“I would like to do something for the suburbs”

Carlo Verdone, his new series “Vita da Carlo 4” and a commitment – next November 17th – as mayor of Rome for a day.

The Roman director and actor was the protagonist on Saturday 25th (and will be especially so on Sunday 26th) at the 20th Rome Film Festival. On the occasion of the Roman event, just like last year, Verdone returns to present the new season of Vita da Carlo, which will also be the last.

The press conference to present the project, however, is also an opportunity for Verdone to talk about his Rome, what he loves, what he would change if he had the chance. And in part this will really happen, because on November 17th, Carlo Verdone will be mayor of Rome for a day.

Carlo Verdone at the Rome Film Festival: “Vita da Carlo 4 is a dedication to young people. Alvaro Vitali? Glad he did the last thing with me”

“I see that many things are being fixed in Rome, at least in the center things are much better, a little less in the suburbs,” said the actor. “Rome is everything for me – he said – the atmospheres, the memories, it is an important city for me, even if perhaps the best part is behind me, I don’t know what awaits me now in Rome, then I won’t live forever, so maybe my children will see it better. Certainly – added Carlo Verdone – it is a city that has given me so much from a human point of view, the life of the neighbourhoods, talking to everyone, hearing many stories, having put so many in my films episodes, many mythomaniacs and megalomaniacs.”

Rome is like a great theater for Carlo Verdone, starting from the squares of Rome, Campo de’ Fiori, Piazza San Cosimato, Testaccio: “Leave Rome? Frankly, every now and then, I say it, when I’m angry, but at most I can go to the countryside, I would never leave it, so much so that on November 17 Gualtieri makes me ‘mayor for a day’, from morning to evening as he did with the great Alberto Sordi and this thing has me very moved.”

Carlo Verdone, mayor for 24 hours

From morning to evening, Carlo Verdone will be called upon to govern the city. Scenario similar to the one that fans of “Vita da Carlo” have already seen in the first episode of the first season, when the president of the Region proposed that the director run for mayor of Rome. This time, however, it will really happen, for 24 hours.

On his day as mayor, Carlo Verdone thinks of going to the suburbs: “Where public transport often leaves something to be desired, the degradation leaves something to be desired, but if you don’t set a good example with some work starting, the inhabitants will always continue to not care, to write with spray paint, to break things, instead if they see that someone takes care of them, they will perhaps love their neighborhood a little more. Do something for the suburbs – reiterated the Roman actor – in my opinion it is really very important, essential”.

The aesthetic taste of Rome will also be in his agenda items (as mayor): “Constructions are often given the go-ahead that are absurd, one of a colour, one of another. In other European cities you don’t see things like this, we who are the country of great taste, of great painting, of great architecture from the 1960s and then we became horrendous, truly horrendous”, he concluded.