectacular entrance.
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00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:54,720
He is talented, vain, playful.
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00:14:55,159 --> 00:14:58,519
He draws freehand masterfully,
drives customized convertibles
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00:14:58,759 --> 00:15:03,080
and boasts pea-green ties, the only
man in all of Milan to wear them.
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00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,960
Lia… his wife.
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00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,080
A daughter is born, Luisa, the
pretty daughter, the adored child.
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00:15:23,039 --> 00:15:27,120
Then they have a son, Oreste,
named after his grandfather.
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00:15:36,039 --> 00:15:38,879
In Val Formazza, the young,
eccentric architect
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00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,320
designs and builds
a restaurant in a train coach
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00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,960
at 2,300 metres above sea
level next to a holiday resort.
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00:15:51,679 --> 00:15:53,519
It is a day in late spring.
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00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:56,399
Portaluppi has brought
his family for a visit.
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00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,600
The people on the
film are shot for
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00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,279
the first time by the
Amateur’s camera.
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00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:09,519
In his life like at his job,
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00:16:09,919 --> 00:16:12,080
Portaluppi seduces
his way around.
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00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,279
He seduces women, society, time.
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00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,159
He shapes the world
according to his own tastes.
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00:16:21,159 --> 00:16:23,679
Pulling faces, doing
somersaults, keeping distances.
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00:16:24,159 --> 00:16:27,799
This seems to be, from
the onset, his guiding star.
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00:16:28,519 --> 00:16:30,120
Even with his family.
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00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,759
His home movies show laughter,
joking around, games.
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00:16:54,639 --> 00:16:56,679
Every day of the week,
in every season,
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00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,159
it is always a Sunday in life.
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00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:03,679
A Sunday in summer.
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00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,079
The camera falls
in love with a face.
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00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,599
This is cinema.
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00:17:49,759 --> 00:17:51,141
In the cinema of the
Amateur filmmaker,
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00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,000
the face always
belongs to a woman.
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00:17:54,279 --> 00:17:56,119
Beauty and semi-darkness.
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00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,799
Fixed gazes into the lens.
Seductive and seduced.
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00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,599
Our cathedral
128
00:18:43,599 --> 00:18:47,839
His descendants take us to the
same places from the past.
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00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,599
Their beauty and life
has been preserved.
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00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,599
Untouched by the present.
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00:19:13,599 --> 00:19:15,279
At the beginning of the 1920s,
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00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,480
Piero Portaluppi goes
off like fireworks.
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00:19:19,279 --> 00:19:22,640
After the electric power plants,
he designs factories, villas,
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00:19:22,799 --> 00:19:25,039
stores, tombs, company pavilions,
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00:19:25,319 --> 00:19:27,240
residential and
office buildings,
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00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:31,559
refurbishes luxurious mansions
and restores ancient churches.
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00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,400
In a few short years,
he goes from designing
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00:19:40,559 --> 00:19:42,920
his famous projects
for imaginary cities,
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00:19:43,759 --> 00:19:45,319
to designing for Milan’s
urban planning,
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00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,680
the only true city that
exists in his mind.
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00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,359
Portaluppi soon becomes
a renowned architect.
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00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,839
He makes a name for himself
and buys a house.
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00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,440
The Casa degli Atellani becomes
the home of Ettore Conti,
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00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,319
'His Eminence,
Senator of the Kingdom’.
145
00:20:14,039 --> 00:20:16,839
And Portaluppi, not
intimidated in the least
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00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,119
by past centuries,
does away with formalities,
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00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,519
and reinvents it for Conti
at the beginning of the 1920s.
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00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:36,119
He designs a kaleidoscope true to
his variegated and flawless taste.
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00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,160
He adorns it with
embellishments and décor
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00:20:38,319 --> 00:20:40,799
inspired by his
extravagant passions:
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00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,720
signs of the zodiac,
sundials, modern inscriptions,
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00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,759
maxims and plays on words.
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00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:52,400
Agere, non loqui.
Do, don’t talk.
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00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,119
Within its walls, the
architect lives with
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00:21:17,279 --> 00:21:20,400
his wife, Lia,
the magnate’s niece.
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00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,680
This is where he showcases
his artistic skills.
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00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:25,039
He studies triangulation,
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00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,599
transcends the customs
of his social class
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00:21:27,759 --> 00:21:30,200
into shapes with
a cinematic cut.
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00:21:33,599 --> 00:21:35,759
This is where he
views his daughter,
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00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,359
makes her pose for the camera.
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00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,720
The camera falls in love
with a face.
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00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,039
Ettore Conti is one of the
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00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,839
most influential
figures of the century.
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00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:17,559
A great industrialist,
a great pioneer,
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00:22:17,759 --> 00:22:20,200
a great upper middle-class
man, banker, president,
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00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,400
Senator of the Kingdom.
The Electricity man.
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00:22:30,839 --> 00:22:35,319
Conti, childless, adopts Lia
and, in some way, Piero, too.
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00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,400
A strong bond develops between
him and the architect.
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00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:40,119
They have a lot in common.
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00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,119
Both of them are elegant,
attractive, ambitious,
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00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:46,680
generous, brilliant
and self-centred.
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00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,160
The timing is perfect.
Everything has been done
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00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,359
and everything still
needs to be done.
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00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,160
Assembly lines, the telegraph,
automobiles, and airplanes,
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00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:02,680
“create an abyss between
the submissive slaves
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00:23:02,839 --> 00:23:04,799
from the past and we the free,
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00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,920
we who are confident of the
magnificence of the future.”
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00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:11,680
Electricity lights
up the streets
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00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,960
and the movie camera
immortalizes it.
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00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:34,079
But Ettore Conti, the visionary
magnate of the electricity industry,
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00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:38,759
is also the man who weaves
an intense correspondence
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00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,200
with Mussolini, ready to
march on Rome.
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00:23:43,799 --> 00:23:47,799
Behold the 1920s:
the triumph of Art Nouveau
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00:23:48,759 --> 00:23:50,960
and Benito
Mussolini’s Blackshirts.
186
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:43,919
The Amateur begins to edit an
eccentric film, Grandi Firme.
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00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,359
A roster of the faces of his fellow,
illustrious, co-stars of the times
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00:24:47,519 --> 00:24:50,640
stolen for a few
frames from history.
189
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:01,680
Among them
we recognise his new clients.
