Love him or hate him (Elton John does the latter, we recall the singer telling David Letterman), Roberto Benigni carries on a grand Italian tradition of comedic and full-blown cinema with "Pinocchio," which hits U.S. theaters on Christmas Day, after earning mixed reviews back on the boot.
Benigni, whose humorous style recalls the great Neapolitan actor Totó ("The Gold of Naples," "Big Deal on Madonna Street"), has nabbed two Academy Awards already and Italians have pinned their Oscar hopes once again on everybody's favorite Tuscan.
Some Americans first learned of him in Jim Jarmusch's "Down by Law" and "Night on Earth" or in Benigni's own slapstick "Johnny Stecchino" -- in which as a mob boss' doppelganger, he's hired as a stand-in -- and 1994's rip-roaring "The Monster," in which the unassuming and harmless Loris is mistaken for a murderous sexual deviant.
He also appeared in Blake Edwards' 1993 "Son of the Pink Panther," which earned wide release but was a resounding flop. But when "Life is Beautiful" -- which nabbed three Oscars -- hit American screens, Benigni was suddenly a star. His outlandish Oscar acceptance bought him further airtime.
Now, Benigni is tapping Carlo Collodi's beloved nearly 125-year-old story of a puppet come to life; a story considerably darker than the 1940 animated Disney film would have you believe. The poor puppet seems to always succumb to his desires and his dark side. He can't help but make the wrong decisions, which land him and others in trouble. In the end, though, even the heart of a wooden boy can win out, can't it?
In his film version -- which with a reported $40 million price tag is the most expensive Italian movie ever -- Benigni appears to have crafted a boisterous, colorful, carnival of action that looks part Disney and part Fellini. Which makes sense, as Benigni has straddled Cinecittá and Hollywood for some time now and the production designer, Danilo Donati, has worked on countless classics, including many of Fellini's films and Pier Paolo Pasolini's controversial, but striking, works.
Benigni said at an October press conference that he and Fellini had talked about the project before the latter's passing in 1993.
"On his deathbed, he told me: 'You will do Pinocchio'," Benigni said of the great director.
Of course, Benigni's wife and regular co-star Nicoletta Braschi also appears in the film.
Whether or not the critics deem it a success, Italians have slapped their Euros down at the box office in record numbers since the film opened in early October. With Miramax keeping tight wraps on advance viewings, we'll have to wait for Christmas to find out for ourselves. But in this writer's household, there isn't a gift much better than a new Benigni film. Buon natale.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
