A precious history. 1931. A time of enormous change. The jeweler Robert M. Shipley recognized a need for order in the jewelry industry. He founded the Gemological Institute of America to provide jewelers with professional training and to advance scientific assessment of gems.
In the 1940’s, the Institute created the 4Cs, a benchmark in diamond evaluation. By 1953, it developed the International Diamond Grading System™ and introduced it into its classes. This led to the first independent diamond grading report.
Today, the standards established by GIA are globally relied on to define a gem’s quality. GIA reports give buyers the confidence of expert information. They create trust across the world of diamonds. And they maintain GIA’s original purpose: that buyers should have accurate knowledge about diamonds wherever they may be, anywhere in the world.
Shop with assurance. Look for GIA trained jewelers. Ask to see the GIA grading report before you buy.
PEACE OF MIND STARTS WITH PROOF OF QUALITY. Carat Weight 1.53
Color Grade E
Clarity Grade VS1
Cut Grade
Excellent
Laser Inscription Registry Number GIA 16354621
Natural Diamond Not Synthetic
A GIA report is certainty from the source. GIA is the gemological research institute that created the 4Cs and the International Diamond Grading System.™ It is globally recognized as the unbiased expert for professional, detailed gem evaluations. Before you buy a diamond, ask your jeweler for a GIA grading report. To learn more visit www.4cs.gia.edu
THE UNIVERSAL STANDARD BY WHICH GEMS ARE JUDGED.
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EDITOR's LETTER
I
spent a day in Rome last month. It was my first time in Italy, so I am probably not qualified to write an editor’s letter on the city, but seeing as no one else wanted to do it, here it is. Rome, as anyone who has been there will tell you, is beautiful. They will also tell you how crowded it is, and how it’s a rather unpleasant city to get around. Luckily, as I spoke no Italian, and was paranoid about using any form of public transport, I spent the day on foot. I wandered about aimlessly, passing stunning buildings I knew nothing about, going from historical site to historical site, with no knowledge of any of them. I had no guidebook, had done no research and was therefore in a state of blissful ignorance the whole day. It was quite nice not knowing what I was looking at, or which church I was in; and as I milled through crowds of tourists laden with cameras, guidebooks and maps, I figured I had made the right decision. In fact, I am now determined to visit every new city ‘blind’, and just wander about, ignorant but happy. Could this be a new travel movement? I can’t think of a pithy name right now, but imagine all the unplanned encounters, surprise discoveries and organic experiences. A bit like this issue, really. We hope you enjoy it.
conor@openskiesmagazine.com
emirates takes care to ensure that all facts published herein are correct. In the event of any inaccuracy please contact The editor. Any opinion expressed is the honest belief of the author based on all available facts. Comments and facts should not be relied upon by the reader in taking commercial, legal, financial or other decisions. Articles are by their nature general and specialist advice should always be consulted before any actions are taken. po Box 2331, dubai, UAe Telephone: (+971 4) 282 4060 Fax:(+971 4) 282 4436 email: emirates@motivate.ae
93,731 CopiES printed by emirates printing press, dubai, UAe
Editor-in-ChiEf Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Group Editor & ManaGinG partnEr Ian Fairservice Group SEnior Editor Gina Johnson • gina@motivate.ae SEnior Editor Mark Evans • marke@motivate.ae Editor Conor Purcell • conor@motivate.ae dEputy Editor Gareth Rees • gareth@motivate.ae dESiGnEr Roui Francisco • rom@motivate.ae Staff writEr Matthew Priest Editorial aSSiStant Londresa Flores Editorial intErn Jeric Rodriguez SEnior produCtion ManaGEr S Sunil Kumar produCtion ManaGEr C Sudhakar GEnEral ManaGEr, Group SalES Anthony Milne • anthony@motivate.ae diGital dEvElopMEnt ManaGEr Helen Cotton • helenc@motivate.ae Group SalES ManaGEr Jaya Balakrishnan jaya@motivate. ae advErtiSEMEnt ManaGEr Murali Narayanan SEnior SalES ManaGEr Shruti Srivastava Editorial ConSultantS for EMiratES: Editor: Siobhan Bardet Arabic Editor: Hatem Omar Deputy Editor: Andy Grant wEbSitE • emirates.com. ContributorS: Adam Smith, Hg2, Terry Daley, Gemma Correll, Daniele Luppi, Mitch Blunt, Ivan Carvalho, Maria Elia Natali, Gabriele Marcotti CovEr illuStration by Roui Francisco InTeRnATIonAL MedIA RepResenTATIves: AUsTRALIA/neW ZeALAnd okeeffe Media, Kevin o’ Keeffe; Tel + 61 89 447 2734, okeeffekev@bigpond.com.au, BeneLUXM.p.s. Benelux; Francesco sutton; Tel +322 720 9799, Fax +322 725 1522, francesco.sutton@mps-adv.com ChInA publicitas Advertising; Tel +86 10 5879 5885 FRAnCe Intermedia europe Ltd; Fiona Lockie, Katie Allen, Laura Renault; Tel +33 15 534 9550, Fax +33 15 534 9549, administration@intermedia.europe.com geRMAny IMv International Media service gmbh, Wolfgang Jäger; Tel +49 89 54 590 738, Fax +49 89 54 590 769, wolfgang.jager@iqm.de hong Kong/MALAysIA/ ThAILAnd sonney Media networks, hemant sonney; Tel +852 27 230 373, Fax +852 27 391 815, hemant@sonneymedia.com IndIA Media star, Ravi Lalwani; Tel +91 22 4220 2103, Fax +91 22 2283 9619, ravi@mediastar.co.in ITALy IMM Italia Lucia Colucci; Tel +39 023 653 4433, Fax +39 029 998 1376, lucia.colucci@fastwebnet.it JApAn Tandem Inc.; Tel + 81 3 3541 4166, Fax +81 3 3541 4748, all@tandem-inc.com neTheRLAnds gIo Media, giovanni Angiolini; Tel +31 6 2223 8420, giovanni@ gio-media.nl soUTh AFRICA ndure dale Isaac; Tel +27 84 701 2479, dale@ndure.co.za spAIn IMM International, nicolas devos; Tel +331 40 1300 30, n.devos@imminternational.com TURKey Media Ltd.; Tel: +90 212 275 51 52, mediamarketingtr@medialtd.com.tr UK spafax Inflight Media, nick hopkins, Arnold green; Tel +44 207 906 2001, Fax +44 207 906 2022, nhopkins@spafax.com UsA Totem Brand stories, Brigitte Baron, Marina Chetner; Tel +212 896 3846, Fax +212 896 3848, brigitte. baron@rtotembrandstories.com
23
CONTENTS A SLICE OF CLASSIC ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE FROM THE 1950S (P50)
DANGER MOUSE COLLABORATOR AND ITALIAN COMPOSER DANIELE LUPPI’S TOP TRACKS (P37)
ITALY’S MOST FAMOUS PLUMBER ON HIS REMARKABLE LIFE (P49)
25
CONTENTS WE EXAMINE THE PHENOMENAL AC MILAN TEAM THAT A FORMER SHOE SALESMAN BUILT (P64)
A SELECTION OF CLASSIC PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PAOLO MORELL0 (P86)
THE STRANGE LIFE AND TIMES OF SERGIO LEONE, MASTER OF THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN (P54)
26
KIHAAD MALDIVES
A scenic 35-minute ride on a seaplane past unbelievable atoll formations takes you to a pocket of paradise nestled within the azure blue waters of Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A pearl of beauty of 118 villas in 6 different categories all tastefully decorated in luxurious comfort in a truly traditional Maldivian setting. All villas offers you utmost privacy and sweeping vistas of clear blue skies and glistening white sandy beaches, just a step away from the inviting pleasures of the aquamarine waters and a vibrant and preserved coral reef, promising you the ultimate in luxurious solitude and tranquility. The resort also boasts of a vast array of recreational facilities, an incredible over water SPA, a fitness centre, Water sports, swimming pool, tennis, beach volley, squash, excursions and an intriguing Diving centre that will give you the chance to experience Hanifaru Bay, one of the most famous marine reserve in the world.
Kihaad Maldives…simply gorgeous!
www.kihaadmaldives.com
contributors
gabriele marcotti: An Italian sports journalist based in London, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, The Times, Sports Illustrated and the Financial Times as well as being a regular columnist with La Stampa. He has written three books, including the acclaimed The Italian Job.
ivan carvalho: Ivan has lived in Milan for the past ten years and is a contributing editor at Monocle magazine. He has previously worked for Domus and the International Herald Tribune and started his editorial career at Wired magazine.
Daniele lUppi
: He is an Italian composer, musician, arranger and producer based in Los Angeles. Luppi is known for his cinematic music production and collaborated with Danger Mouse on last year’s critically acclaimed album, Rome.
aDam Smith
: A senior writer for Empire Magazine, he has also written for the Observer, The Times, GQ and FHM. He is a regular on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, and his first book on film, The Rough Guide to 21st Century Cinema, will be published next month.
paolo morello: A renowned photographic historian, photographer, collector and publisher, he has published a number of seminal books on Italian photography. His most famous work is the groundbreaking twin-volume study La Fotografia in Italia.
