“The Champions League? It will be a beautiful film. I don’t know if Bologna will be the protagonist or a supporting actor, but be careful not to ignore the role of those who have a minor role: football teaches you that you can be important even without being a leading player. Try taking Aebischer away from Thiago’s Bologna: would we have arrived where we are in May?”.
In his 66 years of life, Orfeo Orlando has never liked to take himself too seriously. Yet, with a career as an actor behind him, he continues to make cinema his profession and his passion. Bologna, on the other hand, is only (so to speak) his passion: an all-encompassing love that takes him to the curve and with his head makes him perpetually float among red and blue clouds.
Orlando, are you also excited for the Champions League to come?
“Of course. The last and only time we participated in that Cup I was only six years old. My mother lived in Via Asiago, not far from the stadium: I was a child who began to breathe the air of the red and blue colors early on.”
Raised on bread and Bologna?
“Yes. I still have in my eyes the images of my grandfather, who was from Portogruaro in Friuli and who was not a real football fan: to celebrate the championship, however, in those days he also took to the streets. He was passionate about the Friulian colony of that team: Pascutti, Furlanis, Tumburus. What a team”.
And how do you think today’s team is equipped for the Champions League?
“I’ll start with a premise. I’m madly in love with Bologna, when for work reasons they proposed that I move to Rome I always declined the invitation, because I prefer to work in Rome and take a train back home in the evening”.
That being said?
“For the people of Bologna, by nature, nothing is ever good enough. And here it is not a question of being know-it-alls or never-godfathers: it is in the very nature of us Bolognese the idea that sparkling wine, as the lawyer Porelli used to say, in this city must always have a corked aftertaste. There is no malice, but preventive skepticism is the rule here: after three games, Italian is already inadequate, the market has not been up to par and the club that does not know how to play football…”.
It seems that you don’t agree with me and, above all, that you aren’t worried.
“I’m not worried, but not because I’m an eternal optimist: I’m just trying to analyze things. The club and Saputo, after a long journey, have brought us to the Champions League. I’ll judge the market when I’ve seen all the new signings on the pitch, which hasn’t happened for many of them. After that, we’ll talk about Italian.”
Nail.
“He did well wherever he went. Even in Florence, where they are not gentle with the team, he inherited a derelict Fiorentina and took them to the final three times. He says: he lost all three. But playing in a final is like taking part in the Venice Film Festival or the Cannes Film Festival: there is one winner, but it’s not as if those who finish behind are bad”.
Of course Thiago Motta is no more. By the way: who would you award the Oscars of last season to?
“Without distinction to all the members of the team. Because the ‘weird one’ gave the group an important imprint but had first-rate technical material. It works like this in cinema too: you can be a very good director but if the actors don’t have the talent it’s difficult for a good film to come out. Another parallel with football that comes to mind: making a good film is the result of teamwork. The protagonist counts, but the so-called extras also count a lot”.
And here comes the actor Orlando.
“Whoever plays a minor role is a cog in the machine: but if that cog jams, the whole machine risks coming to a standstill.”
Are you thinking of a particular rossoblù?
“Yes, I think of Aebischer, in whom I see myself a bit. He is more than just an extra, but he is rarely seen on the pitch. Yet the things he does count and have counted a lot in getting to the Champions League.”
What kind of movie will Bologna in the Champions League be for you?
“The best film of my life as a fan. If I had to find an appropriate title I would dare say ‘New Cinema Paradise’. Also because it evokes memories from sixty years ago, when Bologna really played heavenly football”.
As an actor in ‘Champions’, have you ever played?
“I’ve been lucky enough to take part in successful films directed by Bellocchio and Placido. Now I’ve just finished shooting an independent film by director Rodolfo Bisatti, ‘On Life: l’Università dei Bambini’, where some, let’s say, problematic kids teach adults how to use new technologies”.
Where is Bologna in the league this year?
“I would be delighted if they finished sixth to ninth. And I would sign up straight away for a place in the Conference League, because it is clear to me that qualifying for the Champions League was a magnificent exception.”
But shouldn’t a fan also dream?
“I do dream of Anfield. But I know that first we need to get points in Como.”