Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Upon hearing the news of Claudia Cardinale’s passing on Sept. 23, film fans throughout the world expressed their sorrow at the loss of an elegant, down-to-earth icon who always greeted fans with a warm smile and embraced her stunning beauty with humor and sophistication rather than conceit.
Cardinale was born in Tunisia in 1938 to Sicilian parents. Her maternal grandparents were originally from the Sicilian island of Trapani but settled in La Goulette, Tunisia, where a large Italian community was established.
Her early life seems something of a fairytale, but success brought its share of problems. As a young girl, Cardinale attended elementary school in the ancient city of Carthage. Her first cinematic experience came when she participated in the making of a short film with her classmates and French director René Vautier. The film was presented at the Berlin Film Festival and generated enough buzz to catch the attention of director Jacques Baratier, who cast her opposite Omar Sharif in his 1958 film, “Goha.”
Shortly thereafter, she entered and won a beauty contest, the prize being a trip to the Venice Film Festival. There, she was discovered by Italian film producers and offered a scholarship to Rome’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. She attended the renowned film school for just a few months before returning to Tunisia. The language barrier reportedly took its toll on her, and she felt discouraged. She spoke French, Tunisian, Arabic and Sicilian dialect. It wasn’t until she began to be cast for Italian films that she seriously studied the Italian language.
When she returned to Tunisia, she found out she was pregnant. Her relationship was abusive, and she didn’t want to stay with the baby’s father or end her pregnancy. She signed a seven-year contract and later married Franco Cristaldi, a film producer and writer who managed her career. The contract prevented her from revealing her pregnancy. After hiding it for seven months, she wanted out of the contract but wasn’t allowed. She was sent to London, where she gave birth to a baby boy. Back in Italy, she had to pretend he was her brother for seven years, unable to discuss him or live a normal life. Finally, a tabloid exposed the truth, and Cardinale felt relieved and free from the burden of secrecy.
During those difficult years, Cardinale worked on several important films, including Mario Monicelli’s comedy “The Big Deal on Madonna Street,” which features Vittorio Gassman, Totò, and Marcello Mastroianni. Cardinale portrayed Carmelita, a girl held up in the house by her rebellious brother. The film was a huge international success, especially in America. It’s no wonder Cardinale once said, “Cinema saved my life.” A trio of her most notable roles came in 1963, in Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” and Luchino Visconti’s period drama, “Il gattopardo.” She also worked on several Hollywood productions, including Blake Edwards’s 1963 comedy “The Pink Panther.”
Throughout the decades, Cardinale remained very active in both her career and personal life. In March of 2000, she became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Defense of Women’s Rights. A role in the 2016 film, “All Roads Lead to Rome,” brought Cardinale to North America, and that’s when I met her. The film premiered at Canada’s annual contemporary film festival that year. It was shown near Niagara Falls in collaboration with the Niagara Integrated Film Festival. She presented the film with actor Raoul Bova, who played her son. I traveled to Niagara-on-the-Lake, where the two appeared on the Red Carpet with festival organizers. Her timeless beauty and radiant smile lit up the event. I handed her a copy of Fra Noi with an article I wrote about her, and she gave me the biggest, most beautiful smile. She flipped through the pages, cigarette in hand, to find her article. It was a sight to behold. It was a brief encounter, but one that always stayed with me.
The world lost a beautiful soul and immense talent, but Cardinale’s memory will live on in the extraordinary legacy of movies she left behind.
