TRAVESTITO
****
Director: Gary Hillberg
Principal cast:
Tito LeDuc
Neil Hansen
Mauro Bronchi
Emilio Giannino
Gianfranco Mari
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 48 mins.
Australian release date: Screened at the Chauvel Cinema, Sydney, in 1989.
The title of this documentary by Australian director/editor Gary Hillberg is a play on the Italian verb ‘travestire’ - to disguise oneself, to dress up - and the first name of the film’s protagonist - ‘Tito’ - thus Travestito. In Italy in the 1970s, L’altra domenica, a variety show hosted by Renzo Arbore, aired on national television every Sunday. Highly popular, it originated as a sports/variety program before morphing into a comedy revue in its second season. Its ground-breaking act was a trio of drag queens who called themselves Le Sorelle Bandiera (The Flag Sisters). Styled on The Andrews Sisters, the American singing group famous during World War II, their name punned on I Fratelli Bandiera (The Flag Brothers), renowned Italian nationalists from the period of the Risorgimento, the 19th century social movement that consolidated the Italian peninsula into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Italy in the ‘70s was quite socially conservative, heavily influenced by the Vatican, and Italians had never seen anything like Le Sorelle Bandiera on national TV before. They were a sensation - their signature song Fatti più in là became a national chart hit and the group a household name. Travestito tells the story of its principal cast member.
Tito LeDuc was born in Vera Cruz, Mexico, and came to Italy in the 1950s, working primarily as a dancer and choreographer in Rome during the period known as ‘la dolce vita’. He had previously worked in North and South America and the documentary details his many theatre and film roles, some of them as female characters, culminating in Le Sorelle Bandiera. The trio was made up of Neil Hansen, an Australian artist and actor from Perth who arrived in Rome in the ‘70s and met Tito when the two of them were working together in a play. When its season was over, the pair wanted to continue to work together and they came up with the premise for their drag act, recruiting a classically-trained Italian actor from Spoleto, Mauro Bronchi, to be the third member of the group. Together they created their unique routine in which each had a specific character - Tito was an elderly blonde bombshell, a bit past her prime, Mauro a saucy and spicy brunette, and Neil a dizzy but beautiful redhead. It was a marriage made in heaven.
Shot entirely on location in Rome and Capri in 1988, Travestito is a charming documentary that riffs on the uplifting effects of art on those who embrace it fearlessly. It is also a fascinating glimpse of a time in Italy that was far removed from ‘the sweet life’ of two decades earlier. On the contrary, the 1970s would later become known as The Years of Lead because it was a period of violent political action by both the radical Left and the extreme Right. The country needed a laugh and Tito and The Flag Sisters were well-placed to provide it. The doc also features interviews with LeDuc, Hansen and Bronchi, and an amusing dinner with some of their artistic friends as they are entertained by the male soprano, Gianfranco Mari, singing the most famous aria from Madama Butterfly, Un bel dì vedremo. By default, it is a record, too, of life pre-9/11 - one of the most arresting images in the film is an aerial scene of the streets of Rome shot from high up in the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, for which the crew carted a 16mm. camera, in a large black holdall replete with barrel-like lenses, up the winding stairs to the roof. It was long before the days of heightened security and it would be almost impossible to replicate today without seeking exhaustive permissions. Hillberg and his miniscule crew just went in and did it, no questions asked!
The director of Travestito, Gary Hillberg, was primarily a film editor (With Time To Kill, Broken Highway), and he went on to utilise his cutting skills collaborating with the acclaimed Australian photographer/artist, Tracey Moffatt, working with her on a number of videos for her Australian and international exhibitions. Travestito was shot with a miniscule crew and Hillberg not only directed and edited it, but was also the primary cameraman. It must be said, however, that the finished product belies the skeleton team involved. (In the interests of full disclosure, the writers of this review were also a part of the production team.)
Until their final days, the members of Le Sorelle Bandiera were remembered fondly in Italy and still approached for autographs whenever they appeared in public. Indeed, there were a number of reunions on television with Renzo Arbore over subsequent years until, sadly, Tito LeDuc passed away in 1998. Mauro Bronchi lived on until 2019 and Neil Hansen, the sole remaining Flag Sister, has returned to live in Perth. His reminisces were also recorded in a 2008 documentary made for SBS-TV (Australia) called The Fabulous Flag Sisters, directed by Franco di Chiera. These films are well-worth seeking out on the world wide web. Long may they entertain you!
