Actor Pierfrancesco Favino has sparked
a furore by accusing Michael Mann's biopic Ferrari of cultural
appropriation for casting American Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari
rather giving an Italian the role.
Ferrari is in the running for the Golden Lion at the 2023 Venice
Film Festival as is Stefano Sollima's Adagio, which stars
Favino and was screened in the Lagoon city on Saturday.
"There's an issue of cultural appropriation," Favino said.
"You can't understand why, not me, but actors of this level are
not involved in this sort of film," he added, referring to his
Adagio co-stars Toni Servillo, Adriano Giannini and Valerio
Mastandrea.
"Instead, the parts are given to foreign actors who are distant
from the story's real protagonists, starting with the exotic
accents.
"If a Cuban can't play a Mexican, why can a American play an
Italian.
"It only happens with us.
"In another time (Vittorio) Gassman would have played Ferrari.
"Now, on the other hand, Driver does it and no one says
anything.
"To me it seems like an attitude of contempt towards the Italian
system".
He also criticized the casting of non-Italian actors in Ridley
Scott's House of Gucci.
"Didn't you know that the Guccis had a New Jersey accent?" he
quipped.
Andrea Iervolino, the CEO of the ILBE Group and producer of the
Ferrari film, dismissed Favino's criticism.
"Dear Favino, unlike in Gassman's time, Italian cinema has not
created a star system recognizable all over the world over the
last 30 years," Iervolino said.
"Other non-American countries have had a different approach and
perhaps one that pays, giving us Banderas, Bardem, Cruz, Cassel,
Cotillard, Kinnam, Mikkelsn, Schoenaerts and Kruger, who are
recognized international names.
"Only that way can the many Italian talents, not all of whom
have been discovered, start to have the visibility at the global
level needed in order to play the lead roles in films that cost
around $100 million to make, such as Ferrari".
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