The novel

Of course there is no doubt: this is the autobiography of a great director, who was also a jazz musician, one that therefore spans the history of Italian entertainment. But reading La grande invenzione by Pupi Avati (Rizzoli, 2013) we find that it is mainly the story of his mother, from when she, an insignificant employee who coming from the countryside, manages to marry the handsome son of the owner – who, however, has fallen into ruin - until her death, which took place in Rome, with her children beside her. Indeed, even later, when he speaks of her tomb. A cheerful mother, crazy about her children and for that reason also a little too present in their lives, who is able to move to Rome, planning to manage a pension, to pave the way for Pupi’s vocation in the film industry, to start off a career which is currently only a dream. She is a mother, a young widow who knows how to live her children’s dreams, encouraging them and accompanying them with her prayers. Because this generous mother was able to convey to her children a living, strong, tenacious faith even in a world, such as that of the cinema, little disposed to accept Catholic morality. (@ LuceScaraffia)