190
00:25:02,519 --> 00:25:05,519
Milano is a rich
city in a poor country
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00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,400
Capital of the arts
and sciences.
192
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,000
The city’s noteworthy bourgeoisie
is proud of its virtues:
193
00:25:12,599 --> 00:25:16,359
frugality, precision,
intelligence, initiative.
194
00:25:20,759 --> 00:25:23,920
The enlightened Milanese
industrial aristocracy
195
00:25:24,319 --> 00:25:27,440
is not accustomed to taking
a back seat to Roman politics.
196
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:29,680
Perhaps this is the
reason it sends a militia
197
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,600
of disgruntled and violent
proletariats to Rome.
198
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,599
But for Portaluppi, in his
intimate, blissful world,
199
00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:56,680
these are years of long
walks along promenades
200
00:26:56,720 --> 00:26:59,079
by the sea, not marches on Rome.
201
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,599
Outings, day-trips, jaunts.
202
00:27:02,039 --> 00:27:03,599
The Promenade
des Anglais at Nice,
203
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,480
the beau monde, European
capitals, Berlin, Paris,
204
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:09,880
and gondolas
through Venice’s canals.
205
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:16,920
Above all, they are years
filled with beautiful women,
206
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,119
more elegant than
they will ever be again.
207
00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:23,160
The years of Chanel N°5.
208
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:25,400
Women are allowed to smoke,
209
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,519
they cut their hair into
a bob, they play tennis,
210
00:27:28,599 --> 00:27:31,000
they raise their hemlines
to just below the knee
211
00:27:31,319 --> 00:27:32,960
and drop their waistlines.
212
00:27:33,799 --> 00:27:36,759
Above all, they smile,
they always smile,
213
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,079
brunette or blond, into
the lens of the Amateur’s camera.
214
00:29:24,759 --> 00:29:27,839
“When faced with the iconoclast
rationalism of the new school,
215
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,920
we invoke the gift of a little
beauty in order to sweeten
216
00:29:32,079 --> 00:29:35,279
our sour daily lives
with necessary excess.”
217
00:29:37,319 --> 00:29:38,880
These are the words of the most
218
00:29:39,039 --> 00:29:40,599
influential art critic
of the decade.
219
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,319
The critic’s name is
Margherita Sarfatti,
220
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,279
Mussolini’s mistress, companion
221
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,400
and muse in his rise to power.
222
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,920
So, the “gift of a little
beauty” is invoked.
223
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,920
During this time, Portaluppi
ignores modernism
224
00:29:59,079 --> 00:30:01,599
and provides an
abundance of beauty.
225
00:30:02,359 --> 00:30:04,319
In recognition of his
prominent role,
226
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,319
he is commissioned to
design the Italian Pavilion
227
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,759
for the Universal Exposition
in Barcelona in 1929.
228
00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:13,799
He travels extensively
throughout a Europe
229
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:17,039
that has been shaken and
inebriated by apocalyptic shocks.
230
00:30:18,599 --> 00:30:20,559
Here, we see him
at the International
231
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,279
Convention in Budapest in 1930.
232
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,759
But his formidable decorative
creativity continuously eludes
233
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:44,160
the inflexibility of
schools, groups, models.
234
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:46,400
The Amateur distances
himself from
235
00:30:46,559 --> 00:30:48,759
all constraints
with acrobatic flair.
236
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,599
He is metamorphic,
superficial in depth,
237
00:30:51,799 --> 00:30:54,200
iridescent; he is fresh
and effervescent.
238
00:31:03,599 --> 00:31:06,039
Italy, on the other hand,
does not distance itself.
239
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:09,920
The dictatorship strikes
like a slap in the face.
240
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,559
When Benito Mussolini
arrives in Milan in 1930
241
00:31:27,079 --> 00:31:28,759
for the inauguration
of the planetarium,
242
00:31:29,279 --> 00:31:31,079
Portaluppi captures him on film.
243
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,000
We catch a glimpse
of the solemn,
244
00:31:36,319 --> 00:31:38,159
imperious stride bursting
into a domed chamber.
245
00:31:38,519 --> 00:31:39,839
The chamber is dark.
246
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,800
All the light is prevented
from entering from outside.
247
00:33:05,279 --> 00:33:09,240
When the last rays of the sun
are eaten up by the moon,
248
00:33:09,559 --> 00:33:11,720
all of a sudden, everything changes…
249
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,720
Because, all of a sudden,
darkness falls over the earth.
250
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:17,119
From outer space, you
can see the shadow
251
00:33:17,319 --> 00:33:19,799
of moon passing over
this strip of earth…
252
00:33:20,319 --> 00:33:23,880
And you find yourself in
full day, but in the dark.
253
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:10,119
The grand Milanese middle-class
254
00:35:10,559 --> 00:35:12,559
– the one that won’t
take a back seat to Rome –
255
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,119
is unstinting, generous and liberal.
256
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,199
Milan is living on fervour
so an esteemed
257
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,199
patron, Swiss publisher
Ulrico Hoepli,
258
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:28,440
commissions Portaluppi
to design a planetarium
259
00:35:28,599 --> 00:35:31,960
to donate to the city:
a place for reflection,
260
00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:36,500
where anyone can “forget
the fever that drives each of
261
00:35:36,519 --> 00:35:40,000
us in the pursuit of a
personal, specific torment.”
262
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:50,920
For this work, he conceives an
austere entrance that calls to mind,
263
00:35:51,159 --> 00:35:53,199
“with its classical
architectural order,
264
00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:55,199
the characteristics of
an ancient temple.”
265
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:01,360
Milan receives a second sky.
An artificial sky
266
00:36:01,519 --> 00:36:03,239
on which advanced
technological instruments
267
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:08,000
project the constellations
of heaven on a summer’s eve.
268
00:36:14,639 --> 00:36:16,920
Looking at it today from
light years away,
269
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:19,960
one can clearly see how the
Planetarium would become one of the
270
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,039
most popular locations in the city.
271
00:36:23,199 --> 00:36:25,039
Generations of students
have admired
272
00:36:25,519 --> 00:36:28,480
the artificial sky on
leisurely mornings.
273
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,760
The landscape has remained
the same as in 1930.
274
00:36:32,639 --> 00:36:36,440
The stars, fixed or not,
are surely the same.
275
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:27,920
Portaluppi is a professor.
He is appointed a post-doctoral
276
00:37:28,079 --> 00:37:30,079
position in Architectural
Elements and Design.