28
INTRO P. 32 • TRIESTE’S RENAISSANCE
P. 36 • PRIMO LEVI REVIEWED
P. 40 • ROME MAPPED
P. 46 • A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITALIANS
31
illustration: Mitch blunt
or centuries, the fortunes of Trieste have been made and unmade on the city’s waterfront. Once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the port on the north-eastern Adriatic gave the Hapsburg rulers in Vienna the perfect platform from which to project their military power in the Mediterranean – here, mighty dreadnoughts were built in shipyards that have long gone silent. Besides shipbuilding, the city has also become rich from trade. Coffee has been a popular import since the early 1800s, and for three generations the Illy family has worked hard to bring in a steady supply of coffee beans. Each year, large
F
sacks arrive from far-flung plantations in the tropics and find their way to local roasters – including Illy, which continues to craft its unique blend of espresso that has become a favourite among discerning caffeine drinkers. Following the First World War and the city’s annexation to Italy, Trieste found
our man in
TriESTE the italian city is looking to rejuvenate its waterfront to boost its economy
Ivan Carvalho is Monocle magazine’s correspondent in Milan 32
itself on the frontline of the Cold War (being right on the border with Yugoslavia) but adrift at Europe’s economic margins, as much of its harbour traffic moved elsewhere. With the fall of the Berlin Wall now almost a distant memory – and with container traffic starting to pick up and compete with rival ports
TwiTTEr in Hamburg and Rotterdam – the city’s inhabitants are again looking seaward in the hope of a return to happier times when the likes of Sigmund Freud and James Joyce were eager to pass the time strolling its streets, the latter spending 15 creative years here, and the locals rightfully honoured him with a statue. The one-time Roman fishing village is seeking a 21st-century renaissance in its abandoned old port, the Porto Vecchio, a collection of late 19th-century buildings and warehouses that were erected with Hapsburg funds and which were linked to Europe’s railroads and allowed passengers and goods to pass through on their way to the Suez Canal and beyond – a fair share of the world’s luggage and packages at one stage were emblazoned with the ‘via Trieste’ routing tag. “The relevance of the sea for Trieste’s residents is sometimes taken for granted,” says local journalist Beniamino Pagliaro, who penned the 2011 book Trieste: La bella addormentata (Trieste: The Sleeping Beauty) which chronicled the last 20 years of city politics and efforts to reawaken the city’s glory days. “For many Triestini the sea is like a brother: you are fond of it but maybe you don’t pay it enough attention because it’s there and it will always be there.” For Pagliaro, the announced redevelopment project in the old port area, valued at €1 billion, is a much-needed boost. Despite Italy’s fame as a tourist destination, Trieste remains a forgotten city – passengers arriving by cruise ship, which berth right in front of town hall, are expected to top 100,000 this year, far behind the roughly two million who call at Venice annually. The Porto Vecchio project is ambitious, something on par with the London 2012 Olympics that set out to redevelop
the East End. For decades, residents in Trieste could not even access the old docklands, which were walled off and overrun with weeds. “Try to imagine 60 acres along the water just five minutes from the city’s main square, and imagine that you can’t go in,” adds Pagliaro,
For many here the sea is like a brother you are fond of it but you don t pay it enough attention as it is always there whose beat at the local paper is covering the goings-on at the port. “Last year, when the area was opened to host an art exhibition, it was like discovering a huge city within the city.” Today, the wall is down and work on converting half a million square metres into public and private use is set to begin and go on for the next decade. The historical buildings are to be preserved and space has already been allocated for hotels, shops and apartments, as well as two marinas that will provide space for nearly 400 yachts. After Trieste’s several false starts in the past, including finger-pointing and political squabbling among local authorities, Pagliaro is upbeat that this time all the pieces are in place for a success story. “Many times Triestini were able to scare off investors in the past, or politicians were too conservative and decided to slow things down. I don’t see this happening today. Residents are tired of too much talk and no construction. The current crisis is a painful accelerator. Now is the right time.”
piTch ItalIans know a thIng or two about food, so here’ are some restaurants you should follow Spiaggia the menu from chicago’s awardwinning high-end italian restaurant ranges from rustic to sublime. @spiaggiachicago
Locanda Locatelli the london-based, Michelin-starred stronghold of famed italian chef Giorgio locatelli. @loclocatelli
BurraTa an urban chic italian-inspired restaurant in cape town’s old biscuit Mill. Winner of the birra Moretti best Emerging italian restaurant award in 2012. @burratasa
osteria Francescana updates from the chef behind the world’s fourth best restaurant, osteria Francescana in Modena, italy. @massimobottura
BicE San Diego a branch of the elegant international chain bicE offers a skilful mix of traditional and contemporary trends in italian cuisine. @bicEsandiego
33
room Room
203
Il SalvIatIno
Florence InteRnet Speed: 2MB, pIllowS: Four Ipod dock: Yes cold cutS delIveRy tIme:
10 minutes complImentaRy SnackS:
Mineral water and a fruit bowl toIletRy bRand: cesare Buonamici daIly newSpapeR: International Herald
Tribune and Financial Times extRaS: nespresso coffee machine
You can’t buy elegance – but Florence’s Il Salviatino comes pretty close. With an awe-inspiring view overlooking the city, and the 15th century villa’s sought-after postcode in the hills of Fiesole, it does elegance with much aplomb. Converted into a boutique hotel in 2010, the Renaissance villa has 45 rooms and a stunning collection of 19th century frescoes and valuable artwork. It has 12 acres of formal gardens and a wonderfully restored library full of classics. The rooms feature vaulted ceilings, antique bathtubs and restored frescoes, alongside modern comforts such as hidden TV screens built into the mirrors and an almost telepathic butler service (which can arrange anything from a Ferrari tour of the Chianti wine region to a midnight feast of Italian salami and cheeses).
tv channelS:
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september calendar
SeptembeR
SeptembeR 6 to 13
Sept 8 to oct 14
Doha hopes to become the centre of jazz in the Middle east with the opening of Jazz at lincoln center; a treat for regional music fans.
The world’s beautiful people will descend on the Big Apple for its annual showcase of the latest in fall fashion.
This end-of--summer festival happens all over Paris with music concerts from folk to classical played in some amazing settings.
jazzatlincolncenterdoha.com
mbfashionweek.com
festival-idf.fr
Jazz at lincoln center
34
new York Fashion Week
Festival Ile-de-France
Sept 18 to oct 17 Beijing Modern International Art Festival
china’s original modern art festival; this event will feature artists from around the world. chinahighlights.com
booked
THE PERIODIC TABLE PRIMO LEVI
Italian-Jewish chemist and writer Primo Levi is famed for producing what is perhaps the greatest first-hand account of the holocaust, If This Is A Man – the story, published in 1947, of his time spent as a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. It was the book that made his name – an irrefutable classic. But it is the quirky little book The Periodic Table, published 30 years after Levi’s liberation from Auschwitz that continues to fascinate readers and bamboozle critics to this day. Featuring 21 short stories – all linked to an element from the periodic table – some tenuously, some more directly – the book flits from Hebrew etymology to Levi’s ancestry; obscure allegorical tales to deftly crafted fictional anecdotes, with the story of Levi’s pre-war studies, wartime struggles and post-war work providing a linear thread that just about holds the book together. It has been called the greatest scientific publication ever, but this is no turgid textbook – it is an odd, often difficult and impressive work, representing Levi’s belief that chemistry and life are inextricably entangled. Einaudi, 1975
september calendar
SeptembeR 14 to 23 untIl SeptembeR 16 SeptembeR 20 to 23
SeptembeR 23
london Design Festival
Biennale of sydney
Tokyo Game show 2012
cape Town Marathon
As the eyes of the sporting world turn away from london, it is time for the city to focus on its other talent, design. londondesignfestival.com
catch the last couple of weeks of Australia’s largest and most exciting contemporary visual arts event at the 18th edition of the sydney Biennale.
This annual four-day expo with video game releases, seminars and guest appearances will be something special. tgs.cesa.or.jp/english
set against the backdrop of Table Mountain, the cape Town marathon is fast, flat and packed with world-class athletes. ctmarathon.co.za
36
bos18.com
skYpod ItalIan compoSeR, muSIcIan, pRoduceR and danGeR mouSe collaboRatoR danIele luppI RateS hIS top tRackS
ENNIO MORRICONE – BELINDA MAY From a 1969 movie called l’alibi. I love the harmonic richness. The choir is the cantori Moderni, who I later worked with on the Rome project.
BRUNO MARTINO – ESTATE check out the performances that João Gilberto made of this song. The original is epic, with a big orchestra, but in Gilberto’s hands it sounds like a bossa nova original.
SOULSAVERS – IN THE MORNING I arranged on this, which features Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode. His vocals are usually surrounded by electronics, but I put it to strings, and I was very satisfied with it.
DANIELE LUPPI – FETISH QUARTET From my album An Italian Story, a homage to 1970s soundtracks. I used many original musicians. Back then they’d record pop by day, and soundtracks in the evening. 37
DANGER MOUSE AND DANIELE LUPPI – THE WORLD I wrote this with Danger Mouse, and Jack White sang the vocal. This track transports me back to the Forum studios in rome.
BURT BACHARACH AND HAL DAVID – WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT? The music is like a circus band, all big bass drum and trombone glissandos. But as soon as Tom Jones comes in, it’s a rock song. It is very courageous.
LUIS RECCA – TANGO DE AGUA MARINA It’s what erik satie would call furniture music – a tango with electronic elements and Italian-style strings: very pretty.
UMBERTO BINDI – IL MIO MONDO Italian pop is stereotyped as melodramatic, and tracks like this are why. The message is, without you I am nothing – I will die if you leave. 38
conor purcell open skies edItor remembers a teenage love affair with serie a t was the first Gaelic football medal I had ever won, yet my mother was not happy. She was not happy because it was the first gaelic medal I had ever won but I had chosen to stay at home instead of going to the awards ceremony. Apparently my name was called out and a neighbour heard, and she later, as middle-aged women are wont to do, decided to tell my mother. My reasons for not going to the event seem, even now, more than 20 years later, quite sound. Football Italia arrived with a bang in September 1992. I, like most of my friends, were transfixed. At the time, Serie A was the don of European football leagues. The newly formed Premier League was nothing close to the monolith it is today, and the football was a poor cousin to the silky skills on offer in Italy. Another draw was the host, James Richardson. He was smooth, intelligent and cliché-free, the complete opposite to the tired hacks that populated (and still do) the BBC and ITV post-match analysis. More than that though, the show highlighted everything that was aspirational about football. Gloriously sunny Sunday afternoons in Milan and Genoa and Rome, where the likes of Papin and Van Basten, Signori and Baggio would glide across the pitch, transfixing a generation of Irish teenagers. It all seemed so serene, so beautiful; there was nowhere else we wanted to be. The fact that the best English player of his generation, Paul Gascoigne, had chosen to play for Lazio said it all. Nowadays, no Eng-
I
lish player would choose Italy over England, but at the time, it all made complete sense. And it was the ultimately doomed Gascoigne whose move drove the decision to cover Italian football in the first place. So what has all this got to do with my no -show at a school awards ceremony? Well, the evening of the event was the same evening Channel 4 was showing extended highlights of Milan’s epic 7-3 thrashing of Fiorentina. Who was I to miss this piece of footballing wizardry? Just look at the scoresheet that day: Gullit, Lentini, Van Basten, Effenberg. Milan oozed class in those days, and even a thenunbeaten Fiorentina were no match for them. So I stayed at home to devour the highlights, knowing full well that it would mean me missing out on a medal. I didn’t really care. Football, particularly beautiful football of the type that was played in Italy at the time, was much more important than a school’s medal won on a grimy GAA pitch in South Dublin. Even then I was aware that beauty in sport is a rare thing and should be, if not cherished, at least savoured. And savour it I did, sitting alone in my kitchen, watching these masters of Italian football as a late October light drifted in. The next day at school, I found out that a handful of others had not turned up either, all of whom were also at home watching Serie A. This did not go down too well with the school authorities, or with the GAA coach, who had a well-known dislike for “that English sport”, as he used to call it. The school’s ticking off was nothing compared with that of my mother, who, to put it colloquially, went ballistic. It was impossible to explain to her that watching the Milan–Fiorentina match was much more important, much more vital to an impressionable teenager, then picking up a barely deserved medal. Was it worth it? Of course it was.
mapped rome
16 16 12 12
CittĂ CittĂ DelDel Vaticano Vaticano Borgo Borgo
Prati Prati
Campo Campo Marzio Marzio 11 11
Colonna Colonna Ponte Ponte
Trevi Trevi
7 7
S. Eustachio S. Eustachio Parione Parione Regola Regola
6 6
Angelo Angelo
5 5
Campitelli Campitelli Trastevere Trastevere RipaRipa
rome 40
Testaccio Testaccio
Romance and Rome go together like a horse and carriage, which is why visitors have been flocking here for its dizzying mix of architecture and style for nearly 3,000 years. Think age-old historical heirlooms surrounded by Vespa-choked streets, picturesque piazzas dominated by trickling fountains and buzzing restaurants crammed with noisy locals. Though Rome’s ambiance is historically charged, the city isn’t without its modern charms either - it’s a place where fivestar boutique hotels come together with nightclubs, ancient relics and eclectic eateries for a true European experience.
