At 83 years of age, Renato Pozzetto decided to tell his life in a book. A book with the title: “he kills more the throat than the scarf”. Memories, anecdotes, funny stories or, he tells Corriere della Sera, «after a few drinks, singing old songs. Many people pushed me: Renato, why don’t you write a book? At one fine moment, I went under.”
INSIGHTS
Renato Pozzetto talks about a book
The Cochi and Renato couple? «It comes from a destiny that linked us before we were born, given that our parents had known each other for some time.
We understood each other, they understood each other, they made us laugh at the same things since we were children.”
In the book he talks about Lino Toffolo and, above all, Enzo Jannacci: «Enzo was a poet. And Toffolo’s songs were poetic and delicate, so beautiful that they seemed to have been written by someone else. We made fun of him because we didn’t know how to compliment him. Jannacci was a true inspiration for us, he told and sang poignant stories for him too. And he was unpredictable. You listened to him and could laugh or cry within a minute. We found each other naturally. We listened to his songs, he came to listen to us, he appreciated us. We loved each other and shared a common sense of humor.”
The carreer
The Osteria l’Oca d’Oro, the Gattullo bar up to the Milan Derby: «Many authors from Rai came to the Derby, they knew us and realized that our texts were new, original, they worked. La Carrà did not know and could not understand our language. So the idea came up of participating via connection from a cellar, which was actually a separate studio. The song “E la vita, la vita” as the ending theme. It immediately became very popular.”
Then the cinema, the first film, «To love Ophelia». He was also an immediate success as a leading actor «When the film came out I went to take a look in front of the cinema and saw a very long queue of kids waiting to get in. Then I peeked into the room, hidden behind a curtain. The first scene showed me walking from behind, only my feet were visible. Applause broke out. I was really amazed.”
the breakup with Cochi
But the cinema caused the break with Cochi: «When the proposal arrived I didn’t know what to do because we had always worked as a couple. I confessed to Cochi. It was welcoming. If you want to make this film, go ahead…”.
Corsera’s question: «Is The Country Boy still the film you loved most?». Answer: «It is the most loved by the public. A producer friend told me that it has been seen by millions and millions of people, stuff to be edited there head”.
Private life
The most emotional story, the most heartfelt one in the book written by Renato Pozzetto is the one dedicated to his wife Brunella, who passed away in 2009. «She was the person I fell in love with and it was a love that lasted an entire life. She raised our children, Giacomo and Francesca, sacrificing herself, dedicating patience and hope to me too. Having a sense of humor, she laughed while we rehearsed our lyrics at home. I think about her all the time. And sometimes I think I could have done better, given her more.”
But Renato Pozzetto has no other regrets: «I have faced life by following a balance also made of lightness. And I had a fortune from Madonna. It seems to me enough to be calm when you enter, so to speak, the finishing straight.”