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In Rome, the Stars shine brighter.
by Massimo Amici |
When Robert De Niro walked onto stage in the Sinopoli Theatre during the RomaCinemaFest, the ovation was so overwhelming that he may have felt a little overwhelmed. The audience applauded every expression or gesture as that had just bestowed upon them some hidden truth about life or immortality.
A female member of the audience, called on to ask him a question, made her way to the stage with her résumé, asking him to include her in his next project. Another member of the audience asked Mr. De Niro to help him resolve his domestic problems -- by kissing his wife, who he said had been in love with the iconic actor for the duration of their twenty-year marriage.
Mr. De Niro is proof that the movies have a unique power to create larger-than-life heroes. The glitz and glamorous aura these stars exude is known around the world -- but it is really just part of the grand illusion of Hollywood. But there's no doubting that's exactly what it is: illusion.
The illusion manifests itself in different ways. Mr. De Niro's arrival in Rome was in stark contrast to the day I met Daniel Day-Lewis, at the wrap party for Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York": he was standing alone, off in a corner, like a shy boy at a school dance. When we were introduced, he seemed so timid that, for a moment, I wondered whether I had mistaken one of Mr. Day-Lewis' stand-ins for the legendary actor. But the illusion he creates on screen is no less real.
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It might be easy to argue that the importance of celebrity -- and celebrities, for that matter -- is needlessly exaggerated. But it is necessary for at least two reasons.
First, we all need to believe in the existence of a mythical greatness, something larger than ourselves. Sean Connery is our modern-day Ulysses. Our Aphrodite exists in Nicole Kidman. The power of the movies helps keep this transcendence alive. Ultimately, it describes a capacity that lies within all of us -- as long as there's someone who can use the silver screen to at once seduce us and remind us that in our own way, we, too, can be heroes.
The second benefit to having Hollywood stars is that they create the need for the average person to participate -- whether by attending the movies or by lining up to be part of a festival like the RomaCinemaFest.
A festival like the RomaCinemaFest, which boasts the unusual philosophy of bringing international stars within reach of any moviegoer willing to take the time to show up illustrates to us that stars like Harrison Ford or Leonardo Di Caprio, for all their fame and success, are still accessible and wonderfully human. And that is why, every time the lights go down in a theatre, all of us reach for the stars.
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