Martin Scorsese Makes Public Plea for Italy to Save Its Historic Cinemas

‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot,’ is how the tune Big Yellow Taxi from folk legend Joni Mitchell goes. Those words have long resounded for folks everywhere because of the literal truth behind them. Anyone who studies their history knows that huge swaths of grand old cinemas and ballrooms were unceremoniously razed to the ground during the latter-half of the 1960’s, all throughout North America and elsewhere. In their places, things such as shopping malls and grocery stores went up. In many cases, those once opulent and grand areas became crime ridden and extremely dangerous. The shocking thing about such shortsightedness by city leaders and the citizens living in those communities was that no one seemed to care. These historic buildings which had given host to a veritable raft of warm memories and had been witness to such upheaval and change through the years were allowed to pass gently into that good night with nary a sad word said on their behalf; they went to their reward forgotten and not mourned. I personally got an uncomfortable up-close and personal look at this phenomenon as I began prepping a series of books about a 1959 Midwestern rock and roll tour which made nightly stops at some of the most beautiful and stunning ballrooms, historic theatres and armories you could ever hope to see. By the time I began my research, many of these venues had been torn down. Those which had survived the ensuing decades such as the Capitol Theatre in Davenport, Iowa (which, when I visited it in the summer of 2016, had been converted into a community college desperately crying out for a fresh coat of paint and nothing more than some sincere TLC) were so diminished from their former glories that they seemed more like phantom limbs than successfully functioning endeavors.

A similar thing seems to be happening in the country of Italy, according to our conservationist-minded friends over at Variety. In that beautiful country which is renowned for its love of the arts, a move is under way led by legendary director Martin Scorsese to halt the conversion of some of Rome’s most iconic cinemas into hotels and shopping centers.

Scorsese, along with fellow filmmakers Wes Anderson and Jane Campion have banded together to prevent a large section of Rome, Italy’s movie houses from being altered and turned into grocery stores and shopping centers. This move comes shortly after the news of potential regional legislation hit the presses.

In an open letter, Scorsese urged a course correct on this proposal, arguing that the cinemas of Italy needed to be protected and preserved.

“…It is clear that the attempt to repurpose spaces intended for the possible cultural renaissance of the Eternal City into hotels, shopping centers and supermarkets is utterly unacceptable,” Scorsese maintained. “Such a transformation would represent an irrevocable loss: a profound sacrilege not only to the city’s rich history but also to the cultural legacy for the future generations…We call upon our colleagues across the globe, festival directors and all the cultural operators to sign this letter to save the last chance for redemption of one of the most important cultural and artistic cities worldwide. This letter is also personally addressed to President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to prevent any conversion of the cultural spaces in Rome. It’s our duty to transform these abandoned ‘cathedrals in the desert’ into true temples of culture, places capable of nourishing the souls of both present and future generations.”

For a lot of us out in the great, big world, movie theaters – specifically those which have become such a part of so many communities, and which have endured against all odds for decades – are a sacred place of pop culture worship. Let’s support Martin Scorsese’s efforts on that front. After all, how many times do we have to keep paving over paradise?