277
00:37:30,679 --> 00:37:32,360
He teaches but he
doesn’t lecture.
278
00:37:32,679 --> 00:37:35,000
He doesn’t theorise,
he doesn’t take a stand;
279
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,639
his lessons are
impromptu drills.
280
00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:41,800
He allows whatever the wind
blows into his classroom,
281
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:46,199
but he doesn’t give breathing
exercises to expand lungs.
282
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:49,559
But in this way, he allows
his young students
283
00:37:49,719 --> 00:37:52,400
reedom of research
and expression.
284
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:56,239
Everything is acceptable in his
vision of escapist architecture.
285
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,440
Especially the escapist part.
286
00:38:05,559 --> 00:38:09,599
Banfi, Belgiojoso,
287
00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,400
Peressutti,
288
00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:17,400
Nathan Rogers
289
00:40:23,199 --> 00:40:27,119
The professor takes his students
on trips around Italy and Europe:
290
00:40:27,519 --> 00:40:32,280
Sicily, Athens, Istanbul.
Ancient times and exoticism.
291
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,239
“An architect’s work,”
states Portaluppi,
292
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:55,679
“the attempt to put things
in order, is a Sisyphean task.
293
00:40:56,159 --> 00:41:00,079
The stone keeps rolling down
to the bottom again.
294
00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:20,119
So everything is acceptable.
Even opposites.
295
00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,039
Therefore, in collaboration
with some of the students
296
00:41:23,199 --> 00:41:25,719
who were doing somersaults
on the ship’s bridge,
297
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,320
he designs ''The Saturday Home
for Newlyweds''
298
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:29,440
for the Milan Triennale.
299
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:33,480
A manifesto of
Rationalism that had been
300
00:41:33,639 --> 00:41:36,360
completely foreign to
him until this moment.
301
00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:43,079
The students are Banfi, Belgiojoso,
Peressutti, Nathan Rogers,
302
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,000
and they would become
the leading
303
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,320
proponents of new
Italian architecture.
304
00:41:56,679 --> 00:42:00,400
His Majesty Victor Emmanuel III
visits the Saturday Home.
305
00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:03,159
Portaluppi welcomes
him in full evening
306
00:42:03,679 --> 00:42:05,479
dress and top hat, and
his camera in one hand.
307
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:07,119
With the other, he describes the
308
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:08,920
work with overly
enthusiastic gestures.
309
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,480
The king’s hand springs
to his hat various times,
310
00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:15,440
as if controlled by an
obsessive-compulsive need.
311
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:23,159
It is 1933. Benito Mussolini,
''il Duce'', leader of the Italians,
312
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:27,360
is about to offer an entire
empire to the petite king.
313
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:19,639
Villa Necchi Campiglio
is situated in
314
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:23,199
the aristocratic Via Mozart
in the heart of Milan.
315
00:43:26,599 --> 00:43:28,079
But from the street,
it is difficult
316
00:43:28,239 --> 00:43:29,840
to imagine anything
about the villa,
317
00:43:30,239 --> 00:43:34,119
screened off by a continuous
fence and immersed in a garden.
318
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:41,719
Piero Portaluppi designed it for
Cavaliere Angelo Campiglio in 1930.
319
00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:47,039
Work began two years later
and it was completed in 1935.
320
00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:09,000
In the garden, a swimming pool,
321
00:44:09,159 --> 00:44:11,639
with a shallow and deep
end, and a tennis court,
322
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,400
suggest a niche of healthy
open-air living in the middle
323
00:44:15,559 --> 00:44:19,639
of the congested
centre of the city.
324
00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:24,400
A tiny bubble of luxury
and wellbeing
325
00:44:24,559 --> 00:44:27,960
blown inside the city by
the master glassmaker.
326
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,400
Every space is designed
as a painting.
327
00:44:35,679 --> 00:44:38,719
Everything is seeped in
elegance and beauty.
328
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:41,719
Everything is designed
to accommodate
329
00:44:42,039 --> 00:44:43,639
the architect’s
aesthetics in union
330
00:44:43,760 --> 00:44:46,840
with the comforts of technology.
331
00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:50,000
The architecture, a
perfect work of art,
332
00:44:50,559 --> 00:44:53,400
is put to use as a private
middle-class dwelling.
333
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:01,760
Inside, total immunity.
334
00:45:02,679 --> 00:45:05,679
Outside, the huge,
terrible world.
335
00:46:59,199 --> 00:47:03,119
“… personal items, hats,
336
00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:05,800
a Borsalino…
337
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:08,320
These are the shoes…”
338
00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:20,559
It is the 1930s and
Piero Portaluppi
339
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:23,800
now belongs to the social
class he is working for.
340
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:26,920
His meticulous, witty
and obsessive
341
00:47:27,079 --> 00:47:30,599
ledger is beginning to register
earnings with six zeros.
342
00:47:34,039 --> 00:47:36,599
Villa Necchi, Casa
Corbellini-Wasserman,
343
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:39,840
Palazzo Crespi,
Palazzo della Banca Commerciale …
344
00:47:40,199 --> 00:47:44,480
The golden clients increase,
precious materials are honed,
345
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,400
architectural motifs
are recurring elements,
346
00:47:47,559 --> 00:47:49,519
and sketches for
railings and flooring
347
00:47:49,679 --> 00:47:51,960
are wearing
down his fountain pens.
348
00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:58,320
Milan, only Milan.
349
00:47:59,519 --> 00:48:01,880
The Amateur is completely
devoted to this city.
350
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:07,159
The city of Bishop Ambrogio,
Bramante and Leonardo da Vinci.
351
00:48:07,519 --> 00:48:09,679
The moral and economic
capital, the city of
352
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,760
the industrial revolution
and of labourer’s pride.
353
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:18,280
The cradle of Socialism and
Fascism, of the future and Futurism.
354
00:48:21,760 --> 00:48:24,880
Today, the city is
secretly studded
355
00:48:25,079 --> 00:48:29,039
by countless works
by Piero Portaluppi.
356
00:48:34,239 --> 00:48:36,880
But the Amateur doesn’t
shoot a single frame as
357
00:48:37,039 --> 00:48:40,039
proof of the mark he left
on Milan’s urban plan,
358
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:42,920
He doesn’t leave, save for rare
359
00:48:43,079 --> 00:48:45,760
exceptions, any trace on film.