Salario Salario Salario Salario
Sallustiano Sallustiano Sallustiano Sallustiano Lundovis Lundovis Lundovis Lundovis
WWW.HG2.COM
HoTeLS 1. Hotel Adriano 2. Ripa 3. Aleph 4. Majestic Roma
Monti Monti Monti Monti Esquilino Esquilino Esquilino Esquilino 1010 1010
Celio Celio Celio Celio
reSTAUrANTS 5. Glass Hostaria 6. Enoteca Ferrara 7. Da Baffetto 8.Da Enzo al 29 BArS / CLUBS 9. Il Goccetto 10. Necci dal 1924 11. Gilda Bar 12. Babel GALLerIeS 13. Galleria d’Arte Moderna 14. Vatican Museums 15. Capitoline Museums 16. MAXXI
41
mapped rome
hotels 1 hotel adRiano
The stylish, 80-room boutique Adriano is decked out in eclectic décor, including beautiful botanical drawings. Set in a 16thcentury palazzo behind the Pantheon, the Adriano is pure Rome.
2 Ripa
3
This super minimalist design hotel was one of the first of its kind in Rome. From a shabby exterior to warm, bold colours inside, Ripa is an interesting stay; unusual due to its location in bohemian Trastevere.
aleph The Aleph explores the theme of good vs evil in its design – it’s decked out in opposing styles (red crystal lobby vs. heavenly spa) and full of intense details. The Seventh Heaven rooftop bar is also great.
4 Majestic RoMa
da BaFFetto You have to arrive early to this popular pizzeria (considered to be the home of pizza). Always filled with a crowd of locals, tourists and A-listers, this is a slow, atmospheric, cramped and truly Roman affair.
8
A favourite among celebrities, the Majestic is 98 simple, stylish rooms with custom designed furnishings and the type of hush-hush hedonism that proper A-listers adore. They also love the rooftop sun terrace.
RestauRants 5 Glass hostaRia
In an attempt to ‘give Trastevere back to the Romans,’ Glass Hostaria does contemporary interpretations of Italian cuisine. Portions can be small, but the focus is on delicate flavours and the all-glass interior.
6 enoteca FeRRaRa
Vinophiles will love the selection of international wines on offer at this enoteca run by sisters Lina and Maria. The food, which is expensive, takes a backseat to the wines, which are served in six types of glass.
7
da enzo al 29 Da Enzo is known for its traditional Roman food – heaped bowls of pasta and basic but delicious table wine. Brusque service and a cast of local diners make the atmosphere here perfectly Roman.
BaRs/cluBs 9 il Goccetto
A truly traditional Roman wine bar, Il Goccetto is set in a medieval house. Serious drinkers swig French and Italian wines surrounded by wooden barrels and gothic lanterns inside, or at a handful of pavement tables outside.
10 necci dal 1924
Legend says Pasolini’s masterpiece L’Accattone was shot at Necci dal 1924, and this bar retains its air of surrealism, decorated with knickknacks, while the large garden out at back is a draw during the summer.
11 Gilda BaR
This cinematic bar is decked out in velvet curtains and showy décor. Gilda attracts mostly well-heeled jetsetters, but remains a place for fun, so long as you can afford the price tag and clothes to match.
12 BaBel
The Baroque styling – elegant wallpaper, huge red leather sofas, antique-style lights and Swarovski lamps – makes the ambiance equally perfect for chilling out or dancing the night away.
GalleRies 13 GalleRia d’aRte
ModeRna Among the strongest collections here are the sculptures, which include several Rodins and Moores, while lesser known Pollocks, Kandinskys and Van Goghs grace the numerous other rooms. 42
14 Vatican MuseuMs
The Vatican Museums are among the most important on earth. The prized painting is Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, though smaller nooks such as Fra Angelico’s frescoes in the Cappella di Niccolò V are equally beautiful.
15 capitoline MuseuMs
This museum, which crosses three piazzas, houses some of the oldest works of art in existence, including Bernini’s Medusa sculpture, numerous Italian and Greek work and the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.
16 MaXXi
Fairly new to the scene, Maxxi is paving the way for contemporary art in Rome, with a range of paintings, sculptures, photos and installations. Known as much for its exhibitions as for Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid’s innovative design.
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these sporting lives THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ITALIAN AND BRITISH SPORTING CULTURE WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY THE REACTION TO THEIR CONTRASTING FORTUNES AT THE OLYMPICS, WRITES TERRY DALEY
t the end of this summer’s Olympic games in London, Gianni Petrucci, the head of the Italian Olympic Committee CONI, said that “the Italian team has excelled,” after finishing in eighth place in the medal table. Italy had 290 athletes at the games and won 28 medals – one more than in Beijing – of which eight were gold, nine silver and 11 bronze, and most were in the sports that excite Italians, such as water polo, shooting and especially fencing, where they picked up three golds. The haul prompted Petrucci to say that Italy were “in the G8 of sport”, while the press were overwhelmingly positive about their country’s performance. “Before arriving in London I predicted 25 medals,” said Petrucci. “Today they number 28 and
A
our goals were both met and surpassed.” The Italian Minister of Sport Piero Gnudi was equally effusive, saying that he was “proud of the results that our guys achieved.” And yet if Great Britain had pulled in 28 medals in London, it would have been seen as an abject failure. Why? Partly it’s due to how sport is funded in the two countries, and partly because Italy has a completely different self-image. The roots of Britain’s current sporting success lie in John Major’s decision in 1994 to create the National Lottery, and to insist that it use 5.6 per cent of its revenues for “sporting good causes.” From there the Sports Council became UK Sport, which now sits on an annual investment budget of around 45
$157 million (an extra $472 million of public and private sector funding was allocated specifically for the Games), of which half goes to grass roots sport and the other half to elite athletes. If these elite athletes fail, their funding is cut and it is put to use somewhere else. The focus – and money – is very much towards the top of the sporting tree, and specifically towards the Olympics. CONI, which is the authority for all sport in Italy, not just Olympic sport, invested $58 million into Olympic sports in 2012, and has an annual overall budget of $111 million for this year, the lowest amount in the past decade and nine per cent lower than 2011. However there’s more to it than just funding: deep down, Britain feels that it should be at the top of the tree. This
is due in part to post-colonial arrogance, but also because many of the world’s most popular sports were invented (or at least codified) in Britain. Hence the country’s lamentable showings in 1992 and 1996 stung, and something had to be done about it. Italy, on the other hand, is content to give as good as it gets, and doesn’t feel like it should be anywhere in particular. As a nation, Italy is a fractious place, deeply divided along regional lines, with little self-confidence, and the people here are quick to pour scorn on their country, rather than celebrate it. Any national pride or arrogance is expressed entirely through football, and in most other sports they hope, rather than expect, to do well. There has been some grumbling from newspapers about
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ICONIC ITALIANS julius caesar
1
He conquered Gaul, he led the first invasion of Britain and he crossed the Rubicon, marched on Rome and won a civil war, becoming undisputed ruler of the Republic. He even wrote a few books. How was Caesar rewarded? He was murdered by Brutus (possibly his son) in 44BC. That’s gratitude for you.
2
Most people have poor old Niccolo pegged as a nasty piece of work, the epitome of the amoral statesman
46
niccolo machiavelli
GIUSEPPE garibaldi
BENITO MUSSOLINI
portrayed in his masterpiece The Prince. But Machiavelli was more than a scheming politician, he was a historian, a philosopher, a republican and a true Renaissance man. Bravo, Nic, bravo.
greatest achievement came in 1865 when British football team Nottingham Forrest FC adopted Garibaldi red as the colour for its home strip. Of course, there’s also a biscuit named after him.
3
4
Adventurer, soldier and politician Giuseppe Garibaldi played a seminal role in the events leading up to the unification of Italy in 1870, and he was a proponent of universal suffrage and women’s rights. But perhaps his
OK, he was the father of fascism, made friends with Hitler, invented a silly walk and loved to run around with his top off. But give the man a break, he made the trains run on time, after all, and his birth certificate reads
the state of sport in schools, with the Gazzetta Dello Sport lamenting cuts in funding and the lack of activity in schools – students have two hours of physical activity a week – but there hasn’t really been a huge demand for more investment of the sort that Britain experienced in the mid-1990s, and certainly not with the aim of tripling the country’s medal tally within 20 years. Petrucci said before the games that 30 medals for Italy would be exceptional, and while the country takes pride in the success of its athletes and is quick to disparage failures, ‘failure’ is defined as not performing to standards previously set rather than necessarily winning. Swimmer Federica Pellegrini, for example, copped a lot of flak for her disappointing showing at the games, and that was exacer-
luciano pavarotti
super mario
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini – so to anyone whose Italian pronunciation is off, he had a girl’s name.
5
A big man with a big voice, Pavarotti was perhaps the most famous opera singer of all time, and his performance at the 1990 World Cup was a corker. Respect.
6
Anybody who has picked up a Nintendo control pad in the last 30
bated by her high-profile relationship with fellow Olympic swimmer Filippo Magnini, which sees the pair frequently grabbing headlines in gossipy free sheet newspapers and the legions of celebrity-obsessed magazines. However criticism of Pellegrini came not because Italy expects to win, but because she’s one of the strongest swimmers in the history of the sport: she was the first woman to break the four-minute barrier in the 400 metres freestyle, maker of multiple world records and was the first ever female Italian Olympic swimming champion at the Beijing games – all by 20 years of age. One of their gold medal hopes not only didn’t win, she didn’t do her best – and that was the worst crime of all.
SILVIO BERLUSCONI
years knows and loves Mario. The out-of-shape Italian plumber is the most famous video game character of all time. But when he originally appeared in Donkey Kong he was named Jumpman and made his living as a carpenter. Fact.
7
He is a media tycoon, owner of AC Milan, the 169th richest man in the world and, to top it all off, the longest serving post-war Italian Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the man who
MARIO BALOTELLI
not only courts controversy but also, if it’s lucky, lets it stay for breakfast the next morning, Mr Silvio Berlusconi.
8
The second Mario on our list, described as “unmanageable” by Jose Mourinho, is slightly fitter than his video superhero namesake, but he doesn’t wear a pair of overalls quite as well. The Manchester City player does, look rather striking (get it?), in blue, and pulls off an interesting hairstyle. 47
MY TRAVELLED LIFE MARIO, PLUMBER, 32
ON IDENTITY
ON LUIGI
Mushroom Kingdom, I don’t get that much
I am more than just a plumber; ask anyone
Luigi is misunderstood. He is often viewed
holiday time, and even then, I do a lot of public
in the Mushroom Kingdom and they will tell
as nothing more than an understudy, yet he
appearances. I go through overalls at a rapid rate,
you that. Yes, if you have a clogged drain or
is just as capable as me, or very close at least.
and they are not cheap, believe me.
a leaky boiler, I can fix it, but those skills pale
One day he got so mad after Yoshi sarcastically
in comparison to what I do on a day-to-day
asked him if he was going to work, when it was
basis. Just to give you one example, I have
clear he was just going to sit around the house.
