“I was moved to tears”

Carlo Verdon the mayor of Rome on his 75th birthday: a tsunami of emotions that opens and closes with two quotes from the film. When the actor and director appeared in the Piazza del Campidoglio, at the foot of the Palazzo Senatorio where Roberto Gualtieri would present him with a tricolor sash while the Municipal band sang the music of “Un Sacco Bello”, Carlo exclaimed amidst applause: «But yes, let’s drain this Tiber», like the mayoral candidate who in “Gallo Cedrone” wanted to pave the river. And in the end, in the Giulio Cesare Hall, when he said «I have always admired Rome», Gualtieri gave him the Capitoline Wolf and answered, quoting the long-winded husband from “Bianco Rosso e Verdone”: «Do you see that it is mutual?». Sealed by these two moments, there was a blockbuster crowd that lasted throughout the day punctuated by applause, banquets, toasts, selfies, visits to the construction site and meetings of residents who, as in Tragliatella, the hamlet where Acea built a sewer that did not exist there (and Carlo visited the construction site with CEO Fabrizio Palermo), told their problems to the real mayor and the interim mayor. Verdone listened carefully and then exclaimed: «If Gualtieri doesn’t work, vote for me» and the crowd shouted «Great idea!».

Between fiction and reality

It looks like a scene from “Vita da Carlo,” the actor and director’s charming semi-autobiographical series, but that’s the truth. And if 25 years ago it was Alberto Sordi who triumphantly acted as mayor of Rome for one day, namely on his 80th birthday (at the end of the day, during which he was even given a nap, he declared himself exhausted), today Verdone confirms that he is the heir to that sacred monster and at the same time a trans-generational icon that appeals to adults and children, to intellectuals and simple people: «I have seen all his old films, dating from when he was young», reveals a 6-year-old fan who rushed with many others to the Villa Gordiani to sing “Happy Birthday” to the actor who inaugurated the play area and, embraced by the little ones, said emotionally: “Everything you do for the children is sacred”.

Today’s movie

Verdone’s day began in the Campidoglio where, in the Hall of Flags, Carlo participated with Gualtieri in the Council meeting. And he suggested: «Help independent bookstores, organize an antique book market in Villa Borghese: Renzo Arbore also assured me that there are many interested people. And rebuilding the Via Veneto, what a sad evening.”

Then shouting “Rome is not just the center, I want to go to the outskirts”, Verdone set off with Gualtieri. And in a long and unassuming day perfectly organized by the Municipal machinery of efficiency and punctuality, the two mayors covered 150 kilometers of splashing from Prenestino to La Storta, from Fiumicino to the Teatro Valle and then back to Campidoglio while motorcyclists from the Municipality (one of whom, Cinzia Gifuni, was a beautiful woman with long hair that swayed under her helmet and had been in the saddle for 35 years), escorted the illustrious caravan down the road. Raccordo circle and city traffic.

Verdone visited the construction site that restored the “Romolo Balzani” elementary school which last July, after the children were evacuated, was damaged by the explosion of a gas station. Actors stopped the procession to take a closer look at what was left of the building. Then the caravan headed to the senior center La Storta, at the intersection between via Cassia and via Giorgio Strehler, where the birthday celebration was organized: in the room where they danced every day at 4 pm, a banquet was held in honor of the actor. There were 80 elderly people, some came with walking aids, many were dressed in ceremonial clothes and the menu was monumental. In the end Verdone and Gualtieri had difficulty blowing out the candles, or rather firecrackers, that were stuck to the cake. And the glass was raised: «Just for you, I would make a toast, but I’m an alcoholic», revealed Carlo.

Final stage

Then through the ring road, moving to Valle which will reopen in September 2026 and is now a construction site. «I used to come here with my mother and I think it’s great that the cinemas can reopen», said Verdone, «people are leaving the cinemas, but they are still going to the theaters». The day ended with the presentation of the Capitoline Wolf, the city’s highest honor, and the actor’s children Giulia and Paolo, his brother Luca, his sister Silvia and his husband Christian De Sica joined the actor. «Today I felt extraordinary emotions», said Verdone, exhausted but happy, «I discovered so much humanity and generosity in the suburbs that are often associated with degradation. But we must respect them, considering them without arrogance: in a decentralized region, we live in a situation of inequality. But there are many young people who are working hard to improve the situation. Today I was moved to tears.”