Farewell to Gianni Cavina, cult actor of Avati cinema

There is no coincidence in the fact that it was Pupi Avati who divulged the news of the death of Gianni Cavina, tonight in Bologna at the age of 81: in the imagination of Italian cinema, without Pupi Avati, Cavina's face and goodness do not would exist.

And in truth, without the complicity and friendship with the Avati family, Gianni would probably have remained just a nice dialect characterist.

    However, if you look better in his biography, you will find yourself in front of a personality and a more complex history: born in Bologna on December 9, 1940, he studied at the Franco Parenti theater school, but then took part in the tumultuous and cheerful artistic life of the city. , sharing even with Lucio Dalla the stage in the cabaret to make his debut in the cinema thanks to the journalist-director Raffaele Andreassi who in 1968 called him on the set of "Flashback" with which he participated in the Cannes festival and won the Golden Globe for best work first.

    The meeting with Pupi Avati, to whom his passion for jazz and that of cinema binds him, takes place in the same year with "Balsamus", a story bordering on the grotesque that passes over in silence as the subsequent "Thomas and the possessed".

It will take the guarantee of an actor known as Ugo Tognazzi and an imaginative script (in which he participates in the first person) for the name of Gianni Cavina to begin to become familiar to actors and producers.

The film is "La mazurka del barone, della santa e del fig fiorone" which director Avati also dictates in 1975.

    Cinecittà, however, adopts the actor in the genre of the comedy scollacciata with the "Buttiglione" by Mino Guerrini or "San Pasquale Baylonne" by Luigi Filippo d'Amico (paired with Lando Buzzanca).

The partnership with Pupi Avati, on the other hand, continues smoothly and leads to the success of "The house with laughing windows" (1976), "All deceased ... except the dead" (1977), "Le strelle nel fosso" which make the Bolognese director a young master between horror and fantasy.

In 1979 Cavina won his first leading role as Father Lino in "Adsalut Pader" directed by Paolo Cavara and written by him together with Enzo Ungari.

This will be followed by "L'ingorgo" by Luigi Comencini, "Il turno" by Tonino Cervi, "Please take care of Amelia" by Flavio Mogherini.

    In Cavina's life, however, Pupi Avati returns more and more often as mentor and protagonist: in the end they will work together more than 20 times, up to the still unpublished "Dante" in which he plays the notary Pietro Giardino, despite the disease already in an advanced state.

The first real common hits are the two television series "Jazz Band" and "Cinema !!!"

at the end of the 70s while his Ugo Bondi, inveterate poker player in 1986's "Christmas Present", presented in competition at the Venice Film Festival, remains unforgettable.

Cavina will return there ten years later with "Festival" (again directed by Pupi) with which he will win in the Nastro d'Argento as best co-star.

Interpretations without his friend behind the camera are occasional: "Don't call me Omar"

by Staino, "Sun in the eyes" by Andrea Porporati, "The wedding director" by Marco Bellocchio, "Welcome president" by Riccardo Milani.

With one exception that gave Gianni Cavina great fame at the beginning of the 90s: the TV series "Inspector Sarti" by Giulio These, Maurizio Rotundi and Marco Serafini from the unforgettable character created by the crime writer Loriano Machiavelli.

With his mellow voice, sturdy physique, hands as big as shovels, a winking and sweet smile from time to time, Gianni Cavina conquered the television audience, appeared in international productions, even became a face in advertising.

by Riccardo Milani.

With one exception that gave Gianni Cavina great fame at the beginning of the 90s: the TV series "Inspector Sarti" by Giulio These, Maurizio Rotundi and Marco Serafini from the unforgettable character created by the crime writer Loriano Machiavelli.

With his mellow voice, sturdy physique, hands as big as shovels, a winking and sweet smile from time to time, Gianni Cavina conquered the television audience, appeared in international productions, even became a face in advertising.

by Riccardo Milani.

With one exception that gave Gianni Cavina great fame at the beginning of the 90s: the TV series "Inspector Sarti" by Giulio These, Maurizio Rotundi and Marco Serafini from the unforgettable character created by the crime writer Loriano Machiavelli.

With his mellow voice, sturdy physique, hands as big as shovels, a winking and sweet smile from time to time, Gianni Cavina conquered the television audience, appeared in international productions, even became a face in advertising.

    The actor had a thousand shades of consummate character actor, ranging from farcical excess to comic refinement, from tragic and painful intensity to the realist naturalness of any man.

But he was the man who became unforgettable even after just one meeting.

Reserved to the point of excess, jealous of his family affections, accompanied by a melancholy note that concealed contagious laughter behind him, Gianni knew how to make himself loved immediately, offering that spontaneous complicity that only true Emilians know how to cultivate.

Difficult to remember a word of him against colleagues and friends, impossible to see him really fight with Pupi and Antonio Avati.

Their story is that of a generous friendship that has not changed in 45 years of artistic life in common: an indestructible marriage.