« I want to promote auteur cinema. That's where everything starts, the rest is industrial cinema». Silvano Agosti speaks in a dreamy tone as he rewinds the threads of his memory sitting on the terrace on the top floor of the apartment building in Viale Giulio Cesare in Rome where he lives. Guest in recent days of the "PuntodiVistaFilmFestival", organized by the Art'In association at the Adriano Theater in via Sassari in Cagliari, during which he held a seminar which was followed by the screening of his film "Uova di garofano", he draws a balance on the Italian cultural panorama: from his conclusions, much more than the talent of an established director, as well as a novelist and poet, transpires, but that desire to question every taboo. He reflects calmly, as he looks ahead at the people strolling along the tree-lined Viale Capitoline.
Let's start with the title of the Festival. What points of view does cinema offer?
« Cinema passes through images, it is a mixture of perfection and movement. The points of view it offers are dynamic, always ready to change forms and renew themselves. In constant evolution like life».
Among his most illustrious collaborations, Ennio Morricone stands out. What is your first memory about it?
« I met Morricone while I was working on the film "Fists in the Pocket" by Marco Bellocchio. When I met him I asked him to do something different from what he usually did, so as to be able to make the most of the vocal component. Morricone edited the music for 4 of my films for free, he was a generous and sensitive person».
How would you define the profession of cinema?
« One of the most extraordinary games that a person can play.
About Marco Bellocchio. How important has that been to you in your journey?
« A lot. We met at the time of the Centro Sperimentale, it was he who contacted me because he had heard of my editing skills».
In addition to being a director and screenwriter, he is also a writer and poet. Find differences?
« There are, as well as points in common. Both in cinema and in literature, it is the senses and perceptions that make the difference. They are two dimensions where images, both in their concrete form and in their evocative form, take on a central role».
In “ Letters from Khirghisia ” he writes that learning is a rare pleasure. Teaching instead?
“ A crime. Sometimes it's like feeding someone when they're not hungry. We need to leave space and total freedom for people, to stimulate in them the play component that is the basis of every creative language».
You mentioned the concept of freedom. Is an artist in Italy free?
« Italy is permeated by a fake democracy. Those who are truly free are marginalized. Who dares to be free here? Very few, who are condemned to silence".
In the poem " The Song of Youth " he writes. “ Leave your father, leave your mother and you will see the face of life ” . Have you really seen this face?
« Yes, when I made myself independent, building a life outside my family. Families are important but they can also be oppressive: everyone must have the right to have their own experiences».
And if we talk about his youth, how do you remember it?
" Remember? Has it perhaps passed? I still feel young and I only started to understand youth when I turned eighty».
In the great classic of 1965 " Fists in the pocket " the character of Alessandro stands out played by Lou Castel. How would you define it? Insane, tragic anti-hero or victim?
« None of that. He is a respectable rebel who hates hypocrites. He is a boy who does not let himself be imprisoned by the context in which he grew up».
Before leaving, he admonishes. " You know what people care about? Mutual distrust. The real regrets are in what has not been done.