360
00:48:46,679 --> 00:48:48,559
It almost seems as if he
wanted to erase
361
00:48:48,719 --> 00:48:51,840
his own footsteps;
invoke his own oblivion.
362
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:09,440
Portaluppi is in all senses
of the genitive case,
363
00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:12,079
the architect to the
upper bourgeois.
364
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,599
A bourgeois man,
a bourgeois architect,
365
00:49:16,079 --> 00:49:18,719
a bourgeois artist
in an era where art,
366
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,440
all art, from left to right,
367
00:49:22,639 --> 00:49:25,280
puts the working-class
first, no matter what.
368
00:49:28,239 --> 00:49:30,400
In the meantime, the
elusive working-class
369
00:49:30,559 --> 00:49:32,920
vanishes into the
masses of the Fascist draft.
370
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:41,039
Throughout the 1930s, more political
works are being commissioned.
371
00:49:41,679 --> 00:49:43,239
Portaluppi seems to
have become a
372
00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,679
Fascist just as he had
become middle-class,
373
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:49,000
with disengaged irony,
with worldly nonchalance.
374
00:49:50,679 --> 00:49:54,599
In 1933 he joins the Fascist party,
like almost everyone else is doing
375
00:49:56,039 --> 00:49:58,480
He designs the
headquarters of the Milan
376
00:49:58,639 --> 00:50:01,360
Federation of Fascists in
Piazza San Sepolcro.
377
00:50:04,199 --> 00:50:07,719
In Rome, the extreme Fascist
auditors squash the project.
378
00:50:07,880 --> 00:50:10,440
Portaluppi sketches,
adjusts, reworks it.
379
00:50:16,079 --> 00:50:17,960
Later, when he is
commissioned to design
380
00:50:18,119 --> 00:50:20,079
the memorial monument
to Fascist martyrs,
381
00:50:20,519 --> 00:50:24,000
he withdraws, in good order,
and entrusts it to his students.
382
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:26,639
For that assignment,
he lacks conviction.
383
00:50:27,599 --> 00:50:30,840
The Amateur, true to his
nature, knows no faith.
384
00:50:47,519 --> 00:50:50,599
It is at this time that
Edoardo Persico would?
385
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,119
Stigmatise him as a
“façade illustrator”.
386
00:50:54,960 --> 00:50:57,360
According to this
vision, Portaluppi is
387
00:50:57,519 --> 00:51:00,400
all about surface,
appearance, façade.
388
00:51:01,639 --> 00:51:04,679
This defines, first and foremost
his Milan, his beloved city,
389
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:07,440
conceived as
an open-air theatre.
390
00:51:08,320 --> 00:51:10,960
Portaluppi redesigns the
church plaza at Piazza Duomo.
391
00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:52,920
In 1934, right before reaching his
peak of consensus in the country,
392
00:51:53,559 --> 00:51:54,981
Benito Mussolini gives
an impassioned speech
393
00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:57,800
to the jubilant crowd in
that same square.
394
00:51:59,679 --> 00:52:02,679
Portaluppi is there, as a
filmmaker, as always.
395
00:52:03,400 --> 00:52:05,519
He provides us with an
unprecedented and
396
00:52:05,679 --> 00:52:08,840
shocking Duce, filmed
from behind, crookedly.
397
00:52:09,559 --> 00:52:11,360
It is footage of an
overlooked Duce,
398
00:52:11,599 --> 00:52:14,039
confined to the backstage
of his own devices.
399
00:52:53,480 --> 00:52:55,559
The years pass and
Portaluppi continues
400
00:52:55,760 --> 00:52:57,800
to shoot, document, and archive
401
00:52:57,960 --> 00:53:00,880
with the same marked
flair for the theatrical.
402
00:53:02,039 --> 00:53:04,559
This domestic-social-worldly
theatricality is evident
403
00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:07,159
at Luisa’s wedding, the
adored daughter.
404
00:53:07,639 --> 00:53:10,079
As are the young
bride’s illusions.
405
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:13,320
Her extremely long train
whirls like a sail in
406
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:15,800
the Atellani garden next
to Antonio Castellini,
407
00:53:16,159 --> 00:53:18,159
her illustrious groom.
408
00:53:49,159 --> 00:53:51,360
At this time, his son Oreste is
studying engineering
409
00:53:51,599 --> 00:53:54,559
but he rarely appears
in his father’s films,
410
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:56,840
even on this important occasion.
411
00:53:57,559 --> 00:54:00,920
Yet Portaluppi has him in mind to
take over his studio in the future.
412
00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:05,880
Everything is always theatrical,
frozen in time by the
413
00:54:06,039 --> 00:54:08,639
amateur eye of the
man with the camera.
414
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,719
By the mid 1930s, Portaluppi
has become a millionaire.
415
00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:48,440
He can realise his dream:
416
00:54:48,800 --> 00:54:51,119
build a home named after himself.
417
00:54:52,000 --> 00:54:54,639
He finds land near the
Casa degli Atellani
418
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:56,360
and builds the
walls from scratch.
419
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:00,679
He baptizes it Casa
d’Appartamenti Portaluppi
420
00:55:01,199 --> 00:55:03,239
and plans his studio
on the ground floor:
421
00:55:03,480 --> 00:55:07,079
eccentric and articulate, it
takes up the entire space
422
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:09,239
on both sides of
the entrance hall.
423
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:34,280
By contrast, on the upper
floors, the apartments
424
00:55:34,519 --> 00:55:38,079
have a more simple and
traditional distribution of space,
425
00:55:38,559 --> 00:55:41,559
running off a central
hallway that divides the
426
00:55:41,719 --> 00:55:44,639
living rooms from the
master bedrooms.
427
00:56:44,159 --> 00:56:46,760
According to some,
this is his masterpiece.
428
00:56:47,360 --> 00:56:49,000
The perfect union
between the clean lines
429
00:56:49,159 --> 00:56:53,039
of Rationalism and the
lavish flair of Art Nouveau.
430
00:56:53,519 --> 00:56:55,679
Between personal pleasures
and bothersome
431
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,480
necessities, between
art and contingency.
432
00:57:03,400 --> 00:57:05,400
The exterior features a
smooth façade
433
00:57:05,800 --> 00:57:08,599
without embellishments
and protrusions,
434
00:57:09,039 --> 00:57:12,559
covered in white chrome
metallic alloy slabs;
435
00:57:12,960 --> 00:57:16,360
low-quality material imposed
by the Fascist autocracy.
