THE INTERVIEW

Antonio Monda
L’indegno: when love puts faith to the test by Giovanni De Benedictis

Bridge Puglia USA meets Antonio Monda. An eclectic figure to say the least – journalist, teacher of cinema history at New York University, director of the literary festival “Le conversazioni” and of Rome's “Festa del cinema” – he arrived in Lecce in his role as a writer. His latest novel, L’indegno (Mondadori, 156 pages, 18 euro) is the fourth in the New York decalogy that began with L’America non Esiste.
This time the author tells the story of the son of a Jewish street artist, padre Abram, a priest who strenuously defends the weak and at the same time is torn by his (carnal) love for Lisa. The events are all interior but the story is bound up with the history of the Big Apple.

What made you embark on this saga in progress?

The project springs from the ambition to tell the story of characters in the fresco which is the history of New York in the 1900s. Each book is set in a different decade (from 1910 to 2000), structured so that they can be read independently, although the characters are linked.

What's the relation between your books and History?

They are not an attempt to evade from history, to create an infinite present, but instead they aim to re-read History. That's why there are appearances by people that actually existed, like the two boxers Alì and Foreman in this case, or Nixon (La casa nella roccia), Theodore Roosevelt (Ota Benga) or the infamous Senator McCarthy (L’America non esiste).

Could L’indegno be called an inside novel?

Like Assoluzione (my first book, which is not part of this saga), this is a novel set inside, more in closed rooms – the parish church, the bedroom – than outside. However, there are some glimpses, like in a scene set outside Studio 54, with Bianca Jagger riding away on a horse. This is because the conflict is huge and it is interior.

The protagonist is a priest who is not exactly a good example, both in what he does and in his background. Can he be considered a religious man?

He undoubtedly is. But he is living in torment: he is a man who believes in the Truth of Christ but at the same time in what is carnal. He is strongly attracted to women, especially to one woman he falls in love with. He lives in torment, torn between these two extremes.

What is God's place in today's world ?

That is a very big question. I believe the yearning for the absolute and presence of faith are something eternal which nobody – atheist or not – can disregard or shrug off. Today there is a clear rebirth of religious feelings and themes, at times in terms that are dangerous, extremist and fundamentalist.

Is the cinema in your novels?

It is and will always be there. This is a story that can easily be made into a screenplay. My other activity is directing the “Rome Film Festival”. I started out in the cinema as assistant to great directors like the Taviani brothers and I have also worked as a director. My way of thinking is in images: that's why I write fast, which I hope does not mean a lack of quality, but I'm careful about the rhythm.

How hard is it to get the general public to appreciate great cinema?

The history of the cinema shows us that there are truly great films that have made a lot of money or very little money, and vice versa. Think of The Godfather: a masterpiece that made a huge amount. On the other hand, all the films by Bresson, who has ever seen them? But also many films that we rightly venerate nowadays as masterpieces of neorealismo, didn't make much at the time.

Was it their creators' fault?

I'm always against any form of art that is difficult, esoteric, for the select few. I believe in art that can and must succeed in communicating as much as possible. I don't have the formula. Otherwise the producers would have already applied it and would be making even more money.

Does Italy need to do more?

The French government is certainly the one that defends its own cinema more, and this shows us that it is possible to give an incentive. But I'll never be in favor of quotas, nor is it a good idea to think that it's the State's duty to help us: that would be a very dangerous path to take.