Un Benigni da Nobel

Fri, May 29 (CBC Radio) - Roberto Benigni. The oscar-winning actor, writer, comedian and director talks to Jian Ghomeshi about his latest project - the great poet, Dante.

Benigni is making his first trip to Canada, performing June 2-3 at the St. Denis Theatre in Montreal, June 7 at Casino Rama in Orillia, Ont., and June 10 in Quebec City.

LISTEN TO THE RADIO INTERVIEW with Roberto Benigni on Q - CBC Radio (Canada)

Part 1

Part 2

«Fave Benigni moment/quote today (w/ apologies to Mark Twain): “I’d go to Heaven for the climate, but I want to go to Hell for the company.”»(Jihan Gomeshi’s Tweet after his interview with Benigni)

When Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni got up on stage to accept his best actor Oscar for Life is Beautiful in 1998, he quoted lines of love from Dante.

That tribute to his wife was part of a lifelong relationship the exuberant actor has had with Italy’s greatest classical poet. Benigni is coming to Canada next week with a one-man show about Dante Alighieri, a fellow Tuscan and the man who wrote the Divine Comedy.

Benigni has been touring Europe for three years with his show, TuttoDante (All Dante) and will make stops in Montreal, Orillia, Ont., and Quebec City. His American premiere in San Francisco took place Thursday night.

“It was a wonderful evening, very moving and very friendly, because in my upbringing, we can joke about everything, but not about poetry,” Benigni said of his debut.

Benigni, speaking to CBC’s cultural affairs show Q on Friday, mocked his own Italian-accented English but said the language of Dante is “universal.”

“I’ve been told, ‘You’re crazy, your English is [in]comprehensible, but Dante invented a new language and I am going to invent a new language too,” he said.

Benigni said his mother introduced him to the 14th-century poet, famous for conducting readers on a tour of hell, purgatory and heaven in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. His mother urged Roberto to read Dante to improve his memory, but for the would-be actor, it was a flight of imagination.

“When I was a little boy, I was reading Dante and I was saying to myself ‘Bravo, Dante, Bravo.’ It’s so beautiful, the music, the sound, the meaning. I felt like calling him by phone, like a friend,” he said.

Dante’s poetry continues to move Benigni with its passion and tribute to love, he said.

“When you read Dante, you do believe. The exquisite truth is to believe in something that maybe you know is a fiction, but you believe in it willingly. We need a conversion … not a personal religious conversion … but a conversion of our imagination.

“We need to take notice of incomprehensible things, of the mystery of life and death — this is very healthy,” he said.
3 years of sold-out shows

Benigni’s show, which has sold out over the last three years in Europe, mixes the contemporary with his comic take on the world.

“The first part [is] about Berlusconi and Obama and what happens in the world. In the second part we talk about the first circle of hell, which is about [lust] — the lechers, about sex, about passion, about love. It’s very beautiful,” he said.

TuttoDante is performed in French or English and Italian, complete with a recitation from The Inferno in medieval Italian, which he believes is nonetheless accessible to all audiences.

“Dante Alighieri is a universal poet, and great creators they are writing for everybody always. Every single verse is very moving, and the beauty — if we don’t understand, we just stay listening to the sound and it’s like hearing music,” Benigni said.

Benigni is a national hero in Italy, having made some of that country’s most popular movies, including Johnny Stecchino (Johnny Toothpick) and Il piccolo diavolo (Little Devil).

He is also know by fans of ’80s and ’90s American art house cinema for his colourful acting turns in films by American director Jim Jarmusch, such as Night on Earth, Coffee and Cigarettes and Down by Law. That was his first work in English.

He has not made a movie while touring with TuttoDante, but said he plans to work on a new script this fall.

Roberto Benigni Is Set to Make His North American Stage Debut With the Critically Acclaimed One-Man Show — TuttoDante — in San Francisco May 26, Continuing on to New York, Montreal, Boston, Toronto, Quebec City and Chicago

LOS ANGELES, CA - Two-time Academy Award-winner (1999) for Best Actor and Best Foreign Film and nominee for Best Director and Best Writer, for “Life is Beautiful” ROBERTO BENIGNI is making his US stage debut at the Davies Symphony Hall on May 26 in San Francisco with his one-man show “TuttoDante.” Roberto’s unique creation is a fascinating journey that extends from current and daily events to the Divine Comedy. From moments of pure humor to moments of breathtaking poetry — in particular Canto V° from “The Inferno,” Dante’s medieval, cosmos-bestriding epic of sin, salvation and eternity.

Benigni has been perfecting his one-man show in his native Italy for the past 3 years, where more than one million passionate fans cheered in delight. Now, after spectacular appearances to sold out theatres in Paris and London, Benigni performs his show in English, peppered with Italian and for the finale, he will recite the Fifth Canto in its original medieval Italian.

The Canto V° describes the tragic love story between Paolo and Francesca, condemned for the sin of lust to pass eternity on the first of the descending rings of hell.

“TuttoDante” has received rave reviews all across Italy, as well as in England for his recent London performance.

“Benigni has long been a national hero in Italy,” notes the UK’s “Telegraph.” “Climbing over the seats to collect his two Oscar for the 1999 tragicomedy “La Vita è Bella (Life is Beautiful)” was only the most conspicuous of his acts of iconoclasm. Since the 1970s he has been adored as a satirist of Italy’s politicians. But, over the past three years, he has added to his hero status through his touring show dedicated to Italy’s medieval literary giant, Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy… By the time he reached the final section — a recitation of the poem itself… He recited the words so animatedly, but with such reverence for the 11 syllable lines, that it was like listening to great music. Millions of Italians have so far risen to their feet to cheer at the end of this show; this evening was no exception.”

“By the time it came to the Divine Comedy’s Fifth Canto… There was pin-drop silence as Benigni switched from passionate… to controlled, near operatic delivery. Even for fans with minimal grasp of Italian the beauty of the poetry was apparent.” “Evening Standard”

Of the Italian show, critics declared:

“Benigni has been able to enchant… the audience, leaving it in ecstasy, speechless, perhaps, surprised by such emotion.” “La Repubblica”

“Climbing through the ages, he miraculously combines yesterday with today, current events with poetry, anger with laughter.” “Corriere della Sera”

“A small miracle, considering the amount of people Benigni has brought to the Divine Comedy.” “Variety” (US edition)

And, judging from the sold-out box offices for every stage on the tour, from the long applause and standing ovations that conclude each evening, “a small miracle” may have actually occurred, as Roberto Benigni says, “The poetry is not only in who writes, but especially in the ear of whom listens.”

“TuttoDante” starring Roberto Benigni is a majestic life-affirming evening performed in English, peppered with Italian, while the finale of the Fifth Canto will be in Italian.

DATE…………CITY/STATE………….VENUE
Tues. May 26 - San Francisco, CA Davies Symphony Hall
Sat. May 30 - New York, NY Manhattan Center-Hammerstein Ballroom
Tues./Wed. June 3 & 4 - Montreal, Quebec, Canada St. Denise Theatre
Sat. June 6 - Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Sun. June 7 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada Casino Rama
Wed. June 10 - Quebec City, Canada Gran Theatre de Quebec
Fri. June 12 - Chicago, IL Harris Theatre