436
00:57:16,800 --> 00:57:19,119
However, the interior,
in counterpoint,
437
00:57:19,280 --> 00:57:23,239
boasts multi-coloured
and exquisite marble.
438
00:57:27,400 --> 00:57:29,320
Concealed behind
a wall, there is
439
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:31,920
a valuable drop-front
bar cabinet
440
00:57:32,199 --> 00:57:33,440
that could be taken out during
441
00:57:33,599 --> 00:57:35,000
encounters with his mistresses.
442
00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:38,280
Above the desk, in plain
sight, a collage of
443
00:57:38,440 --> 00:57:41,199
photographs of the eyes
of his five grandchildren.
444
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:55,079
This is where his archives
are collected today.
445
00:57:56,239 --> 00:57:57,719
The mistresses have disappeared
446
00:57:57,920 --> 00:57:59,200
as have his
grandchildren’s eyes,
447
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:01,440
but what does remain are
the hundreds of drawings,
448
00:58:01,840 --> 00:58:05,440
cartoons, collections, postcards
from the world over,
449
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:09,000
anagrams, ledgers, statistics
and diagrams that were
450
00:58:09,159 --> 00:58:12,360
“observed, calculated
and compiled on the life
451
00:58:12,519 --> 00:58:15,239
and customs of
Don Pedro Puerta Lopez”.
452
00:58:16,079 --> 00:58:19,119
A life of numbers
and pleasantries.
453
00:58:22,239 --> 00:58:25,679
Including the calculations:
“What I ate in one year”,
454
00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:30,800
and “How I passed the
time in the year 1905”.
455
00:58:38,440 --> 00:58:40,199
But that year is
in the distant past.
456
00:58:40,719 --> 00:58:43,360
As are the brilliant
projects for imaginary
457
00:58:43,519 --> 00:58:46,480
cities and skyscrapers
designed in the 1920s,
458
00:58:47,239 --> 00:58:49,039
without distinguishing
between utopia
459
00:58:49,239 --> 00:58:51,679
and dystopia,
between heaven and hell.
460
01:01:36,119 --> 01:01:41,119
At the end of the 1930s, the only
thing that exists is the real city.
461
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:45,840
And the difference between
utopia and dystopia,
462
01:01:46,159 --> 01:01:50,599
between heaven and
hell, will be felt soon.
463
01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:09,639
Mussolini has attacked
Abyssinia with chemical agents.
464
01:02:10,239 --> 01:02:12,559
The United Nations
sanctioned Italy,
465
01:02:13,159 --> 01:02:16,119
and Fascist Italy has
responded with autocracy.
466
01:02:16,920 --> 01:02:20,840
So, in Milan, grain is
grown in Piazza del Duomo
467
01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:24,440
and an anonymous hand
reaches out to stroke it.
468
01:02:38,239 --> 01:02:41,920
Mussolini now parades through Milan
preceded by a movie camera.
469
01:02:43,639 --> 01:02:46,000
Thousands of children
follow him, muskets
470
01:02:46,159 --> 01:02:48,159
on their shoulders,
wearing military uniforms.
471
01:02:48,960 --> 01:02:51,360
At every level and institution
of Italian education,
472
01:02:51,559 --> 01:02:56,000
teachers are required
to swear their loyalty to fascism.
473
01:02:56,880 --> 01:02:58,599
The childhood of the
nation has been
474
01:02:58,840 --> 01:03:02,480
completely organized
into paramilitary troops.
475
01:03:08,920 --> 01:03:11,159
It is called Balilla National
Youth Organization
476
01:03:11,880 --> 01:03:15,119
and it trains the human farm
of the Duce’s future soldiers:
477
01:03:15,800 --> 01:03:17,320
his cannon fodder.
478
01:03:25,920 --> 01:03:29,440
In front of the camera,
the faces lose their identity.
479
01:03:32,159 --> 01:03:34,440
Portaluppi is enchanted
by the initials
480
01:03:34,760 --> 01:03:36,960
of his own name
on a street sign.
481
01:03:38,159 --> 01:03:41,519
As always, the Amateur
digresses, jokes around,
482
01:03:41,679 --> 01:03:44,119
gazes at his mirrored
reflection in the ephemeral.
483
01:03:46,199 --> 01:03:48,239
On the 20th anniversary
of its founding,
484
01:03:48,519 --> 01:03:51,119
Mussolini returns with
ceremonious solemnity
485
01:03:51,639 --> 01:03:55,760
to Piazza San Sepolcro
in Milan where in 1919,
486
01:03:55,920 --> 01:03:58,000
surrounded by a few
dozen followers,
487
01:03:58,199 --> 01:04:00,440
he founded the Fasci of Combat.
488
01:04:01,679 --> 01:04:04,079
Now thousands upon
thousands are marching.
489
01:04:05,119 --> 01:04:07,480
The multitude of new
fascist recruits are
490
01:04:07,719 --> 01:04:11,239
so many that the Duce
struggles to walk,
491
01:04:11,400 --> 01:04:14,800
looking a little annoyed
by his latest worshippers.
492
01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:37,880
Through his lens, Portaluppi
watches other illustrious
493
01:04:38,079 --> 01:04:39,960
figures march by for
his film, Grandi Firme.
494
01:04:42,880 --> 01:04:45,039
Time passes, the faces change.
495
01:04:45,840 --> 01:04:48,000
Everyone is donning
medals and uniforms,
496
01:04:48,199 --> 01:04:50,840
but the filmmaker doesn’t seem
to give this much weight;
497
01:04:51,159 --> 01:04:53,000
he shoots and bears witness.
498
01:04:53,920 --> 01:04:56,079
Among the faces
is Giuseppe Bottai,
499
01:04:56,320 --> 01:04:58,239
Minister of National Education.
500
01:04:59,480 --> 01:05:04,360
Portaluppi had written to him
after receiving tenure in 1936:
501
01:05:05,840 --> 01:05:09,639
“I am touched and appreciative,
I express my infinite pride
502
01:05:10,039 --> 01:05:16,400
in being able to serve my beloved
school with doubled fascist faith.”
503
01:05:17,920 --> 01:05:20,119
They are just conventional
words of respect.
504
01:05:20,519 --> 01:05:22,400
We won’t give them much weight.
505
01:05:23,400 --> 01:05:27,559
The Amateur, true to his
nature, knows no loyalty.
