THE MASTROIANNI A FAMILY OF ARTISTS

BY SANTINA PISTILLI PRESIDENT OF THE CENTER FOR STUDIES, RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION MARCELLO MASTROIANNI

The birth in a small town like Fontana Liri of two great personalities, two geniuses from the world of culture, born a few years apart from each other from the same family, is an event more unique than rare in history.

This is the case of Umberto and Marcello Mastroianni, uncle and nephew, who have given a strong imprint to the culture of the twentieth century in the world, one in the world of art, and of sculpture in particular, the other in the world of Italian cinema, of which it has become, and still is, the indisputable icon.

Fortuna wanted, for the pride of the Fontanesi, that at the beginning of the last century Vincenzo Mastroianni, father of Umberto and grandfather of Marcello, a native of Arpino, would settle with his family in Fontana Liri, where he worked as head model-maker at the Military Polverificio (today the “Propellenti” Military Establishment) recently planted in the lower part of the town, around which a considerable inhabited center was forming, as evidenced by the fact that a few years later, in the middle of the First World War, the production of dust involved more than a thousand work units every day.

It was an opportunity that Vincenzo jumped at, given that he was a skilled carpenter and the new military center at that time required wooden artifacts and furniture for the construction and furnishing of the nascent homes of workers and workers. And so two of Vincenzo’s ten children were born in Fontana Liri (Umberto in 1910 and Corrado in 1913) and in 1924 his nephew Marcello, son of Ottorino, firstborn of Vincenzo and like him a carpenter. After a few years Vincenzo was transferred from the then Ministry of War to the Turin Arsenal and was quickly followed by his children and their families so that around the thirties the Mastroianni all found themselves in Turin.

Later Marcello, with his parents and his brother Ruggero, moved to Rome and went to live near Cinecittà, where he was able to approach the world of cinema that already fascinated him and which would have given him so much success. After a few years Vincenzo was transferred from the then Ministry of War to the Turin Arsenal and was quickly followed by his children and their families so that around the thirties the Mastroianni all met in Turin.

Later Marcello, with his parents and his brother Ruggero, moved to Rome and went to live near Cinecittà, where he was able to approach the world of cinema that already fascinated him and which would have given him so much success. Soon Marcello would also introduce his brother Ruggero into the world of cinema who, following in the footsteps of family genius, would become a very skilled editor. film, sought after by major directors, and would win major awards.

Meanwhile Umberto, who remained in Turin, continuing his artistic vocation that - in the footsteps of his uncle Domenico - had already highlighted himself in Fontana Liri and in Rome, he frequented the cultural circles of the avant-garde of the early twentieth century and began his extraordinary career that would see him establish himself at the top of the world.

Umberto defines his father as an eclectic artist: cabinetmaker, engraver, model maker, who worked wood with the skill of a medieval carver.