Farewell to Maurino Di Francesco: from his somersaults in the Naviglio to his Derby antics, we remember the Milanese actor who died at 74.
Mauro Di Francesco died yesterday at the age of 74.
His job was to dive into the Naviglio. A curious Milanese Klaus Dibiasi. Proof that at the time, genius went hand in hand with a certain dose of madness. “But that's how we were at the time of Repellenti,” Massimo Boldi recalls, “the cabaret group that Jannacci and Beppe Viola had wanted: me, Diego Abatantuono, Giorgio Porcaro, Faletti, Ernst Thole. And then Maurino , a great comedian and a golden boy. One of our projects was called “Come mai tappezzeria” (How come tapestry) and it was a kind of cine-comedy that we could bring to theaters and television. A series of sketches in which we played some guys with great hope for the future but struggling with rather bizarre jobs. And Maurino was precisely the one who dived into the Navigli. In Milan it's called the “cimento inverno” (winter dive), it's a January tradition. But he did it all year round in exchange for a few coins. And if someone bought ten dives, I think he even gave them a discount. You can imagine how much fun we had…”
It seems like a story of another world. Or maybe just another city. The one where Mauro Di Francesco grew up on a diet of theater. After all, his mother was a theater dressmaker and his father a stage manager: it's in his DNA. Apparently, the child was also cute, so they immediately called him up for commercials. Even Strehler wanted him at a certain point , as a teenager. In short: an ultra-Milanese imprint . Which exploded at the Derby . Where, incidentally, that group of comic talents that would shape TV and cinema over the next fifty years was being born. "We met very young," Boldi continues, "we worked together countless times. We tried to cheat each other to earn a little more than the other. We were funny, we loved each other. And it's incredible to think of how much respect and love we sowed in those years. Now, however, it shocks me to see the photos from that time because there are only a few of us left. And today Maurino's death is truly a great pain." Boldi is moved.
He's probably not the only one. Because with that boy-next-door smile, the sweater tied around his shoulders, and trendy jeans, Mauro Di Francesco has come to represent an era that's fading away in the rain, as they would say in Blade Runner. That macro-season of the 80s and 90s that continues to fuel imaginations and melancholy. While his blockbuster films roll by: "I fichissimi", "Attila flagello di Dio", "Sapore di mare 2" and "Abbronzatissimi". Then some work with Jerry Calà, another of his lifelong friends. Not to mention the cult TV series, starting with "I ragazzi della 3ª C". Everything seemed simpler. But maybe we were just younger. And diving into the Naviglio, you came back up more or less intact. While now, at the very least, you get a stiff neck. Better not to forget your sweater. Tonight will almost be a tribute to Mauro Di Francesco. To those who never stop being twenty. And to this Milan that, if it remembered a little where it came from, would be able to laugh at itself again. Even on the saddest days.
Il Giorno