506
01:06:05,519 --> 01:06:09,079
In 1939, the Amateur is Dean of
the Faculty of Architecture
507
01:06:10,000 --> 01:06:12,480
and goes on another
trip with his students.
508
01:06:13,159 --> 01:06:16,239
They go to Tripolitania,
a colony of the Empire.
509
01:06:16,599 --> 01:06:21,559
He shoots evident signs
of our mission to civilise,
510
01:06:22,480 --> 01:06:26,039
“Municipal midwife. Service
is free for the poor”.
511
01:06:26,840 --> 01:06:28,880
He shoots the
carefree class at the
512
01:06:29,039 --> 01:06:30,960
archaeological
excavation at Sabratha.
513
01:06:31,559 --> 01:06:36,360
And the exhilarated students
on the dazzling white dunes.
514
01:06:47,119 --> 01:06:49,559
A year later, on the same sand
515
01:06:49,880 --> 01:06:52,920
a little further east,
Italian soldiers,
516
01:06:53,320 --> 01:06:55,880
almost completely in
non-motorised formations,
517
01:06:56,320 --> 01:06:58,559
will advance on foot to conquer
518
01:06:58,719 --> 01:07:01,760
the stark, flat, desolate land;
519
01:07:02,199 --> 01:07:06,880
a uniform, barren plain dotted
by valleys below sea level,
520
01:07:07,239 --> 01:07:12,199
afflicted by a brutal climate,
lost in the immense desert.
521
01:07:18,920 --> 01:07:21,119
But in the meantime,
the exotic trip taken by
522
01:07:21,280 --> 01:07:24,280
the Dean and his students
ends successfully.
523
01:07:25,199 --> 01:07:26,599
It is late spring.
524
01:07:27,400 --> 01:07:30,719
At the end of the summer,
with fifty-three divisions,
525
01:07:30,880 --> 01:07:35,119
of which six are armoured,
Hitler invades Poland.
526
01:08:37,960 --> 01:08:42,159
Starting from 1940,
the filmmaker retreats.
527
01:08:43,199 --> 01:08:44,680
The reels thin out.
528
01:08:45,399 --> 01:08:48,960
The Duce has plummeted
Italy into the World War
529
01:08:49,600 --> 01:08:52,680
and Piero Portaluppi almost
exclusively films children.
530
01:08:59,560 --> 01:09:03,000
He always shoots them
in their assumed antics.
531
01:09:03,680 --> 01:09:06,680
The filmmaker’s childhood
is a film full of laughter:
532
01:09:07,119 --> 01:09:12,279
it trips, it falls down, it
races its bike, a pipe
533
01:09:12,439 --> 01:09:14,840
between its lips, whether it
is wearing an Alpine hat
534
01:09:15,119 --> 01:09:16,600
or whether it has whiskers,
535
01:09:17,079 --> 01:09:19,600
or whether it is
marching as a Fascist youth.
536
01:09:21,239 --> 01:09:25,239
Perhaps Portaluppi is running
away again, distancing
537
01:09:25,439 --> 01:09:28,680
himself with his usual
creative flair, he shirks away.
538
01:09:29,800 --> 01:09:33,640
Perhaps, in extremis, he returns
to his own fatherless childhood.
539
01:09:34,399 --> 01:09:37,479
A childhood of
stuttering and insecurities
540
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:41,359
put right by his talent for
drawing cartoons free hand.
541
01:09:42,319 --> 01:09:45,960
Perhaps childhood is the only
way to continue to draw
542
01:09:46,119 --> 01:09:49,000
undeterred on
the façade of history,
543
01:09:49,600 --> 01:09:52,479
while the population,
summoned onto the scene
544
01:09:52,640 --> 01:09:55,640
of the century, marches
towards the apocalypse.
545
01:09:59,920 --> 01:10:02,640
So the grandfather stays in
the city but he sends his
546
01:10:02,800 --> 01:10:05,079
grandchildren to a safe
place in the villa on the lake.
547
01:10:05,800 --> 01:10:09,119
And every time he visits, he
invents games, he draws like
548
01:10:09,279 --> 01:10:12,840
a magician, he shoots
them and shoots only them.
549
01:10:13,359 --> 01:10:15,920
When grandpa arrives,
it’s always a party.
550
01:10:17,720 --> 01:10:20,640
But childhood, like
history, doesn’t forgive.
551
01:10:21,119 --> 01:10:24,039
Childhood requires
fathers, not grandfathers.
552
01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:28,319
It does not tolerate jumping,
somersaults, creative flair.
553
01:10:39,520 --> 01:10:43,960
During this time, Oreste,
his only son, the one
554
01:10:44,119 --> 01:10:46,479
who almost never appears
in the filmmaker’s films,
555
01:10:47,119 --> 01:10:49,840
is stubbornly seeking extremes.
556
01:10:50,239 --> 01:10:53,439
He is hurt in one of his many
mountaineering adventures,
557
01:10:53,920 --> 01:10:56,000
he is declared unfit
at his medical exam,
558
01:10:56,239 --> 01:10:58,479
but later he is able
to get a licence as
559
01:10:58,640 --> 01:11:01,560
a Naval Observer by
concealing his disability.
560
01:11:02,359 --> 01:11:05,800
He is not a fascist but
asks to be stationed in
561
01:11:05,960 --> 01:11:09,199
Sardinia where the risk
for aircraft is greater.
562
01:11:12,079 --> 01:11:16,399
For months Oreste flies over
the Western Mediterranean.
563
01:11:21,279 --> 01:11:24,199
When he goes down in
the sea off Algeria,
564
01:11:24,520 --> 01:11:27,000
his body will not be
returned to his father
565
01:11:27,600 --> 01:11:29,840
who will have to bury
an empty coffin.
566
01:11:32,239 --> 01:11:35,279
Defeated by the loss, the
Amateur breaks down.
567
01:11:35,680 --> 01:11:37,079
When faced with this tragedy,
568
01:11:37,239 --> 01:11:40,840
the only thing left
is empty rhetoric.
569
01:11:43,239 --> 01:11:46,600
He crashes too, orphaned
by his son.
570
01:11:51,039 --> 01:11:55,039
“Dear Federal, I shout
‘Long Live Italy’ through
571
01:11:55,199 --> 01:11:58,159
a voice strangled by
indescribable pain,
572
01:11:58,640 --> 01:12:00,920
but with the pride of a
fascist father.