ON FAME
rescued Princess Peach hundreds of times.
Yoshi can be so sarcastic. To be honest, him
I have starred in more than 200 games
To be honest, I am a bit sick of it. I keep telling
and Luigi don’t get on.
and am a global icon, so it’s a bit annoying when strangers ask me for plumbing
her not to go near Bowser, but she does, and
advice. Really? Plumbing? Why not ask me
then she gets kidnapped. Again.
ON ITALY
about my acrobatic skills? Or my ability to
Italy has not had a good year. Financial crises,
simultaneously evade capture and catch
ON FITNESS
corruption; we even lost the European
someone else AND collect coins. That’s pretty
I may not have the perfect physique (I have
Championship final to Spain. But, despite all
remarkable, you have to admit. So ask me
been called ‘pudgy’ by a number of lazy
that comes with being Italian these days, I love
about that, not about the best way to clean a
journalists), but with my long list of enemies,
my country. Given my responsibilities in the
drum trap.
I need to stay on my toes. Donkey Kong is one big brute you don’t want to cross, so evasion is the best policy. I run a lot. Usually I am either running away from someone or running after someone. After a day of that, the last thing I want to do is hit the gym. Actually, I am not sure that the Mushroom Kingdom has a gym.
ON FACIAL HAIR My moustache doesn’t define me, it’s just a style I am comfortable with. It’s also something of a family tradition; my father had one, his father had one. I would feel naked without it. Beards though, beards are a step too far. 49
place PALAZZETTO DELLO SPORT •
RO M E
•
YEAR BUILT: 1957
PhOTO: MARIA ElIA NATAlI
A RC H I T E C T U R E M APPED
50
GIUSEPPE VERDI'S OPERA LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE
AIDA 18 th and 21 st of October 2012 at 7:30 pm Katara Amphitheater
Verdi’s acclaimed opera AIDA is finally coming to Katara. First performed in 1871 in Egypt, this production in set and costumes of the world famous sculptor Igor Mitoraj, with more than 80 choristes, 12 ballet dancers, 35 actors and 8 of the most renowned Verdi singers of today, together with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Verdi specialist Pier Giorgio Morandi. Don’t miss AIDA, a visual and musical feast at Katara for 2 nights only on the 18 th and 21 st of October at 7:30 pm. www.katara.net
main P. 54 • SERGIO LEONE’S LIFE AND TIMES
P. 64 • THE AC MILAN WAY P. 76 • ITALY’s NEW BREED P. 86 • ITALIAN mEmoRIEs
53
A
sk any film professor about post-war Italian cinema, and they’re likely to talk enthusiastically about the great maestros: Vittorio De Sica, leading neo-realist, and director of the wonderful Bicycle Thieves. Or Federico Fellini, whose La Dolce Vita forged a new kind of non-linear, symbolic Italian cinema. They might wax lyrical about Michelangelo Antonioni, whose Blow Up crystallised the modish 1960s in the minds of swinging cinephiles across the world. These are all worthy pillars of international cinema. But to the lowly film fan, there is likely to be a name missing: Sergio Leone. The film establishment has never had much time for Leone, his Spaghetti Westerns hovering in some strange critical hinterland, neither part of the grand Italian canon nor, shot in Spain, foreign financed and dubbed into English and half a dozen other languages, part of conventional Hollywood history. But only a few directors can claim to have invented an archetype; Hitchcock had his blondes, Frank Capra his noble, tortured, everymen. But Leone has possibly the greatest, most tantalising of them all. The mysterious stranger: The Man With No Name. Sergio Leone had been born into a world of movies. His father was Vincenzo Leone, a successful film director of the 1920s and 1930s (often under the pseudonym Roberto Roberti), and the younger Leone, his only son, spent much of his childhood on his father’s sets, absorbing the frantic bustle and air of vague anarchy that typified an Italian movie shoot, getting to know the producers and technicians who populated the set, and who in his later life would often provide useful hands up his career ladder. As well as observing films being made, the young 56 sergio leone
Leone consumed them avidly. In the years before the war, when he was ten or eleven, he and his small band of friends would haunt the local fleapits, the noisy, slightly ragged cinema della periferia, which were far cheaper than the more refined movie houses in the centre of town. The gang would invade the whole front row, and were not averse to cheering or providing a running commentary on the movie, no doubt irritating the audience with their vocal support of the white-hatted heroes, or speculation over the kind of demise that likely awaited the black-hatted villains. “We in the gang modelled ourselves on the heroes of the American films we’d seen,” he later said. “We were madly in love with American cinema. We
Leone’s DEEP LOVE affair with the us was nothing if not very complicated always imitated Errol Flynn and Gary Cooper . . . always we went to the films from Hollywood. Never the Italian Telefoni Bianca [The despised ‘White Tel-
ephone’ films, uptight comedies and melodramas with nary a gunslinger in sight which were characterised by the presence of the bourgeois object in the films’ upscale settings].” With the onset of World War II, Hollywood films became harder to see, though some still slipped through the censors’ net. And there were the illicit
American comics to tide them over when the local cinema della periferia had nothing to offer but the dreaded white telephones. American culture had become the forbidden fruit, and all the sweeter to Leone because of it. As the war raged, Leone dreamed of the America he saw on the big screen and it became a romantic ideal for the future director as it did for an entire generation across Europe. But with the arrival of real-life Americans during the invasion of 1943, he was in for a rude awakening. The GIs were not at all like John Wayne of Gary Cooper. They were just young men, with young men’s preoccupations and vices. “They chased after our women,” Leone said, recalling a characteristic that would perturb the local boys of more than one European country. “And they would sell their cigarettes on the black market. They were soldiers like any others . . . I could see nothing of the demi-gods of my childhood.” Thus was Leone’s complicated love affair with America and its cinema born. The country of wide open prairies and idealistic heroes afflicted by human weakness and greed, a great promise fatally corrupted, would be a theme he would explore again and again in his most famous movies. “It is a great shame that America is always left to the Americans,” he once somewhat sourly remarked, when criticised for focusing his work on a country other than his own. By his late teens Leone had decided to follow his father into the film business, much to Vincenzo’s disapproval. By then in his 60s, Leone’s father was disappointed with his faltering career and cynical about the future of the movie industry. He insisted that Sergio take a law degree, which, with little enthusiasm, he did. But when
Vincenzo retired and left Rome with his mother, Leone dropped out of college and began what would be a long, eventful film apprenticeship. The industry that Leone encountered in the late 1940s and early 1950s was inundated with chancers, con artists and dreamers, all bustling around the legendary Cinecitta, a vast studio complex six miles from the centre of Rome, which had been built by Mussolini in the 1930s. The Italian appetite for movies was at its peak, but much of the product was American; a great tide of Hollywood movies swept over cinemas, much to Leone’s delight. “I watched thousands of movies,” he told biographer Christopher Frayling, one of the first academics to take Leone’s work seriously. Global co-productions of very dubious artistic, or even commercial, merit were ten a penny; shady producers raised enough money to shoot a week’s worth of film, then laid everybody off while they tried to hustle up enough cash for another week of shooting. B-list American stars attempted to revive their careers by signing on to Italian films, or, often, quaffed chianti in the city’s bustling hotels and bars while waiting for such a revival. It was an industry consumed by short-lived fads. There were ‘sword and sandal’ movies, the best, or at least most successful, starring Steve Reeves or other imported musclemen parading around papier mache sets in flimsy costumes. James Bond was ripped off endlessly. Leone’s early jobs were as a lowly assistant to, among others, De Sica, and a bespectacled 19 year-old Leone can briefly be seen in Bicycle Thieves, amidst a band of students – extras he’d procured for the director from his university course. But his father’s friends helped out, introducing the young sergio leone 57
man around town and securing him low-paid jobs, and slowly Leone gained a reputation as an efficient worker and hard-nosed negotiator. By the late 1950s he was one of the Italian industry’s most highly paid assistant directors, and a regular on the crews of the vast American productions that soon began to take advantage of the exchange rates, and the fine facilities of Cinecitta that led to being unofficially named “Hollywood on the Tiber.” Leone, who didn’t so much embroider his anecdotes as weave them into veritable Bayeux tapestries, claimed that he had pretty much solely directed the famous chariot race sequence from Ben Hur; an unlikely boast, but even so, by the beginning of the 1960s he had directed his first B feature: The Colossus of Rhodes, a forgettable entry in the muscle-man cycle. Nevertheless, it was with a visit to his beloved movie theatre that Leone’s true cinematic calling revealed itself. Japanese cinema had only recently come to international attention, but Japanese director Akira Kurosawa was already acknowledged as a modern master. His film Rashomon, a single story told from multiple viewpoints, had dazzled crowds at the 1951 Venice Film festival and took the grand prize, the Golden Lion. Yojimbo, a violent, cynical tale of a ronin playing off two criminal gangs against each other, had itself been influenced by the Westerns that, like Leone, Kurosawa had loved in his youth. When Leone saw it he was entranced and determined to take the story to its western roots. A screenplay was hurriedly written, a tiny budget procured, and then Leone started thinking about stars. He had wanted Henry Fonda or, failing that, James Coburn. Neither agreed to the $15,000 fee. Finally someone suggested Clint Eastwood, but Leone had 58 sergio leone
Leone had no idea who clint eastwood was and never sAW him act never heard of him, and so he was sent an episode of the American western TV series Rawhide. “This man with a vacant look on his face in an unwatchable film about cows?” Leone asked sadly after viewing the show. But by then he had run out of options. After well over a decade in the movie business, Sergio Leone
