Sofia Loren’s 90th birthday, icon of Italian cinema

On the occasion of Sophia Loren’s 90th birthday, journalist, writer, commentator and TV host Silvana Giacobini returns to the bookstore with a new edition of her biography of the diva: ‘Sophia Loren. Una vita da romanzo’ published by Baldini+Castoldi. Agi met her to find out how this text was reborn and what relationship has been created over the years between its author and the undisputed icon of Italian beauty and talent.

Is ‘Sophia Loren: A Life Like a Novel’ a different book from the one that came out a few years ago?
It has been updated, renewed and enriched with new images, but obviously it still tells the story of little Sofia Scicolone who becomes the very famous Sophia Loren. It even starts from the period of her mother Romilda’s pregnancy, which in the long interview that Sofia granted me when she welcomed me into her home in Geneva I discovered had already been a difficult and painful time due to the complex relationship that Romilda had with Riccardo, who had gotten her pregnant but never married her. In addition to not wanting to recognize his sister Maria, Sofia’s father had in fact already started behaving like a serial lover again when the future winner of two Oscars was waiting to be born. Although her mother Romilda was so beautiful that she had won an audition in Hollywood – where she was never allowed to go to her family – as a Garbo lookalike. ‘Sophia Loren, A Life in a Novel’ could be defined, as is now used, a docu-novel, because it faithfully reports my investigations into the life of our most famous actress in the world with the contribution of her own voice. I believe that this aspect makes it unique, as it seems to me was the privilege – reserved over the decades to very few journalists – of having had his trust. When reading it, Sofia then paid me the most beautiful compliment, recognizing my ability to have been able to interpret her thoughts too.

What is your relationship with Loren, are you friends?

Even though we haven’t spoken in a while, I call ours a beautiful relationship. As I said, I am honored by the trust he placed in me by welcoming me into his home when I was writing about his life. Even though my book can’t technically be called an authorized biography, as there was never a contract between us.

Legend has it that Alberto Sordi had a crush on her, Silvana: what was Alberto’s connection with Loren?
More than a crush, I would speak of a simple courtship, a form of attention that I believe Alberto reserved for practically all the women he met. In reality, I wasn’t interested in Sordi, but he told me an anecdote about Sofia that I also report in the book. During a film festival that was taking place in Moscow, Loren invited all the Italian actors present for a spaghetti dinner in the hotel, but once he arrived in her suite Sordi glimpsed the pot containing the pasta resting in the
bathroom. It had certainly ended up there for a simple reason of space, but it was enough for a purist like him to completely lose his desire for spaghetti. That evening he went to bed without dinner.

What does Loren’s parable represent today?

It cannot be defined as a parable, because Sofia is a star that has shone for decades in the firmament of stars, an actress who will remain forever in the history of Italian and international costume and cinema. Just think that she shared the screen with the most famous stars of her time: from Gable to Grant, from Sellers and Brando, just to name the first names that come to mind.

How much did his figure count in the construction of the myth of Made in Italy?
I think she contributed a lot, even if the concept of Made in Italy is more linked to fashion and designers. But having worn on many red carpets the clothes of some of the greatest of them, such as Armani, Sofia was able to bring the lights of cinema also to the genius of our sartorial creativity. And then she is a symbol of Italianness: in this she is Made in Italy doc.

Loren will celebrate her birthday in the Sophia Loren Suite at the Antara Palazzo Naiadi in Rome, the only suite in the world dedicated to her: how will she celebrate the anniversary?
I will send her my warmest and most sincere wishes from the Rai studios of La vita in diretta, where I am a regular guest, and in the evening from the program Sottovoce by Gigi Marzullo, because I love her from the bottom of my heart. And I hope that by reading my book about her, discovering the devotion and spirit of sacrifice with which she was able to make her dream of acting come true, all those young people who also have a dream, but also the fear of never being able to achieve it, can draw strength and inspiration.