When it was broadcast by Rai, fifty years ago, the products were so called sceneggiati. Freely based on the novel of the same name by Carlo Collodi, “The Adventures of Pinocchio” was made in five episodes lasting a total of 280 minutes and broadcast on the national network starting in April 1972.
Nino Manfredi
Directed by Luigi Comencini, it immediately met with incredible success. And it doesn’t take long to realize that – among the many ingredients that helped make it a collector’s item, starting with the soundtrack – the most successful factor was undoubtedly having chosen Nino Manfredi to interpret the character of Mastro Geppetto, the father of the most famous puppet-brat in the world.
His relationship with the young Pisan actor Andrea Balestri in the role of Pinocchio – another good choice – was the pivot around which the stories directed by Comencini rotated to perfection. But the whole cast gave good evidence of themselves. Especially considering that most of them were actors came from the comic genre. Talented Gina Lollobrigida in the role of the blue fairy; funny Vittorio De Sica, in the role of the judge; unforgettable the interpretation of Franco Franchi and Ciccio Ingrassia in the masks of the Cat and the Fox. But also Mario Adorf and Enzo Cannavale stood out for their brilliance in roles other than those usually attended with success.
The result was a serial film with a delicate and poetic trait, tinged with nuances of realism that would still be watched with interest today. 1963, when Comencini and Suso Cecchi D’Amico (who will sign the screenplay with the former), began to outline the subject by four hands. However, the project stopped having learned of Federico Fellini’s intention to shoot the homonymous story.
Two hundred and sixty between languages and dialects
To understand the scope of the work, just think that Collodi’s “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (born in Florence on November 24, 1826 and died in the same city in 1890) has been translated into two hundred and sixty languages and dialects, and in addition to the unforgettable written by Comencini, it was also inspired by the Oscar winner, Roberto Benigni. The 1972 version was also adapted into French by Pierre Cholodenko and in December of the same year it was broadcast by the transalpine broadcaster Première chaîne de l’ORTF. Ten years later, in 1982, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary, Comencini made a version in 6 episodes lasting a total of 320 minutes and which was re-proposed by the national network.