573
01:12:01,800 --> 01:12:06,000
My son, Oreste, my only son,
fell as a hero fighting
574
01:12:06,159 --> 01:12:09,520
in the Mediterranean
as a Naval Observer.
575
01:12:10,800 --> 01:12:14,319
At 25 five years old, he was
an engineer and a volunteer.
576
01:12:15,520 --> 01:12:17,560
Now he rests in the
cemetery of Algiers.
577
01:12:18,760 --> 01:12:22,920
I wanted to give you the news first,
as a friend and as a hierarch.
578
01:12:24,039 --> 01:12:27,000
I feel more Italian and
more fascist than ever.
579
01:12:28,600 --> 01:12:32,000
My tears are filled
with pride and glory!”
580
01:12:41,119 --> 01:12:42,960
This was written in a private
581
01:12:43,119 --> 01:12:44,719
letter to the head
of the Party in Milan,
582
01:12:44,880 --> 01:12:48,279
but will be made public in the
newspaper, Corriere della Sera.
583
01:14:36,880 --> 01:14:39,039
Milan, in the
meantime, is overwhelmed.
584
01:14:40,239 --> 01:14:43,960
In mid-August 1943, RAF
Lancasters fly over the
585
01:14:44,199 --> 01:14:48,640
city in a series of waves for
three consecutive days.
586
01:14:49,520 --> 01:14:53,199
There are thousands of casualties,
the city changes face forever.
587
01:14:56,239 --> 01:14:59,359
On 13 August, the bombers
hit, among other things,
588
01:14:59,680 --> 01:15:01,960
the Royal Palace and
the Poldi Pezzoli Museum.
589
01:15:04,039 --> 01:15:08,960
On the 14th, Santa Maria delle
Grazie and the Braidense Library.
590
01:15:10,399 --> 01:15:13,439
On the 15th, bombs
burst through the roof
591
01:15:13,640 --> 01:15:16,640
of the Teatro alla Scala,
damage the Duomo,
592
01:15:17,319 --> 01:15:19,079
and destroy some
of the cloisters of the
593
01:15:19,279 --> 01:15:21,239
Ospedale Maggiore in
Via Festa del Perdono.
594
01:15:25,680 --> 01:15:27,439
This is the
Maggiore Hospital…
595
01:15:30,439 --> 01:15:33,239
On 15 August, Luisa,
the beautiful daughter,
596
01:15:33,399 --> 01:15:36,520
the adored child, leaves
her children at the lake
597
01:15:36,880 --> 01:15:39,680
and takes one of the last
trains in circulation.
598
01:15:40,960 --> 01:15:44,279
She gets as far as the station at
Bovisa. They tell her to get off.
599
01:15:44,640 --> 01:15:47,520
The city is paralyzed.
Milan is a corpse.
600
01:15:50,239 --> 01:15:52,680
Luisa walks down the
street that separates her
601
01:15:52,880 --> 01:15:56,359
from her parent’s house,
the Casa degli Atellani,
602
01:15:56,960 --> 01:15:59,680
right in front of the Church
of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
603
01:16:00,720 --> 01:16:05,439
Everything is in flames, burning
embers everywhere, tiny fires.
604
01:16:06,000 --> 01:16:09,920
There is no water and fires are
being put out with glasses.
605
01:16:15,560 --> 01:16:17,319
Trying to empty the
ocean with a glass.
606
01:16:17,640 --> 01:16:19,520
This is what is said
of an impossible endeavour,
607
01:16:19,720 --> 01:16:21,239
of unrealistic madness.
608
01:16:22,039 --> 01:16:24,920
The Milanese will succeed.
One glass at a time.
609
01:16:25,680 --> 01:16:29,720
The church is destroyed but
da Vinci’s Last Supper is unharmed.
610
01:16:30,880 --> 01:16:34,039
They will restore it crack by
crack, one colour at a time.
611
01:16:51,039 --> 01:16:53,100
Get in the water.
Get in the water with your feet out.
612
01:16:53,119 --> 01:16:54,760
Good.
Don’t tuck in…
613
01:16:55,239 --> 01:16:56,720
There.
Bend your knees…
614
01:16:57,960 --> 01:17:01,359
Really bend your knees.
Then when you’re
615
01:17:01,520 --> 01:17:03,119
out of the water,
stand up. That’s all.
616
01:17:03,920 --> 01:17:05,279
Keep your legs parallel.
617
01:17:10,039 --> 01:17:11,960
The war is over.
618
01:17:12,520 --> 01:17:15,680
An endless
post-war period begins.
619
01:17:16,479 --> 01:17:19,800
Life, as the saying goes,
returns to normal.
620
01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:31,000
Stand up!
621
01:17:32,159 --> 01:17:33,159
Good for you!
622
01:17:57,520 --> 01:18:00,880
Portaluppi is tried on two
counts of ethnic cleansing
623
01:18:01,600 --> 01:18:03,439
due to his complicity
with the regime.
624
01:18:03,920 --> 01:18:05,240
He defends himself
as best he can.
625
01:18:05,920 --> 01:18:09,039
After a brief period of banishment,
he is reintegrated and
626
01:18:09,279 --> 01:18:11,840
is reinstated as Dean
at the University.
627
01:18:12,600 --> 01:18:16,079
In 1950 the filmmaker
also returns.
628
01:18:16,680 --> 01:18:19,079
We return with him
to the golden lake.
629
01:18:20,159 --> 01:18:23,680
Yet, something has been
irremediably lost.
630
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:10,880
The 1950s are perhaps the most
631
01:19:11,079 --> 01:19:13,600
vital years of the
century for Italy.
632
01:19:14,479 --> 01:19:17,800
Italy grows with the charged
energy of an adolescent.
633
01:19:18,399 --> 01:19:20,159
Millions of farmers
move to the city
634
01:19:20,479 --> 01:19:23,079
and the GDP reaches
unprecedented peaks.
635
01:19:24,359 --> 01:19:26,640
Refrigerators and
washing machines replace
636
01:19:26,840 --> 01:19:28,760
the ideals of the
Resistance movement.
637
01:19:29,399 --> 01:19:34,399
Italy grows and betrays,
but Portaluppi ages suddenly.
