Enrico Vanzina returns to Rimini: "How wonderful to celebrate Sordi here."

Enrico Vanzina returns to the Riviera. The renowned screenwriter, director, and novelist will be at the Grand Hotel in Rimini today at 5:30 p.m. for the inauguration of the exhibition dedicated to the great Alberto Sordi, the undisputed Colonel of Italian comedy. Author of over a hundred screenplays, Vanzina will also be a guest tomorrow at La Terrazza Dolce Vita, an open-air lounge in the Grand Hotel's garden, where figures from the worlds of entertainment and culture will be interviewed by Simona Ventura and Giovanni Terzi.

Who was Sordi for you?

One of my best friends. My friendship with him began with my father, Steno. We'd always seen each other; he'd come to our house for dinner. My father was also his director, and I wrote some texts for him. The extraordinary thing about Alberto is that he managed to perfectly embody almost every type of Italian character, changing roles: from a health insurance doctor to a mafioso, from a soldier in the Great War to a journalist and a traffic policeman. His extraordinary nature lies in the fact that in all these characters, in the masks he perfectly played, he managed to inject his own personality. Even more, he was so extraordinary that, after copying the Italians, his role model became so strong that the Italians copied him.

What else do you remember?

"He was overwhelmingly kind and, contrary to popular belief, very generous. He left a huge amount of money to charity, cared for the elderly, built retirement homes, and supported young actors. He never married because, as he said, he was married to the public."

So happy to be back!

"Very much so. We're also at the Grand Hotel in Rimini, a Fellini temple. Federico and Alberto's was another extraordinary combination. Outside of Rome, there's no better place to celebrate Sordi. I discovered the Adriatic Riviera late in life, and I love it. Since I fell in love with it, I return often, even on vacation to Riccione, where I filmed the film Sotto il Sole di Riccione, a city that has remained in my heart."

He's a guest of the Terzi Ventura couple. What's your relationship like?

"I know Simona very well. I even produced the film Fratelli coltelli by Maurizio Ponzi with Emilio Solfrizzi and Fabio Canino, in which she acted, very well."

His seventeenth book, 'Noblesse oblige', has been released.

"It's a story set in 1980, rooted in the history of English literature, especially great theater, and the master-servant relationship. It's the story of a young, unfortunate Roman prince who, fortunately, has a wise Neapolitan butler at his side to help him. Two people who complement each other and who travel to Italy in search of money. This is my first humorous novel (HarperCollins). I usually write funny things in films, but in this case I tried to do something in homage to my father, a great humorist, to my godfather Marcello Marchesi, and to all the humorists who frequented our house: Guareschi, Longanesi, and Flaiano."

What's on now?

"A new film, but I won't talk about it out of superstition. I'll then continue to bring the musical Sapore di Mare, based on the film, to theaters, including in Emilia-Romagna." What would you like?

"I try to do a bit of everything that interests me, especially making the people I love as happy as possible."