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Chapter 51. Massimo and Renata. But now let me return to the private life of Massimo and Renata, to the moment in which they met. Massimo was sixteen years older than Renata and had a previous marriage, with Alessandra Villi. That marriage had been contracted at a young age, favored, it seems, by Angiola Patrioli (his “mommy”) and no children were born from it. It ended in 1932 with the death of Alessandra in a terrible car accident, in which another person, the driver, a certain Ruggero Lazzarini, died, while Massimo got away with a head injury. A few years after the tragic end of his first marriage Massimo met Renata. In spite of the difference in age with respect to Renata, Massimo’s appearance and vitality were those of a young person, both in body and in spirit. He was dynamic and impulsive, generous and a bit of a dreamer. What was striking about him was the smile that lit up his face. He seemed to smile with his eyes, which were an intense blue, even before his mouth. In this regard, I would like to recall the words that Luigi Pasquini, painter, writer and friend of his, wrote for him in the dedication at the end of his book “Romagna”. To Massimo Pantucci, whose friendly goodness overflows from his heart, rises up and can be read in his eyes”. And all those who knew him have always spoken of his goodness and his readiness to help those who might need it. If I had to find a quality common to Massimo and Renata, I could identify it in their generosity and in a sense of spontaneous trust in their neighbors, trust that at times seemed to border on naivety. With regard to work, Massimo was the protagonist of numerous entrepreneurial initiatives. One of these was the foundation of the C.I.S. (Compagnia Italiana Superfilm) Nettunia that produced, in the period immediately preceding the Second World War and in the immediate post-war period, important cinematographic works among which: Nero and Messalina, interpreted by Gino Cervi. Gioco d’azzardo, brilliant comedy with Gandusio and Falconi. Rossini, by Mario Bonnard with Nino Besozzi as protagonist. I trecento della Settima, a historical page of heroism interpreted by authentic alpine soldiers during the First World War. Finally, CIS Nettunia was the original producer of Roma città aperta, Roberto Rossellini’s masterpiece, since September 1944 when the director had involved the managing director, Countess Chiara Politi. Unfortunately, the film was later sold to Aldo Venturini during production due to financial difficulties. The genesis of Roma Città Aperta is briefly recounted here. Simonetta Ramogida’s book Roma Città Aperta (Gangemi Editore) has collected on page 22 the testimony of Vito Annicchiarico, who played little Marcello in the film: “At No. 10 Via Crispi were the offices of Countess Chiara Politi’s Cis Nettunia, the first financier of the film. It was right above that sort of piano bar frequented by Americans. With her was a German, Harry Feist, an anti-fascist dancer who played Gestapo Major Fritz Bergmann in the film, and two other people. One of them was Sergio Amidei, that’s how he introduced himself, but I couldn’t know who he was, nor could I remotely imagine that I was with a screenwriter and a director who would be among the leading figures of Neorealism. The lady I met that morning was called Contessa. Later I also went to her house. I think she lived in Viale Regina Margherita”. Besides being a manager and protagonist of various initiatives, Massimo was a brilliant writer and journalist. He published many works and essays both of economic and literary nature and several collections of poems. Some titles of his works: – La terra monopolio di Stato? – The problems of the earth and the functions of the Capital – For the primacy of agriculture – Industrial valorization of the fruit and vegetable products (work awarded in a competition) – Melozzo da Forlì (work awarded) – Pearls (verses) – Light breaks (verses). Perhaps his somewhat dreamy character did not match with the necessary practical sense that should have guided him in the various activities undertaken with such enthusiasm. Even though he was very active in his work and had many successes to his credit, at a certain point in his life he found himself in circumstances that would have required more prudence and shrewdness, especially when it came to evaluating and giving credit to partners and collaborators. I think that his over-confident and impulsive attitude was at the basis of the disappointments he encountered in his later years. However, the poetic vein accompanied him throughout his life and led him to translate into poetry every emotion and feeling of affection for the people closest to him, starting with Renata to whom he immediately dedicated, from the moment he met her, his thoughts in poetic form. Next to the letters he wrote to her frequently in the years immediately preceding their union and that Renata always kept, there are many poems dedicated to her. Over the years, Massimo always had a tender and protective attitude towards her, also because of that childlike quality that Renata always preserved. Massimo also bonded affectionately with Arturo and Maria, who had never detached themselves, nor did they later detach themselves from their only daughter. During their honeymoon, an itinerary along the peninsula that included Florence, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Taormina, from each of these places Massimo and Renata kept Renata’s parents updated with affectionate daily letters, almost a sort of travel chronicle.