The documentary “Enzo Jannacci – Vengo anch'io” by Giorgio Verdelli, to which we dedicated this in-depth analysis some time ago, is now available on RaiPlay. The film, which debuted at the 2023 Venice film festival, offers a portrait of what Paolo Conte called “The greatest Italian singer-songwriter”. It does so by taking the viewer, aboard an old tram, into a timeless Milan and thanks to extraordinary archive material, often unpublished, to prestigious testimonies from friends and colleagues and to a skilful use of editing through which Jannacci himself becomes the narrator of the film.
An immense and often surprising talent, Enzo Jannacci, who passed away in 2013 at the age of 77, navigated between many different genres because he himself was a “genre”. His marked sensitivity, artistic and human, has translated over the years into a constant linguistic and musical invention that has allowed him to move with mastery between songwriting and cabaret, rock'n'roll and jazz, theater and cinema. Among the key moments, the collaborations with his friend Giorgio Gaber, with Dario Fo, the meeting with Cochi & Renato, but also the adventures on stages, theaters, cellars and that vocation as a doctor that perhaps he would have liked to follow more, are told in the first person, recovering his words from a hitherto unpublished interview, given in 2005 to Giorgio Verdelli himself.
Many travel companions who embellish the narrative with unknown anecdotes: from Diego Abatantuono to Cochi Ponzoni, Massimo Boldi and Nino Frassica passing through the stories of colleagues such as Paolo Conte, Roberto Vecchioni and Paolo Rossi. The film also features the extraordinary testimony of Vasco Rossi. And again, the affectionate tribute from J-Ax, the memories of Claudio Bisio, Dori Ghezzi, Dalia Gaberscik, Paolo Tomelleri, Gino & Michele, the photographer Guido Harari, his regular director Ranuccio Sodi and Fabio Treves but also the certificates of profound esteem from Francesco Gabbani, Valerio Lundini and Elio, also the author of a theater show on Jannacci.
The most intimate and poignant story, however, is that of his son Paolo in front of his father's piano. Paolo actively collaborated on the film, also creating an instrumental version of “Vengo anch'io” and one of “Letter from afar” and made his personal archive available.
On OndaRock there is also a milestone dedicated to Jannacci, for his album “Quelli che…”.
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