was on the cusp of directing his first real movie. And it was this unpromising television actor or bust. When, six thousand miles away in Hollywood, Eastwood received a call from his agent, his reaction was nearly as blunt. “Hell no,” was his response to the William Morris rep who brought him the news. “I’m not interested. Especially in a European Western. The whole thing would probably be a joke.” There were those who might be surprised that Eastwood felt he could be so picky. His first movie appearance had been in Revenge of the Creature, a film produced to cash in on the success of The Creature From The Black Lagoon. It had been an inauspicious start, which led to a few more forgettable roles. His big break had come not in movies but their then despised rival, television, as youthful second lead “Rowdy” Yates in the moderately popular Rawhide, which debuted in 1959. But by the early 1960s Eastwood was feeling increasingly constricted by the formulaic nature of the role. When he finally took a look at the screenplay for what would become A Fistful Of Dollars, an odd document printed on flimsy onion paper and titled The Magnificent Stranger – Leone being canny enough to give the movie a working title he thought irresistible to vain Hollywood celebrities – he was intrigued. He spotted its debt to Kurosawa’s Yojimbo immediately, but there was something in the character that appealed to him. Texas Joe – Eastwood’s character, had a different moniker in all three of his films with Leone; the ‘Man With No Name’ sobriquet being an invention of the United Artists marketing department for the films’ subsequent US releases – was mercurial, violent, unpredictable and, though neither Clint nor Leone would have likely used the word, cool. He was about as far away from
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Eastwood’s goody two-shoes Rawhide character Yates as could be imagined. Take for instance his entrance, when, riding out of the desert, Joe spies a small boy being shot at by banditos. “In an average Western the hero’s got to step forth and grab the guy who’s shooting the kid,” Eastwood said of the scene. “But this guy doesn’t do anything. He turns and just rides away. I thought that’s perfect, that’s something I’ve always wanted to do in a Western.” With Rawhide on hiatus for the Summer, Eastwood decided that at the very least he’d get a trip to Europe out of it, and so he booked tickets to Italy. When Eastwood arrived in Rome in April of 1964 Leone was surprised to find his star had already picked out much of his kit. Eastwood had been to a costume shop on Hollywood Boulevard and purchased a flat-brimmed hat, he had a selection of black jeans, as well as the sheepskin jacket he would wear for the majority of the movie, while the despised cigars (Eastwood was a nonsmoker, and chewing endlessly on the cheap stogies put him in a suitably sour mood on set) came from a local tobacconist. The famous, soon to be bulletriddled poncho was Leone’s addition. 60 sergio leone
Actor and director got off to a rocky start, with Leone, nervous of working with an American star, and fearful that he might lose his authority, faking a gruff exterior. He couldn’t keep it up for long. After a brief week at Cinecitta the shoot decamped to locations in Spain, and Leone soon reverted to his true character: excitable, loud, irrepressible. With more languages being spoken on set than at the United Nations, mime often had to replace words as direction, with the portly, bespectacled Leone acting out scenes, which Eastwood found hilarious. He looked like Yosemite Sam, the star observed. “Sergio had this child like way of looking at the world,” Eastwood told biographer Richard Schickel. “He loved the joy of it all. I know he had a good time shooting when he wasn’t getting furious.” Leone knew that this was his chance to make a movie that expressed his complicated, conflicted feelings about America and its films, and he was determined not to waste it. Everything had to be perfect. When he found himself in need of a tree for the set, one presented itself in a neighbouring garden. Leone arrived in a truck
and informed the bewildered owner that he was from the highway department, there to remove his dangerous tree – which he did, swiftly relocating it to his set. The film that emerged baffled its backers. It was nothing like the American westerns that Italian directors had previously studiously aped. The hero was taciturn and cynical, in it for the money rather than any high ideals. The style seemed to be deliberately ugly, the faces of the villains, in extreme close up, were like monstrous gargoyles. Then there was Ennio Morricone’s score. The composer’s music was formed not of lush pastoral strings but harsh jangling noises, electric guitars and whimsical whistled melodies. They took one look at it and buried it in a single cinema della periferia in a Florence suburb to await its quiet death. But
eastwood’s grimaces in the film were due to his distaste for cigars it didn’t die. Instead, it found its audience in exactly the same kind of young, enthusiastic crowd that Leone had been a part of as a youth. It ran without interruption in the same cinema for six months Two further movies followed in short order, For A Few Dollars More in 1965 and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in 1966, though because of
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copyright wrangles with Akira Kurosawa (Fistful ’s producers had, in typical fashion, neglected to pay for the rights) it was 1967 before A Fistful of Dollars made its debut in America. When the movie did finally make it to the States, it caused a shock that many of the American critics weren’t immediately ready for. “Awful mediocrity” was leading critic Judith Crist’s verdict. “Like its villains it was shot in Spain,” The New York Times sneered. But, as it had in Florence, Leone’s film found its audience in young people as tired as he was of conventional, stuffy westerns. United Artists made more money in some theatres than they did with the immensely popular James Bond movies. But by the time he made The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Eastwood had spotted what would be Leone’s Achilles heel: the director was acquiring a taste for the epic. He declined a role in Leone’s final western, and for many critics his masterpiece, Once Upon A Time In The West. “It took him fifteen minutes to get past the part with the fly,” Eastwood said of the film’s stunning, attenuated opening sequence, and it was the films epic scope that would prove Leone’s undoing.
62 sergio leone
The American studio, horrified by the three-hour cut that Leone produced, hacked it to pieces, inevitably destroying its internal rhythms and damning it both critically and commercially. A decade later the same fate met Once Upon A Time In America, his lyrical, expansive gangster movie; butchered by the editor of the Police Academy comedies at the behest of a philistine studio. Its 269 minute running time was reduced by almost half, and its exquisitely complex intertwined flashback structure ruthlessly rearranged in dimwitted chronological order: these ignominies may be one reason Leone is not treated with more respect by mainstream film scholars. But Leone’s influence on American cinema could be more pronounced than critics have suggested. The work he did with Leone would reverberate throughout Eastwood’s lengthy career. There are elements of The Man With No Name in his most commercially successful role, that of ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan; directed by Don Siegel the first film, Dirty Harry, is essentially a Western, albeit one set in San Francisco’s concrete canyons, rather than Monument Valley’s stone ones. Furthermore, Eastwood’s own later westerns, both as star and director, would
draw on the moral ambivalence and resigned pessimism of the early Italian films. Five years after the release of A Fistful Of Dollars, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch redefined the American western, and its operatic violence and sense of futility clearly owes a debt to Leone’s earlier films. More subtly, Leone’s films started a shift in the idea of what a movie hero was. The cleancut, uncomplicated white-hatted good guys were slowly replaced by more complex, ambivalent characters, these new anti-heroes finding their apotheosis in Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle. Leone died in 1989 of a heart attack. He was just 60, and in the midst of preparing yet another epic – this one an account of the Siege of Leningrad. It was not to be. But his great and lasting legacy, four westerns in as many years, remains; Leone’s vision of the West as grand and rotten, is as corrupt and thrilling as it was when audiences first saw them. Watching the films today, nearly 50 years later, it’s impossible not to think of Leone as a little boy staring up at the screen, celluloid giants towering above him, dreaming of America. Adam Smith is a contributing editor at Empire Magazine and a prolific film writer
Here time doesn’t pass. It flies.
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the rise of the robots how milan became the world’s greatest team
by gabriele marcotti illustrations by kyle smart
65
T
he date was May 24, 1989. The place was the dressing room deep in the bowels of Barcelona’s Camp Nou, where Milan had been crowned European champions less than an hour earlier, after a 4-0 pummeling of Steaua Bucharest. Some players were half-dressed. Others naked. Others still clad in their red-and-black jerseys, perhaps believing the longer they hung onto their sweat-soaked shirts, the longer the magic of the moment would last. Suddenly, the door burst open. Silvio Berlusconi, the club’s president, strode into the room. Most expected a congratulatory speech, peppered with jokes and anecdotes. More than most, Berlusconi, one of Europe’s richest and most powerful men even back then, had a way of making ordinary people feel special. It’s a skill shared by most leaders of men, and it’s no coincidence that, some five years later, Berlusconi himself would enter politics and be elected prime minister, largely by making the people of Italy feel better about themselves. But on this, Berlusconi was different. As silence fell upon the room, his eyes seemed to survey his players and coaching staff, his expression fixed in the kind of indecipherable half-smile where you don’t know if he’s about to break into a full grin or retreat into stone-faced seriousness. Berlusconi chose the latter. He said, simply: “You have made history. Now go and make legends.” And with that, he walked out of the room. Today that phrase might seem corny, even trite. But the weight of words is modulated by the context. And at that moment, nearly a quarter of a century ago, it resonated with the ‘rossoneri’ more than anything else Berlusconi might have said. Those nine words at once acknowledged their feat 66 AC MilAn
– bringing the European Cup back to Milan after two decades – but he also reminded them of their responsibility: to go out, win again and leave a mark. It also resonated with public opinion. This wasn’t just a successful club: to this day they’re the last to hold onto the European Cup, having won the ‘cup with big ears’ again the following season. It was fun, filled with possibility, and they enjoyed smashing stereotypes and archetypes. In that sense, it nicely matched the zeitgeist both of its city, Milan, and its owner, Berlusconi. The lyrics of Lucio Dalla, the late Italian singer-songwriter, neatly describe Milan as it was in the 1980s: “Milan, what banks! Milan what stock exchanges! Milan with open legs! Milan, laugh-
berlusconi, milan born and bred, fit the city like a glove. And he had big ideas for his club ing and having fun! Milan, what hard work!” Long the country’s economic and banking capital, the city boomed along with the excesses of the decade.
