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TOTÒ AT COLUMBUS CENTRE << Back to Past Exhibitions
Friday February 3rd, 7:30 PM,
Lower Gallery of Columbus Centre
Opening of the exhibition
EXCERPTS OF A PRINCE NAMED TOTÒ
(BASED ON THE MAIN EXHIBIT A PRINCE NAMED TOTÒ, CURATED BY DIANA DE CURTIS)
Presentation of the Exhibit by the Curator: Laura Caparrotti
(THE EXHIBITION WILL RUN UNTIL FEBRUARY 22ND, 2006)
EXCERPTS OF A PRINCE NAMED TOTÒ is a celebration of Italy's comic genius Totò. Original film posters, manuscripts and personal photographs coming directly from the De Curtis Family Archive will be displayed; works that reveal the entire creative spectrum of a genius named Totò: Screen Actor, Stage Actor, Composer, Poet, as well as Totò the man.
ANTONIO DE CURTIS - TOTÒ (as he used to be called by everyone, including himself) was born as an actor in the street theatres of Naples; and as an actor, he was and is celebrated worldwide. Yet Totò was much more: he wrote over 30 poems and composed over 40 songs, many of them sung by popular Italian singers. Unfortunately, his art as a poet and a composer is less known and recognized than his art as an actor. With the exceptions of the song MALAFEMMENA and the poem 'A LIVELLA, the poetry and the music of Totò did not receive the recognition they deserved. Only in the context of his entire work is it possible to better understand what kind of treasure Antonio De Curtis was and why he must be considered one of the greatest artists of all times. His ability to describe a view, a feeling or a social situation is comparable to his art of sketching a character on stage and/or on screen.
Curated by Laura Caparrotti, the exhibit is comprised of more than 50 documents from the private archives of the De Curtis Family.
To follow
Screening of the documentary
YOU DON'T KNOW WHO TOTÒ IS! (LEI NON SA CHI E' TOTÒ!)
Sky Cinema Classic and Cinecittà Entertainment
2005, 52 minutes, in Italian with English Subtitles.
Directed By Massimo Ferrari.
The documentary is composed of several parts such as: La Marionetta (The Puppet), Totò e le Donne (Totò and the Women), Totò, Peppino e..., etc. It analyzes the uniqueness of Totò's characters and characteristics: from the work on language - similar to the futurist philosophy - to the mask, from the eternal theme of hunger, to his unbelievable work as a mime in an excerpt from an episode, L'Aigle or Le Grand Cirque, that was intended to be in Uccellacci e uccellini (Hawks and Sparrows) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Together with the images, several important testimonials express their admiration and their analysis on Totò. Among them: F. Murray Abraham, Ben Gazzara, Renzo Arbore, Ninetto Davoli, Achille Bonito Oliva, Mike Bongiorno, Lucio Dalla, Antonio Monda, Professor Asor Rosa, Philosopher Massimo Cacciari, Enzo Moscato, and Totò's daughter Liliana De Curtis.
The documentary was broadcasted for the first time ever on November 2004 on Sky Cinema Classic. The October 2005 appearance in the States marked its international debut.
Totò Biography
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