Mambo

Monday June 19th 2006 I was watching the Independent Film Channel today and came across a movie by Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti called "Caro Diario" In the film Moretti reflects on his life in three tales: "On My Vespa", "Islands" and "Doctors". In the first, (On My Vespa) he narrates while riding along and says "I always wanted to be a dancer" He reflects on the importance of dance in not only film and stage, but in life in general. Later on, while waiting for a beverage in an Italian juice store, he notices a television playing and the movie "Mambo" was playing. He knows the song and begins to sing and dance along with the (unfourtanatly) little known Sylvana Mangano as she does a unique version of the Mambo. Afterwards, at the outside café table his friend asks him what he was doing in the shop and he relates that he was watching a "Strange scene, starring Sylvana Mangano and that it had effected him in a strange way. I went to IMDb and looked up Sylvana's name, only to find an amazing actress who was a big star in Italian film for a short time. She was married to Dino DeLaurentis and would have followed in the steps of Gina Lolobrigada and Sophia Loren had not she been married to DeLaurentis. Her most famous movie was "Riso Amaro" where she toiled ever so sexually in rice fields. She separated from DeLaurentis and lived out her life in Paris and Spain sewing tapestries. The scene was mesmerizing to me as well as Moretti and she was a beautiful and talented woman. Such is show BIz I guess!?! You can read the complete story of this unsung actress by entering "Mambo" in the search box on IMDb and clicking on the links. By the way, she never divorced Dino DeLaurentis and died in 1989.The movie "Mambo" originally had a completely different storyline, but was banned due to it's homosexual theme. Caro Diario is playing all this month on IFC channel.