Time magazine devoted eight pages to illustrate just why its ‘Play hard, work hard’ ethos made it the place to be in the decade of consumption. The fashion houses, the models, the high-end design, the Ferraris doubleparked in the narrow streets of the Brera district – the once dour industrial city had shed its sombre work clothes. This was the equivalent of the nerdy hard-working kid whose internet start-
up gets sold for millions and he suddenly discovers sports cars, fabulous clothes and flashy women. Berlusconi, Milanese born and bred, fit the city like a glove. He built a leafy, luxury suburban satellite town and named it Milano2. Those who could afford to abandoned the city’s cookiecutter apartment blocks and flocked to its tree-lined avenues. He started one of the country’s first commercial television networks and, within a few years, bought out his competition, estab-
lishing himself as one of the supreme media magnates in Europe. His television fare was wildly popular: imported dramas, glamorous quiz shows and, above all, plenty of excitement. In February of 1986, he turned to football, buying Milan, and promising to create the same level of showbiz and excitement. He got 80,000 fans to turn up in the middle of summer to watch the unveiling of the new signings in the summer of 1987. With typical Berlusconi flourish, they arrived by helicopter as
Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries blared over the San Siro loudspeakers. At a time when, for most clubs, merchandising meant sticking a cheap club logo on a T-shirt, he opened a string of stores – Milan Point – which sold everything from branded bathrobes to toothbrushes. He took the team on tours of the Far East and the United States more than a decade before anybody else figured it might be lucrative. But his boldest stroke came early on, in the summer of 1997, when he ap-
the boldest move was the appointment of saachi, a former shoe salesman who only played as an amateur AC MilAn 67
pointed a former shoe salesman who had never played professional football to manage the club: Arrigo Sacchi. The bald, wild-eyed Sacchi had worked his way up through various lower league clubs to Serie B with Parma. The previous season, Parma had stretched Milan in a cup game and Berlusconi was suitably impressed. “Par ma play great football and they’re fun to watch,” he said. “If they can push us so hard with the mediocre players they have, imagine what that manager could do with better ones!” Berlusconi had spent heavily in his first transfer window at the helm. He went further in his second. In came two Dutchmen, the dreadlocked Ruud
68 AC MilAn
Gullit and the iceman, Marco Van Basten. They joined a side which already included Roberto Donadoni and Carlo Ancelotti in midfield and Paolo Maldini, Mauro Tassotti and Franco Baresi, Milan’s youngest-ever captain, at the back. There was no shortage of big names, the question was how they would respond to the eccentric Sacchi, whose football was unlike anything anyone had seen to that point. “I was heavily influenced by Dutch football, the way they stretched the field and exchanged positions,” he told me years later. “But I also loved the strength and athleticism of the German game. And I thought if you combined the two with Italian tactical discipline,
you really could do something special.” At a time when most sides in Europe man-marked opponents – that is, each player was responsible for his opposite number – Sacchi preached ‘zonal marking.’ Instead of the man, worry about the space. Years on, it sounds so simple, but at the time, it was new and foreign and required a total rethink. “I was a rightback and I picked up the left winger,” recalls Tassotti. “When I went forward, he was the guy who marked me. If he came inside, I followed him. If he sat deeper, I pushed up. It was a series of individual battles. Now, all of a sudden, this guy wanted me to hold my position and, instead of the man, my reference point would be
the space around me. It took some getting used to. But once it clicked... wow!” The other big innovation he brought was pressing. When Milan did not have the ball, the players would push right up and try to win it back. From passive defending to active defending. As a footballing concept, pressing had been around since the 1950s, but by the 1980s it had become virtually obsolete, largely because it was risky. If you abandon your defensive position to chase the ball, you leave wide gaps, which opponents can exploit. Sacchi’s solution? He got his players to move in unison and continually readjust their positions on the pitch based on where the ball was. The age-old antidote to pressing – kicking it long into the area vacated by the opponent who presses – was rendered useless. Milan’s movements were so synchronised, so efficient, that there were no gaps. Learning this style of play required long, intense training sessions, most of them without the ball. Before Milan’s semi-final clash with Real Madrid in the 1988-89 European Cup, the Spanish club sent a scout to watch them train. He came back w ith this report: “They’re crazy. I saw them scrimmage against an invisible opponent with an invisibile ball and Sacchi running around shouting like a maniac.” Sacchi still chuckles today at the story. “We did it all the time,” he recalled. “Our team would line up on the pitch with no ball, and I’d tell them where the ball was and what was happening and they would have to move and adjust based on what we have learned. “We did this at full speed for 45 minutes. No wonder those who watched us thought we were crazy! They couldn’t tell what we were doing.” Milan won Serie A in 1987-88. The following season, they rolled through the field to win the European Cup, beat-
ing Real Madrid 5-0 along the way. A year later, they fulfilled Berlusconi’s demands, going from history into legend as they again won the European Cup, this time beating Benfica in the final – the winning goal was scored by another Dutchman, Frank Rijkaard, who Sacchi had handpicked to join Ancelotti in midfield. The world watched in amazement. No team up to that point had combined technique, power and movement in the same way. Just as someone with no knowledge of golf could watch Tiger Woods in his pomp and appreciate that he was head and shoulders above the rest of the field, so too did this Milan side win over neutrals and casual fans alike. They swarmed and overwhelmed and did it with style: rarely has the cliche ‘men against boys’ seemed more appropriate. “It was like playing against 22 men, they were everywhere,” said Real Madrid’s Michel after the 5-0 pasting. “They always had time, they always knew were everybody else was, they were always in the right place at the right time. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Sacchi would say years later that his words were the greatest compliment anyone could have paid him. “Time and space are constant, right? Wrong!” he told me years later. “You can bend them, just a little perhaps, but enough. If your movements are synchronised, you will always have space. And if your style is so ingrained that you don’t have to spend that split second knowing where your teammate is, you are, in effect, stopping time. That split-second you would otherwise have used to spot your teammate you can now use to control the ball or hit the pass or whatever.” Stunning as it was, the great personalities in Milan’s side gave it that extra frisson of glamour that nobody, with the possible exception of Real Madrid’s
It was like playing against 22 men, I have never seen anything like it before Galacticos a decade later, could match. It began with Baresi, the taciturn, stone-faced skipper who transformed himself into a charismatic warrior on match day. “Baresi was like something out of a video game, it was as if he was controlled by some supercomputer,” said former teammate Paolo Di Canio. “Everything about his movement was perfect, not a step or an ounce of energy was wasted. And he did it with such grace! Fans would cheer when he simply cut out a pass or covered a space.” Then there was the Golden Boy, Paolo Maldini. Tall and handsome, he was footballing royalty: his father had won a European Cup with Milan in 1963. He won the starting job at age 17 and kept it for the next 19 years. On the wing, Donadoni was the magician, the curlyhaired mesmerising dribbler whose mazy runs befuddled opponents. In the middle, Ancelotti was the hub of the wheel, dictating tempo and sending the stadium in a frenzy when he embarked on his trademark runs, which usually resulted in thunderous shots. The three Dutchmen added a dimension all of their own, possibly because they were so different from each other. The regal ice-cool Van Basten combined size and elegance like nobody had ever done before: he looked – and played – like an action hero. Gullit was the unpredictable free spirit, the guy who would tour South Africa during AC MilAn 69
milan were the first to use a fitness coach and sports science. nothing was left to chance the off season and perform on stage with Nelson Mandela. And then there was Rijkaard, the sheriff, the man who radiated intensity and order. It is no coincidence that so many in that Milan side went on to become successful coaches. Ancelotti won two Champions League titles with Milan, and did the league and cup double with Chelsea in the Premier League. Dona70 AC MilAn
doni went on to manage the Italian national team, while Van Basten did the same with Holland. Gullit won the FA Cup at Chelsea, while Rijkaard won a Champions’ League and two league titles at Barcelona. “We are all children of Sacchi,” Rijkaard says. “He changed the way we look at football forever. And we took that knowledge with us into management.” The fact that Milan became a global phenomenon in an age before not just YouTube and the internet but also before multichannel satellite television tells you all you need to know. Part of it was the club’s marketing nous, as stated above. Part of it was sheer brilliance. Those who saw them in their pomp were smitten forever. But that Milan side were trailblazers in so many other ways. Sacchi was joined by Vincenzo Pincolini, a former
athletics coach, who became the fitness trainer at a time when nobody had a dedicated fitness guy. The closeminded old-boy world of football clubs simply didn’t see the value of having one. Today, it would be unthinkable, but back then Pincolini’s appointment raised more than a few eyebrows. Yet within a year or two, football clubs were scrambling all over themselves looking for athletics trainers who might do a job for them. Milan also pioneered the use of sports science. Players underwent a battery of tests, both physical and psychological, and were tracked at every training session. Today, it’s commonplace, back then nobody was doing it beyond the confines of Milanello. Then there was squad rotation. Milan’s first 11 actually played relatively few matches; the club had a large squad
and Sacchi liked to use it. Part of it was all about creating competition, but part of it was about keeping players rested and fresh.You may be wondering, at this stage, how Sacchi compared to Pep Guardiola, whose Barcelona side are often mentioned alongside Milan as the greatest ever. In terms of trophies, it’s no contest. Both won two European Cups, but Guardiola also won three league titles, to Sacchi’s one. The fact that the two divide opinion despite Guardiola’s greater success is a testament to Milan’s greatness. But it also offers a clue to its demise. “We were exhausted, by the end. It was just too draining,” says Rijkaard. “We could raise our level for the big
games, but our football was so physically and mentally demanding we struggled to do it week in, week out.” Sacchi himself was worn down. It’s not easy to turn out a masterpiece match after match. He went on to manage Italy, taking them to within a penalty kick of winning the World Cup, but he never again attained the same heights as manager. “I had become an empty shell. I had given everything and I had nothing left,” he said. A cynic might say this was much like the city of Milan. The boom of the 1980s led to overspending and excess. By 1991, deficits had ballooned and the good times were over. The club opened another cycle of success, this time with
Fabio Capello at the helm, winning four league titles and the Champions’ League in five seasons. But while that team broke records in terms of consistency, it just wasn’t the same. Sacchi’s Milan had more peaks and troughs, and Capello’s team was more relentless and persevering. But it’s the peaks we remember, not the steady times. “We didn’t reach perfection, because that’s impossible,” Sacchi says. “But I think it’s safe to say we satisfied Berlusconi. We wrote new legends of football. And we changed the game forever.” Not bad for a shoe salesman. Gabriele Marcotti is a freelance sports writer who specialises in Italian football.
ITALY’S NEW BREED Italy is in a bad way at the moment, with its economic and political problems, but the future may just be brighter than you think, as a new breed of creatives and entrepreneurs help push the country into the 21st century. text by ivan carvalho.
PETER CORRAINI Publisher
G
iven the rising popularity of the Kindle and iPad, reading books in their physical form is becoming an activity that may soon be extinct. For traditional publishers, times are not easy, but Pietro Corraini is anything but traditional. His family, which manages a publishing house and a number of bookshops in Italy, prints paperback and hardbound copies on art and architecture, but they have garnered the most attention for their high-quality children’s books. Much of what Corraini publishes isn’t found in the local kindergarten. “We publish children’s books, many from the 1940s but also those by authors who are just starting out. Many are in between a typical children’s book and something closer to graphic design. Bookstores have a hard time categorising our titles when they get them, so they usually just make a Corraini shelf,” jokes Corraini, who looks after the family’s own Milan bookshop, dubbed 121+. Located in the city’s Zona Tortona district – which is home to showrooms and is a popular spot during the design and fashion weeks in Milan – architects, designers, photographers and editors are constantly streaming by the windows of the 121+ store looking for creative gift ideas for friends or young family members. “We don’t publish or sell the traditional stuff: popup books and the like. We work with graphic designers and artists who think outside the box when it comes to titles aimed at children: we have books printed just with colours where you then have to draw the lines. It’s the opposite of colouring books.”
The family is a big fan of Bruno Munari, the late graphic designer who wrote and drew a series of clever titles that attracted both young and old. Known for his dry humour and beautiful drawings, Munari came up with whimsical games to play connect the dots and learn the alphabet. Another clever idea conceived by Corraini is a tribute to the popular Moleskine notebook that was once nearly extinct itself. He took the elegant little black book and used the elastic cord to create a slingshot to fire off analogue messages, in a throwback to simpler times in the classroom when students didn’t have the luxury of secretly shooting off SMS messages with a few quick keystrokes.
www.corraini.com
MASSIMO ALBA Fashion Designer
W
hen asked what inspires his knitwear collection, Massimo Alba avoids the practice of namedropping celebrities, models-turnedmuses or movies he’s seen. “Whether it’s summer or fall, my starting point is always the same: the familiar. My family, the people who surround me in my work and daily life are my references,” says Alba, who even asks friends to appear in his lowkey advertising campaigns. Known for his ability to work wonders with cashmere from his earliest days in the rag trade back in the mid-1980s, Alba has built up an impressive CV in the Milanese fashion world – he has served as creative director for luxury brands Agnona and Ballantyne. After successfully relaunching fashion labels for others, he stepped out into the spotlight with his eponymous label five years ago. In keeping with his laid-back aesthetic and wish to maintain a low profile, he opened his first stand-alone boutique in 2009 in a 19th-century palazzo on a quiet side street in Milan’s upscale Brera district. The shop is a far cry from the slick retail temples found in the city’s Quadrilatero della Moda, where big name fashion brands often show off clothes and accessories in cold, vast, impersonal spaces.
