Journey into cinema… on two wheels

To start the year off at full speed, a ride on a Vespa is a great idea! Especially if we are preparing to take an exciting journey with the legendary scooter into the history of cinema: all this is possible, for just a few more days, at the Piaggio Giovanni Alberto Agnelli Museum in Pontedera (Pisa), where the exhibition "La Vespa e il Cinema" is currently being hosted. The initiative, as original as it is interesting, highlights the myth of the much-imitated Made in Italy scooter model, which is tied much more than one might think to the Seventh Art. The occasion is to take a dive into the history and customs of the recent past, Italian first and foremost: yes, because ever since it was patented way back on April 23, 1946, the Vespa has transported generations and generations of people, always with its elegant and unmistakable look. In the last sixty years, riding this little gem on two wheels, we have gone from the post-war recovery to the economic boom of the 1950s, from the “Dolce Vita” to the revolutionary 1968, from the hedonistic 1980s to the difficult days of today, a bit with the same ease with which we ride it. Thanks to cinema, with which it was love at first sight (who doesn't remember Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck's tour of the capital on a Vespa in "Roman Holiday"?), the myth of the Piaggio scooter has consolidated even more, relaunching at the same time the creativity and uniqueness of Made in Italy on a global level: also thanks to the infinite list of world stars on celluloid who over time have been immortalized on board a Vespa, both for script needs and to escape the inevitable "paparazzi" in traffic. The free admission should make you even more tempted to include the Tuscan exhibition in your wishlist of cultural events not to be missed in this 2011 that has just begun. Seeing is believing, the 150 posters and 200 photos taken from the sets of famous films (there is also a screening of some of the titles that have contributed most to the “legend” of the Vespa), posters, documentaries, commercials and Vespa models that in sixty years have become a fashion statement, speeding far and wide across the country and beyond. The touch-screens installed inside the exhibition show the most significant sequences from a hundred films that have the Vespa as their undisputed protagonist. The Italian line-up is rich and well-nourished ( "Domenica d'agosto" and "Caro diario" above all), but there is no shortage of New York tours by Jude Law and Nicole Kidman in "Alfie" and "The Interpreter" respectively. The Vespa even makes appearances in Asian Bollywood productions, while the latest in chronological order is its appearance with George Clooney in the very recent "The American". The exhibition, created by the Piaggio Foundation in collaboration with the Cinema Multimedia Center and the Viareggio EuropaCinema, was inaugurated last November 5th and will be open to the public for a few more days, until January 15th to be precise. There's no time to waste! To learn more about the magical relationship between the most famous scooter in the world and the "dream factory", know that the "Vespa and Cinema" exhibition is open from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10.00 to 18.00.