Enrico Lucherini. "Purché se ne parli"

With his flamboyant and charming style and his high professional reputation, Lucherini – the “king” of press agents – has invented a new way to promote and publicize films, which in his hands become modern and universal fairy tales.

Rome celebrates half a century of Italian cinema with a major event dedicated to a hero of our film industry: Enrico Lucherini. He invented the role of press agent, and helped to innovate and promote the image of Italian cinema and its most important interpreters. For his 80th birthday, the Assessorato alle Politiche Culturali e Centro Storico -  Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali di Roma Capitale promotes the exhibition “Purché se ne parli. Dietro le quinte di 50 anni di cinema italiano” hosted at the Ara Pacis Museum from 13 October 2012 to 6 January 2013, with the organization and museum services by Zètema Progetto Cultura.

The exhibition presents Lucherini’s long career through the backstage of the 120 films he promoted: stills, unique and original posters, newspaper clippings, cartoons and drawings to recount fifty years of national cinema revisited with irony. Lucherini’s most intimate objects - including letters and unpublished photos - are collected in the centre of the Ara Pacis, the metaphorical heart of the exhibition.

Finally, the exhibit presents also three documentary films: Enrico LXXV directed by Antonello Sarno and presented in 2007 at the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Un sorriso, uno schiaffo, un bacio in bocca,  a collection of Italian films produced by Titanus from 1947 to 1962, commented ironically by Oreste Lionello, and Titanus: un secolo di cinema e televisione that traces the history of Titanus through the most significant films produced by the Lombardo family.