Paolo Sorrentino shared a brief tribute to the veteran Italian actor and producer Claudio Vecchio, who died earlier this month in Rome, during this afternoon’s presser for his Venice competition title La Grazia.
Vecchio starred in Sorrentino’s 2013 feature The Great Beauty and has a brief role in La Grazia.
“Claudio was a friend of many of us. He was one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met, in addition to being a dear friend,” Sorrentino said of Vecchio.
“He had a small role in La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) that made me very proud, because he was one of the best Italian actors. But he always turned down a lot of parts. Other people wanted him to be an actor, but he turned down all those roles. He was a producer.”
Sorrentino added: “He was the most difficult actor to conquer in the history of cinema as far as I’m concerned.”
Vecchio’s credits as a producer include Mario Martone’s L’amore molesto and 2004 feature To Sleep Next To Her. His death was announced on August 9th in the Italian press.
Vecchio has a brief cameo role in La Grazia, which opens the Venice Film Festival this evening. The film stars Toni Servillo and Anna Ferzetti. Sorrentino directed the film from his own screenplay. Very little about the film’s plot is known, but we understand the film follows the final days of a fictional Italian Presidency.
The feature is a Fremantle film produced by The Apartment, Numero 10, and PiperFilm, which will distribute in Italy. Mubi owns worldwide rights, excluding Italy. The Match Factory is handling international sales.
La Grazia marks Sorrentino’s first return to Venice since 2021’s The Hand of God. That film won the festival’s Grand Jury Prize.
Venice runs until September 6.