78 PROFILES
Well-turned-out couples from Beirut to Tokyo venture into Alba’s boutique and are greeted with the quaint ringing of a shopkeeper’s bell to announce their arrival as they open the door. Inside, they’ll find vintage furniture picked up on the designer’s travels, and pages taken from a botany encyclopaedia and gardening journals used as wallpaper. For sale, there are sumptuous clothes designed by Alba for men and women: casual, wearable everyday items such as V-neck wool pullovers, washed baby corduroy trousers and breezy blouses. All are handmade by his network of Italian artisans, who patiently craft everything from dress shirts to hats. The designer, who often drops by the shop with Jasper, his pet golden retriever, chose the shop’s location for its proximity to the city’s botanical garden. For Alba, the garden, which was even used to host one of his eclectic fashion shows, is a source of ideas – delicate flower patterns regularly appear on his pocket squares, scarves and ladies’ shirts. “My research focuses on natural elements: colours and textures. All of our fibres are left natural and never pressed. My cashmere is chemical-free, dyed in natural pigments so it’s also good for the environment.”
www.massimoalba.com
PROFILES 79
80 PROFILES
STEFANO BOERI Architect
F
or years, Stefano Boeri worked behind the scenes promoting cutting-edge architecture and stimulating debate about the future of cities as editor-in-chief of leading Italian publications Abitare and Domus, the latter founded in 1928 by the legendary Gio Ponti and still a must-read for fans of good design. Today, Boeri is playing a more visible role in shaping the metropolis via his architectural practice and in his role as city councillor for culture in Milan – Boeri’s career in politics started in 2010 when he ran as an independent and narrowly lost the race to become the city’s mayor. Despite that setback, Boeri is still set to leave his imprint on the city with a groundbreaking project opening next year that will alter the traditionally grey and gloomy Milanese skyline. Dubbed the ‘Vertical Forest,’ the pair of residential blocks, the highest rising 26 floors, will feature a green façade made up of thousands of bushes, plants and trees arranged on the towers’ oversized balconies. “In the last six years, 99 per cent of the skyscrapers built in the world have been covered with a façade made of glass and steel,” says Boeri. “What we are trying to do in Milan is some-
thing new: a vegetal façade. The trees will absorb the urban pollution, and they produce oxygen. Our buildings will be a sort of mutant architecture from an aesthetic viewpoint, since the exterior will change season to season as plant species bloom.” Much research has gone into preparing the urban forest, which is the equivalent of 10,000 square metres of woodland. Tree species have been subjected to wind tunnel tests to see how they cope with gusts of wind 120 metres above street level. Apartment owners will have a team of botanists and gardeners on call to help tend to the hundreds of flora in pots and flowerbeds that range from magnolias to olive trees. The green building concept is just one of several urban planning schemes Boeri is eager to see realised. He is promoting an initiative to create a green belt of forest that will ring Milan with 3 million newly planted trees and a series of bicycle paths, as well as an effort to convert 60 abandoned farms on the city’s outskirts into a food basket to grow fruits, vegetables and cereals to feed local inhabitants.
www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net
PROFILES
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ALICE DELCOURT Chef
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talians, by nature, are passionate about food. It was something that struck American chef Alice Delcourt on her first visit to the Bel Paese. “I came to Italy when I was 18 and I fell in love with how excited they got about eating. People would sit around the table and compare olive oil,” says Delcourt. “I remember eating a cucumber with nothing on it, not dripping in salad dressing like in the US; it was delicious.” Today, Delcourt tries to recreate the same atmosphere at her restaurant Erba Brusca, which opened last year on the outskirts of Milan along one of the city’s old canals that date to the days of Leonardo da Vinci. To ensure fresh ingredients are close at hand, Delcourt has built up relationships with local butchers and dairies, and has even planted a garden next to her eatery’s outdoor dining area so she can have a steady supply of spices, herbs and seasonal fruits and vegetables for her dishes – she is currently using home-grown thyme in a risotto recipe that calls for figs and goat’s cheese sourced from a local organic producer. Born in France, raised in North Carolina and with a stint at London’s River Café under her belt,
82 PROFILES
Delcourt’s menu reflects her background – her wine list features a fair number of French vintages mixed in with the Italian reds and whites, and she offers a Sunday brunch complete with eggs Benedict and pancakes, the latter made with lemon and poppyseed. “We use Italian ingredients with a base in Italian cooking, but I’m not Italian and it seemed silly for me to open a trattoria where we would do traditional dishes like an Italian grandma would. Here, I wanted a place that was democratic, where people can come in flip-flops by day or dress up nicely for an evening out.” Delcourt does of course make room for pasta on the menu – a popular one of late is pizzoccheri, a short, tagliatelle made from buckwheat flour that is served with potatoes and greens and melted cheese. She has shown herself adept at learning new cuisines. Last year, she took top prize at a couscous cook-off in Sicily where chefs from all over the Mediterranean competed – her winning dish was accompanied with dried fruit, sesame seeds and roasted almonds, and topped with a slice of smoked mackerel.
www.erbabrusca.it
PROFILES 83
MARCO VELARDI
Creative Director & Editor
C
ritics of Italy often accuse the country of being run by old men – scandal-plagued septuagenarian Silvio Berlusconi is often offered up as evidence of this. Today’s record youth unemployment rate, now pushing 30 per cent, doesn’t help either for young entrepreneurs dreaming of starting their own business. Marco Velardi is proof, however, that the next generation hasn’t given up on Brand Italy. Barely 30, Velardi has already helped launch a successful magazine, Apartamento, which enjoys a cult following among those in the design world since it first started rolling off the presses in 2008. Last year, Velardi won another round for the youth movement when he was hired by De Padova, one of Italy’s beloved furniture brands, to take over as creative director. “I was very flattered when they asked, and quite surprised too,” recalls Velardi. “It’s a family-owned company and these brands prefer to pass down from one generation to another. But De Padova was willing to give me space.” Since furniture design is a crucial component of Milan’s economic engine (together with fashion and finance), the appointment of an outsider to an established brand caught some by surprise.
84 PROFILES
At Salone del Mobile, the premiere event in the furniture industry that attracts some 350,000 visitors annually to Milan to see where home interior trends are headed, Velardi unveiled thoughtful pieces that played up the strengths of Italy’s great manufacturing heritage and won over many critics. Among the works he commissioned for De Padova was an outdoor table in teak by thirtysomething industrial designer Luca Nichetto in a move to promote the country’s new generation of creatives – De Padova’s collection of products, spanning more than half a century, already lists chairs and tables by the likes of the late Achille Castiglioni and Vico Magistretti. In his new role, Velardi hopes to break the glass ceiling set against his peers, but admits it will be an uphill struggle. “There are many young creative people but there’s no support from the city or the state – Italy is a big machine politics-wise, and people have to push on their own to get things done.” Meanwhile, he faces a daily challenge of convincing buyers that De Padova’s latest pieces can match its archive of award-winning products. “It’s very difficult to discover something new and to find new solutions and forms. But it’s not impossible.”
www.depadova.it
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briefing p. 98 • STATE OF GRACE P. 100 • SILENT SUCCESS
p. 110 • OUR FLEET
BOWLED OVERATES ThE
CELEBR FINALS EMIRATES W ENTY20 T WORLD
p99
97
A tribute to GrAce Luxury pen maker Montblanc is celebrating the launch of its new special edition
Princesse
Grace
de
Monaco
Ballpoint Pen by rewarding one lucky Emirates passenger with the pen and a
two first class return tickets to Hamburg
part of Montblanc’s partnership with
trip to Germany. With the competition
where they will have the opportunity to
the Princess Grace Foundation, which
running until December, the prize is open
witness the master craftsmen at work at
supports emerging talent in theatre,
to all Emirates passengers, with the winner
Montblanc’s Artisan Atelier.
dance and film.
receiving a limited edition Princesse Grace
The pen, valued at €28,000, was
For your chance to win, please contact a
de Monaco 29 Fountain Pen, as well as
created as a tribute to the Princess as
member of the cabin crew for more details.
bAck to school fun for All a new Dubai-baseD shopping and
Paradise, a book rental company aiming
entertainment festival aimed at children
to raise awareness of the importance of
will take place this month, as thousands
reading by promoting learning through
get ready for the new school year.
reading for pleasure. Also present will
The Back to School festival, which
be nutritional and educational provider,
takes place on September 13 to 15 at Mey-
Live’ly, which will be launching a com-
dan, will give children the opportunity to
prehensive food programme specifically
try out new hobbies, sports and activities
aimed at children.
as well as offer parents and teachers a
Other
exhibitors
include
Ferrari
fun and educational day out ahead of the
World Abu Dhabi and members of the
new school year.
Road and Transport Authority, who will
Among the exhibitors will be Reader’s
aim to raise road safety awareness.
Perfect timing. Don’t miss your next Emirates flight. Be at your departure gate no later than 35 minutes before your flight departs. Passengers reporting late at the departure gate may not be accepted for travel.
98 emi rates briefing
news
tWentY20 Vision
us oPen THe CLimax OF THe summer tennis
Ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this month, we caught up with umpire, Rod Tucker
season is upon us with the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open. As the title sponsor of the event, Emirates will be running several activities to coincide with the event, including the Racquet Return Programme, hosting Q&A sessions with various tennis players, hosting Kid Clinics throughout the week and inviting 100 local children to take part in a one-of-akind experience with a tennis star. The
Racquet
Return
Programme
encourages fans to donate old tennis racquets into collection bins located onsite, which in turn will be recycled, with one lucky fan winning two tickets to the US Open Men’s Final.
Why is Twenty20 so popular?
We are fortunate to travel with Emirates,
Twenty20 cricket is popular because it
who always take special care of us. So,
is fast, entertaining and people get an
despite long flights, we really don’t feel tired
adrenalin buzz from the atmosphere.
or stressed when we arrive in a particular country. Also, the ICC’s schedule means
What are you looking forward to when umpiring at the tournament?
that we are not doing one series straight after another.
The action will be fast and the atmosphere cricketers will be in action in one country,
How important is it for the umpires to act as a team?
in an ICC event and fighting for the richest
It’s as important as winning a match.
prize in the shortest format of the game.
We talk to each other, consult each other
will be electrifying. The world’s best
rYDer cuP
and take each other’s suggestions, be it
This is the first World Twenty20 tournament in the sub-continent, how will that differ from South Africa, England and the West Indies?
for a run-out, a boundary, a referral or
GOLF’s premier Team event, the
keeping an eye on the proceedings, as
Ryder Cup, returns this month with Team
there is always so much happening on
Europe and Team USA battling it out at the
the field.
prestigious biennial event. 2012 European Ryder Cup team who will
people are really passionate about the
What is the best part about being an ICC Emirates elite umpire?
game, which is reflected when they turn
Being an umpire allows me to stay in
the Medinah Country Club, Illinois from
up at the grounds with all sorts of musical
contact with the game I love, and to
September 25th to 30th. With European golf
instruments.
watch the modern day greats from as
in fine form and American players keen to
close as 22 yards. It helps me explore the
reassert their dominance in front of a home
world, meet people and make friends,
crowd, this year’s Ryder Cup promises to be
and learn about different cultures.
one of the finest in the event’s history.
