Al Pacino Received in Audience by Pope Leo, Beats Scorsese
Al Pacino beats Martin Scorsese: the American actor met Pope Leo today in the Vatican, thus becoming the first Hollywood star received in audience by the first pontiff of American nationality. "We are honored to announce that this morning His Holiness received in private audience a delegation from the film Maserati: The Brothers, including Oscar winner Al Pacino and the film's producer Andrea Iervolino," Iervolino himself announced in a statement, according to which the meeting was "a moment of profound spiritual and cultural inspiration, centered on the shared values at the heart of the Catholic Church and our film: family unity, love, compassion and the importance of contributing to the common good," the producer added.
Pacino - the producer reported - appeared visibly moved and described this meeting as "one of the most important and touching moments of his life". Oscar winner in 1992 for The Perfume of a Woman, in Maserati the 85-year-old Pacino plays the part of Vincenzo Vaccaro, an early investor in the car company of the three Bolognese brothers. The delegation - Variety reports - did not include other members of the cast such as Anthony Hopkins, Andy Garcia, Jessica Alba, Michele Morrone and Salvatore Esposito.
Pacino grew up in a Catholic family but has never expressed convictions related to the faith and indeed, in a recent interview, he said he "found nothingness" when in 2020, a victim of Covid, his heart stopped. Scorsese, who in 2019 directed him in The Irishman in the role of union leader Jimmy Hoffa, has never made a secret of being a practicing Catholic and has also had a close relationship with Pope Francis: conversations with the late pontiff, defined by the production as "his last in-depth interview", will be included in the documentary Aldeas - A New Story, based on the Scholas Occurrentes project founded by the late pontiff himself in 2013, the year of his election as head of the Church. The author of many Catholic-themed films, including The Last Temptation of Christ, which provoked protests from religious groups when it was released in 1998, and Silence on the Jesuit Missionaries in Japan, Scorsese was among the first to express his condolences on April 21 for the death of the Pope, whom he called "an inextinguishable light".
ansa
