Umberto

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

Mine was a family, Marcello remembers, of workers and carpenters. If I wanted to raise my origins a little, I could say a family of artisans, or cabinetmakers, as my mother calls them.

In fact, in addition to grandfather and father, skilled carvers, the family boasted various artisans - brilliant artists among their ancestors: skilled wool makers who in the 19th century exported tapestries and precious blankets abroad; the craftsmen engaged in wallpaper painting; the potters and fashion designers who have left traces up to the present day and also Domenico, Vincenzo’s brother, sculptor and painter with a studio in Rome, in via Margutta, and in Paris. Domenico’s son Alberto was also a brilliant and skilled artist, famous for his animal paintings.

It is interesting to know the Mastroianni family also from the very words of its members. Thus Umberto in an interview with Mimmo Pacifici for Gente in October 1990: “The Mastroianni family has always been a family of artists. My grandfather painted and was very good at inventing designs for fabrics and carpets that were woven with hand looms.

My uncle Domenico was a sculptor with a studio in Rome, in via Margutta. And also my father Vincenzo, Marcello’s grandfather, had a passion for art: in everyday life he was a cabinetmaker, designing models for a state arsenal, while in his free time he delighted in designing furniture, closing day and night in his laboratory.

Then, later, there was the incredible cinematic success of my nephew Marcello and the success of his brother Ruggero, who became a very skilled editor. But earlier in the family they had had a Hollywood star, Richard Conte, who made it to the cinema in the role of a gangster, and was my mother’s cousin. In short, as you can see in the Mastroianni house, an eccentric and genius atmosphere has always been breathed, even though, and I want to say, nothing has ever rained down on us. At my house we were a small army: six boys and four girls plus parents. And only my father thought about keeping the family going. Papa was originally from Arpino, a town in Ciociaria near Frosinone, famous for being the birthplace of Cicero. At a certain point he moved to Fontana Liri for work reasons and here I was born and thirteen years later also my nephew Marcello. We were a very noisy and lively family, led by the charismatic and one-piece figure of my father Vincenzo. We were certainly not wealthy but Dad managed to never miss anything: in fact, we all studied and succeeded in something “.......” With Marcello ... I am bound by a beautiful relationship of esteem and friendship. ... Marcello and I have many similarities: some in one way and some in the other we are both artists, even if there is no lack of character differences. His laziness, his sly attitude like that of an ocelot continue to amaze me because they literally “punch” with my way of being impetuous, with my great vitality “.

“When Marcello was born I was only thirteen. We are very close. In a way, our fates are alike. We are firmly united by the fact that we have suffered a lot before reaching notoriety. We struggled for a long time before our expectations were fulfilled. I talked about suffering because Marcello lost his father when he was still young and he had to make many sacrifices to succeed. At the time, when Marcello’s father Ottorino died prematurely from ill-treated diabetes, a very painful wound opened in our family. Ottorino was the eldest son, one of the points of reference for us brothers and, after his death, it was my father who helped Marcello’s family, doing everything to be close to his nephews. But he was old and certainly no longer had all the vitality he once had, when alone he was able to raise his ten children “.