The subcontinent is always a special but challenging place to umpire, as the
You are constantly on the go – how do you stay focused?
Emirates is an Official Partner of the be defending their title on American soil at
NEWS
EMIRATES BRIEFING 99
6.4
the average age of the emirates fleet in years, compared to the average global wide-bodied fleet age of 11.3. (SoUrCe: emirates and iAtA)
Conservation matters Conservation issues are paramount to the Emirates-
Quietly does it
owned Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa conservation resort Nestled in the middle of Australia’s Blue Mountains, the recent winner of the Best Australian Hotel/Resort at the Australian Travel Industry Awards prides itself on not only being carbon-neutral, but also on its commitment to assisting conservation research projects. The past few years have seen Wolgan Valley team up with universities for research projects such as the University of Western Sydney’s (UWS) wombat research programme and the University of New South Wales’ study of peat soils. Wolgan Valley is situated between two of Australia’s most prominent national parks and borders the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The resort itself occupies just two per cent of the 4,000-acre property, and combines the expectations of the highend traveller with a commitment to broader social, ecological and environmental sustainability.
emirates has won the ninth annual San Francisco
on the right traCk
International Airport (SFO) Jon C. Long Fly Quiet Award, which
sinCe its opening in September 2009, the Dubai Metro
was awarded to the airline for its significant efforts to reduce
system has succeeded as a viable public transport alternative that
aircraft noise impacts in the communities surrounding the airport.
has been a key factor in decreasing the number of cars on Dubai’s
As part of the ‘Fly Quiet‘ programme, SFO rates the airlines
roads by some 50,000 trips per day.
using the airport in terms of scores from 1 to 10 (1 is considered as
With nearly 300,000 daily users, and more than nine million
poor and 10 is considered best) for the noise performance achieved
passengers per month, the system has helped drastically cut
during their departures. Within a year Emirates improved
down congestion and the volume of traffic.
dramatically from a score of 5.25 to 7.89. This was achieved by
The environmental outcome of this drop in traffic is equivalent
the Emirates Flight Operations team analysing hundreds of flight
to CO2 savings of some 138,700 tonnes per annum. With Metro
departures from SFO and pinpointing the causes of increased
stations at Terminal 1, 3 and Emirates HQ, Emirates encourages
noise such as wind gradients at low altitudes, and departures
its customers and staff to use the Dubai Metro.
over affected communities. Once the causes were known, quieter flights were achieved by selecting better departure profiles and improved procedures. “It’s great to see Emirates achieving this award out of 44 other airlines, operating from SFO. To achieve the best scores under the Fly Quiet Program was extremely challenging,” says Mandar Velankar, Senior Flight Operations Engineer. 100 emi rates briefing
environment
50 % by 2050, the aviation industry is proposing to halve absolute Co2 emissions, compared to 2005 levels. (SoUrCe: Air transport Action Group)
Before Your JourneY Consult your doCtor before travelling if you have any mediCal ConCerns about making a long journey, or if you
in the air
suffer from a respiratory or CardiovasCular Condition. plan for the destination – will
To help you arrive at your destination feeling relaxed and refreshed, Emirates has developed this collection of helpful travel tips. Regardless of whether you need to
rejuvenate for your holiday or be effective at achieving your goals on a business trip, these simple tips will help you to enjoy your journey and time on board with Emirates today.
speCial mediCations? get a good night’s rest before the flight. eat lightly and sensibly.
at the airport
smart traveller dRink plenty of wateR
you need any vaCCinations or
allow yourself plenty of time for CheCk-in.
tRavel lightly
avoid Carrying heavy bags through the airport and onto the flight as this Can plaCe the body under Considerable stress. onCe through to departures try and relax as muCh as possible.
RehydRate with wateR oR juices fRequently.
caRRy only the essential items that
dRink tea and coffee in modeRation.
you will need duRing youR flight.
make youRself comfoRtable
During the flight Chewing and swallowing will help equalise your ear pressure
keep moving
during asCent and desCent. babies and young passengers may suffer more aCutely with popping ears, therefore Consider providing a dummy.
loosen clothing, Remove jacket and
exeRcise youR loweR legs and calf
get as Comfortable as
avoid anything pRessing against youR body.
muscles. this encouRages blood flow.
possible when resting and turn frequently.
weaR glasses
use skin moistuRiseR
avoid sleeping for long periods in the same position.
When You arrive try some light exerCise or read if you Can’t sleep after arrival.
cabin aiR is dRieR than noRmal theRefoRe
apply a good quality moistuRiseR to
swap youR contact lenses foR glasses.
ensuRe youR skin doesn’t dRy out.
102 emi rates briefing
COMFORT
CAbIn l bE CREw wIl lp hE hAppy To D E If yoU nE
e c n a t s i s s a pleting com the forms
to Us cUstoms & immigration forms Whether you’re travelling to, or through, the United States today, this simple guide to completing the US customs and immigration forms will help to ensure that your journey is
as hassle free as possible. The Cabin Crew will offer you two forms when you are nearing your destination. we provide guidelines below, so you can correctly complete the forms.
customs declaration form
immigration form All passengers arriving into the US need to complete a Customs DeClaration Form. If you are travelling as a family this should be completed by one member only. The form must be completed in English, in capital letters, and must be signed where indicated.
The immigration Form I-94 (Arrival / Departure Record) should be completed if you are a non-US citizen in possession of a valid US visa and your final destination is the US or if you are in transit to a country outside the US. A separate form must be completed for each person, including children travelling on their parents’ passport. The form includes a Departure Record which must be kept safe and given to your airline when you leave the US. If you hold a US or Canadian passport, US Alien Resident Visa (Green Card), US Immigrant Visa or a valid ESTA (right), you are not required to complete an immigration form.
104 emi rates briefing
customs & VIsAs
eleCtroniC system For
wIll ExpIRE AlonG wITh
travel authorisation (esta)
yoUR pASSpoRT.
If yoU ARE An InTERnATIonAl
Apply online At www.cbp.gov/estA
TRAVEllER wIShInG To EnTER ThE UnITED STATES UnDER ThE
nationalities eligible
VISA wAIVER pRoGRAmmE,
For the visa Waiver *:
yoU mUST Apply foR
AnDoRRA, AUSTRAlIA,
ElECTRonIC AUThoRISATIon
AUSTRIA, bElGIUm, bRUnEI,
(ESTA) Up To 72 hoURS pRIoR
CzECh REpUblIC, DEnmARk,
To yoUR DEpARTURE.
ESTonIA, fInlAnD, fRAnCE, GERmAny, hUnGARy, ICElAnD,
esta FaCts:
IRElAnD, ITAly, JApAn, lATVIA,
ChIlDREn AnD
lIEChTEnSTEIn, lIThUAnIA,
InfAnTS REqUIRE An
lUxEmbURG, mAlTA, monACo,
InDIVIDUAl ESTA.
ThE nEThERlAnDS, nEw
ThE onlInE ESTA SySTEm
zEAlAnD, noRwAy, poRTUGAl,
wIll InfoRm yoU whEThER
SAn mARIno, SInGApoRE,
yoUR ApplICATIon hAS bEEn
SloVAkIA, SloVEnIA, SoUTh
AUThoRISED, noT AUThoRISED
koREA, SpAIn, SwEDEn,
oR If AUThoRISATIon
SwITzERlAnD AnD ThE
IS pEnDInG.
UnITED kInGDom**.
A SUCCESSfUl ESTA
*
ApplICATIon IS VAlID
** only british citizens quAlify under the visA wAiver progrAmme.
foR Two yEARS, howEVER
subject to chAnge
ThIS mAy bE REVokED oR
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The Law Firm Leaders Trust Deaifis won an important intellectual property dispute in our favor.
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Deaifis helped us resolve every single case involving the recovery of premiums… Al Saqr National Insurance Company Manager – Legal Department, Amer Shatnawi We deal with them almost every day on everything from labor issues to major contracts. Tech Group CEO, Ali Ghaleb Jaber
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ThE nUmbER of DESTInATIonS In EmIRATES’ nETwoRk:
2.2million
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emirates briefing 105
106 EMI RATES BRIEFING
ROUTE MAP
ROUTE MAP
EMIRATES BRIEFING 107
108 emi rates briefing
route map
AD route map
emirates briefing 109
et ins e l f the nta
cO Of leet ade up f r s Ou es. M plane lan r e p s 7 g e 8 n 1 n asse gO pla 179 p r a 8c and
Boeing 777-300ER Number of Aircraft: 78 Capacity: 354-442 Range: 14,594km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 64.8m
Boeing 777-300 Number of Aircraft: 12 Capacity: 364 Range: 11,029km Length: 73.9m Wingspan: 60.9m
Boeing 777-200LR Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 266 Range: 17,446km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m
Boeing 777-200 Number of Aircraft: 9 Capacity: 274-346 Range: 9,649km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 60.9m
Boeing 777F Number of Aircraft: 4 Range: 9,260km Length: 63.7m Wingspan: 64.8m 110 emi rates briefing
fleet guide
For more inFormation: www.emirates.com/ourFleet
Airbus A380-800 Number of Aircraft: 26 Capacity: 489-517 Range: 15,000km Length: 72.7m Wingspan: 79.8m
Airbus A340-500 Number of Aircraft: 10 Capacity: 258 Range: 16,050km Length: 67.9m Wingspan: 63.4m
Airbus A340-300 Number of Aircraft: 8 Capacity: 267 Range: 13,350km Length: 63.6m Wingspan: 60.3m
Airbus A330-200 Number of Aircraft: 26 Capacity: 237-278 Range: 12,200km Length: 58.8m Wingspan: 60.3m
Boeing 747-400F/747-400ERF Number of Aircraft: 2/2 Range: 8,232km/9,204km Length: 70.6m Wingspan: 64.4m ai rcraFt n umbers as oF 3 0 / 0 9 / 2 0 1 2
fleet guide
emirates briefing 111
Next MoNth
N
ext month we are celebrating the world of design – from architecture to fonts, publishing to fashion, we take a look at the form and function of everything around us. Design guru Steven Heller gives us a tour of his apartment and we look at the history of the world’s most ubiquitous font. Billed as the anti-Wallpaper*, we look at the interiors magazine that has shaken up the publishing world. And we profile one of the world’s most important – and unheralded – architects. See you next month.
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Amazing camera. Authentic sound.
Shot on Nick’s HTC One X while free falling at 126 miles per hour
As recommended by Nick Jojola Freefall fashion photographer
Watch Nick’s personal experience at htc.com
| Capture HD video and photos at the same time | | Includes HTC Sense |