Principal cast:
Tito LeDuc
Neil Hansen
Mauro Bronchi
Emilio Giannino
Gianfranco Mari
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 48 mins.
Australian release date: Screened at the Chauvel Cinema, Sydney, in 1989.
The title of this documentary by Australian director/editor Gary Hillberg is a play on the Italian verb ‘travestire’ - to disguise oneself, to dress up - and the first name of the film’s protagonist - ‘Tito’ - thus Travestito. In Italy in the 1970s, L’altra domenica, a variety show hosted by Renzo Arbore, aired on national television every Sunday. Highly popular, it originated as a sports/variety program before morphing into a comedy revue in its second season. Its ground-breaking act was a trio of drag queens who called themselves Le Sorelle Bandiera (The Flag Sisters). Styled on The Andrews Sisters, the American singing group famous during World War II, their name punned on I Fratelli Bandiera (The Flag Brothers), renowned Italian nationalists from the period of the Risorgimento, the 19th century social movement that consolidated the Italian peninsula into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Italy in the ‘70s was quite socially conservative, heavily influenced by the Vatican, and Italians had never seen anything like Le Sorelle Bandiera on national TV before. They were a sensation - their signature song Fatti più in là became a national chart hit and the group a household name. Travestito tells the story of its principal cast member.
Tito LeDuc was born in Vera Cruz, Mexico, and came to Italy in the 1950s, working primarily as a dancer and choreographer in Rome during the period known as ‘la dolce vita’. He had previously worked in North and South America and the documentary details his many theatre and film roles, some of them as female characters, culminating in Le Sorelle Bandiera. The trio was made up of Neil Hansen, an Australian artist and actor from Perth who arrived in Rome in the ‘70s and met Tito when the two of them were working together in a play. When its season was over, the pair wanted to continue to work together and they came up with the premise for their drag act, recruiting a classically-trained Italian actor from Spoleto, Mauro Bronchi, to be the third member of the group. Together they created their unique routine in which each had a specific character - Tito was an elderly blonde bombshell, a bit past her prime, Mauro a saucy and spicy brunette, and Neil a dizzy but beautiful redhead. It was a marriage made in heaven.
Shot entirely on location in Rome and Capri in 1988, Travestito is a charming documentary that riffs on the uplifting effects of art on those who embrace it fearlessly. It is also a fascinating glimpse of a time in Italy that was far removed from ‘the sweet life’ of two decades earlier. On the contrary, the 1970s would later become known as The Years of Lead because it was a period of violent political action by both the radical Left and the extreme Right. The country needed a laugh and Tito and The Flag Sisters were well-placed to provide it. The doc also features interviews with LeDuc, Hansen and Bronchi, and an amusing dinner with some of their artistic friends as they are entertained by the male soprano, Gianfranco Mari, singing the most famous aria from Madama Butterfly, Un bel dì vedremo. By default, it is a record, too, of life pre-9/11 - one of the most arresting images in the film is an aerial scene of the streets of Rome shot from high up in the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, for which the crew carted a 16mm. camera, in a large black holdall replete with barrel-like lenses, up the winding stairs to the roof. It was long before the days of heightened security and it would be almost impossible to replicate today without seeking exhaustive permissions. Hillberg and his miniscule crew just went in and did it, no questions asked!
The director of Travestito, Gary Hillberg, was primarily a film editor (With Time To Kill, Broken Highway), and he went on to utilise his cutting skills collaborating with the acclaimed Australian photographer/artist, Tracey Moffatt, working with her on a number of videos for her Australian and international exhibitions. Travestito was shot with a miniscule crew and Hillberg not only directed and edited it, but was also the primary cameraman. It must be said, however, that the finished product belies the skeleton team involved. (In the interests of full disclosure, the writers of this review were also a part of the production team.)
Until their final days, the members of Le Sorelle Bandiera were remembered fondly in Italy and still approached for autographs whenever they appeared in public. Indeed, there were a number of reunions on television with Renzo Arbore over subsequent years until, sadly, Tito LeDuc passed away in 1998. Mauro Bronchi lived on until 2019 and Neil Hansen, the sole remaining Flag Sister, has returned to live in Perth. His reminisces were also recorded in a 2008 documentary made for SBS-TV (Australia) called The Fabulous Flag Sisters, directed by Franco di Chiera. These films are well-worth seeking out on the world wide web. Long may they entertain you!