638
01:21:17,479 --> 01:21:19,680
He donates the restorations
of some of the city’s
639
01:21:19,920 --> 01:21:22,479
most important buildings that
had been damaged by bombs:
640
01:21:23,199 --> 01:21:26,239
the Brera Gallery, the Museum
of Science and Technology,
641
01:21:26,880 --> 01:21:29,840
the Milan University,
Santa Maria delle Grazie.
642
01:21:30,800 --> 01:21:33,840
But his creative vein
will be lost forever.
643
01:21:39,800 --> 01:21:42,119
He is given a seat in
the royal box at
644
01:21:42,279 --> 01:21:44,560
the Teatro alla Scala in
recognition of the restorations
645
01:21:45,159 --> 01:21:47,680
and he never misses
an opening night.
646
01:21:48,399 --> 01:21:52,279
He attends singing parodies
of the most famous arias:
647
01:21:52,960 --> 01:21:57,680
“Woman is hardwood, you
must beat her like a drum''.
648
01:21:58,640 --> 01:22:02,640
He still jokes about everything
but his work becomes heavier,
649
01:22:03,199 --> 01:22:05,399
too much marble,
too embellished.
650
01:22:05,880 --> 01:22:08,159
There is a sort of involution,
651
01:22:08,640 --> 01:22:10,880
a step back,
something has been lost.
652
01:22:15,560 --> 01:22:18,479
Colour has been added to
the filmmaker’s films.
653
01:22:18,960 --> 01:22:23,000
The subjects are the usual:
Milan, professors,
654
01:22:23,319 --> 01:22:27,479
women in bathing suits,
Piero Portaluppi’s initials,
655
01:22:28,119 --> 01:22:30,840
the mirror in the road sign.
656
01:22:31,880 --> 01:22:33,800
But the mirror is shattered.
657
01:22:38,439 --> 01:22:41,640
The Casa degli Atellani receives
the news that the body
658
01:22:41,800 --> 01:22:43,920
of their son Oreste,
called Tuccio,
659
01:22:44,399 --> 01:22:48,279
buried in an empty coffin
in 1942, has been found.
660
01:22:49,439 --> 01:22:52,039
They have him returned to Italy
thanks to a ship owner friend.
661
01:22:53,039 --> 01:22:56,319
Portaluppi gets into his customized
convertible with his wife,
662
01:22:56,479 --> 01:22:58,359
Lia, and his grandson,
Piero Castellini.
663
01:22:58,920 --> 01:23:01,159
The three of them take to
the freeway for Genoa.
664
01:23:01,359 --> 01:23:03,920
When they arrive at the
docks, Portaluppi lowers
665
01:23:04,079 --> 01:23:06,359
the top in respect
for the hearse.
666
01:23:11,119 --> 01:23:14,159
Their grandson will
remember his grandparent’s
667
01:23:14,319 --> 01:23:16,800
silence during the entire
two-way trip.
668
01:23:17,920 --> 01:23:19,920
Not a word was uttered
between them.
669
01:23:21,039 --> 01:23:23,920
Two marble statues.
Speechless.
670
01:23:26,399 --> 01:23:29,000
One night during the
endless post war period,
671
01:23:29,560 --> 01:23:34,079
Portaluppi withdraws to his tiny
recess in the Casa degli Atellani
672
01:23:34,760 --> 01:23:36,520
where he nurtures his
obsessive passions
673
01:23:36,760 --> 01:23:40,720
for stamps and postcards,
constellations and sundials.
674
01:23:41,359 --> 01:23:43,479
And with the same diligence,
he looks through
675
01:23:43,680 --> 01:23:46,199
his editing notebooks
for frames of his son.
676
01:23:47,439 --> 01:23:49,840
Then he edits them out,
one by one.
677
01:24:16,000 --> 01:24:17,360
The only images saved
are one where
678
01:24:17,560 --> 01:24:18,901
he is looking straight
into the camera
679
01:24:18,920 --> 01:24:21,840
and a few clips of
Oreste dashing off,
680
01:24:22,039 --> 01:24:24,760
hiding, running
out of the frame.
681
01:24:26,119 --> 01:24:29,760
The son came into the world,
yet he remains uncreated.
682
01:24:30,560 --> 01:24:35,319
An entire era in 16 mm,
but the Amateur has no heirs.
683
01:25:46,439 --> 01:25:48,279
“… our fortuitous encounter
with the architect,
684
01:25:48,399 --> 01:25:50,640
Piero Portaluppi who
designed the adornments
685
01:25:50,800 --> 01:25:53,359
for the “Piccola Scala”,
giving the new theatre
686
01:25:53,840 --> 01:25:56,640
the appearance and atmosphere
of the grander Scala.
687
01:25:57,000 --> 01:25:59,600
Was this your intention
Mr. Portaluppi?
688
01:26:01,199 --> 01:26:04,439
We certainly wanted to
maintain the character
689
01:26:04,640 --> 01:26:07,359
in the decorative appearance.
690
01:26:08,079 --> 01:26:09,800
But the theatre is much smaller.
691
01:26:10,199 --> 01:26:13,119
In this way, we trickled it with
692
01:26:13,439 --> 01:26:15,880
the most
characteristic elements.
693
01:26:16,319 --> 01:26:19,520
If I talk about the Lyre,
the griffon-like lyre;
694
01:26:19,840 --> 01:26:22,840
if I talk about the Greek
frets, I’m also talking about
695
01:26:23,039 --> 01:26:24,640
the Caryatids in the royal box.
696
01:26:25,199 --> 01:26:28,239
They were placed there
as essences
697
01:26:28,399 --> 01:26:31,960
of the old architectural
adornments …
698
01:26:32,920 --> 01:26:34,840
And it gives a golden tone,
699
01:26:35,279 --> 01:26:37,760
and perhaps gives emphasis to
700
01:26:38,039 --> 01:26:40,359
the feminine virtues of
the beautiful spectators.
701
01:26:41,319 --> 01:26:43,239
Are you proud of
having contributed
702
01:26:43,399 --> 01:26:45,000
to the birth of
the Piccola Scala?
703
01:26:45,760 --> 01:26:48,920
Proud because I feel enlivened
704
01:26:49,119 --> 01:26:51,920
by a drive as a
supporter of La Scala.
705
01:27:32,800 --> 01:27:34,239
I’ll pass it to you.
706
01:27:41,159 --> 01:27:42,520
I have to go a bit higher.
707
01:27:45,159 --> 01:27:47,640
Look, butterflies, Giuli…
56435
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