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Rating: Practically, the Hungarians have dedicated a monument, namely a two-meter-high bronze statue, to Carlo Pedersoli, better known as Bud Spencer.
The news dates back to a few days ago when the statue, located at the center of Corvin Promenade and at the entrance of the Corvin-negyed metro stop, was inaugurated in the presence of the two daughters of the Neapolitan actor who passed away in June last year. The statue depicts Bud with a gun in a holster and a saddle on his shoulder, practically capturing the character of 'Bambino', played in 'They Call Me Trinity' by E.B. Clucher, a pseudonym of Enzo Barboni, which is probably his most famous film. At the base of the statue is a phrase by Terence Hill (Mario Girotti): 'Mi sohasem veszekedtunk'. Practically: 'We never quarreled.'
The work, as mentioned, is two meters high and closely ideally reproduces that image of a gentle giant that made him famous in Italy and worldwide. It depicts him smiling in one of his typical expressions, contrasting with the more typical grumpy face often following as a reaction to the 'antics' of his longtime partner Terence Hill. It should be remembered that Bud Spencer is still the most popular Italian actor in the world. Of course, the second is Terence Hill.
Naturally, despite Carlo Pedersoli's great popularity, it is reasonable to question why this choice was made, also because there would be no particular concrete connection between Bud Spencer and the artist Szandra Tasnadi or between the actor and the Hungarian city.
The aspect most highlighted by the Italian media would search the roots of this 'cult' (how else to define it...) in the widespread distribution of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill films in Hungary and all of Eastern Europe in years when American cinema was practically taboo in those places. The mayor of Budapest's eighth district, Mate Kovacs, in commemorating the unveiling of the statue, recalled Carlo Pedersoli's past as a swimming champion and as a good actor and 'good husband and father'.
All true, after all. It should be noted that Bud Spencer's life was so adventurous that it could have itself constituted a plot for a film. A swimming and water polo champion, he was the first Italian to swim the 100 meters freestyle in under a minute in 1950 and was multiple times the Italian swimming champion in freestyle and relay. He lived in South America several times where he practically did everything. In Brazil, he worked at the Italian consulate in Recife. In Venezuela, he worked on the construction of the Pan-American Highway (the road that runs from the northern tip of Alaska to the southern tip of Chile) with the indigenous people and locals; in Argentina, he worked as a sports coach. He entered the world of cinema stably (having already had the opportunity to work there) by pure chance and because he needed money, thanks to an invitation from director Giuseppe Colizzi who asked him to act in the film 'God Forgives... I Don't!' It should be mentioned out of curiosity that at that time Bud wasn't sporting a beard, so Colizzi forced him to wear a fake one. But the most important thing was that on that occasion Bud Spencer met Terence Hill on set. This was the first time the two actors presented themselves to the public with their famous pseudonyms. Bud Spencer's was a tribute to Spencer Tracy and a play on the name of the beer 'Budweiser' which in Italy we also know more simply as 'Bud'.
It was precisely the spaghetti western genre that brought Bud Spencer notoriety, and it was a film of this genre that was the first shot alongside Terence Hill. Another spaghetti western, the already mentioned 'They Call Me Trinity', was the couple's most popular film and is considered by critics as the most important film of the genre after 'A Fistful of Dollars' by Sergio Leone because, firstly, it had incredible success. Secondly, the film gave a certain renewed momentum to the genre, which at that time was indeed waning, extending its life as a result.
Thus, it was mainly the productions of this genre that made a certain type of Italian cinema popular worldwide and especially in Eastern Europe. It must be said that this was a genre that indeed produced hundreds of films, some of which have very little to envy to more expensive American productions. On the contrary, the spaghetti western revolutionized the entire genre, breaking all sorts of pre-existing stereotypes and the 'forced classicism' typical of Hollywood, imparting in this sense a great lesson to the same American masters who, not by chance, still celebrate the genre today and consider it a source of inspiration (it's unnecessary to mention Quentin Tarantino). But the fortune of Bud Spencer and the greatness of his character go beyond any genre categorization and are practically due to all the numerous films he made over the years, and particularly to the incredible duo he formed with Mario Girotti aka Terence Hill.
Overall, the two made eighteen films together: sixteen as a leading duo while on two other occasions, 'Hannibal' in 1959 and 'Blackie the Pirate' in 1971, they had separate parts, and in one case, they didn't even meet on set.
Is Bud Spencer a character who unites? Mate Kovacs wanted to remember him with these words as well. The answer to the question is obviously yes. How could it be otherwise? Even in years when cinema was considered as belonging to one ideological line or another depending on the genre and tones (we are in the seventies), it must be said that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill's films were never attacked by any type of ideological censorship, neither from the right nor the left.
The truth is that their films were a kind of live-action comic book. The two created a perfect duo. On one side, the big and grumpy one, maybe a little dumb; on the other, the handsome and cunning one. That Bud ended up being more loved is, I believe, normal, and something his adventure partner Terence Hill eventually recognized: because in his apparent naivety combined with his good heart and greatness, he perfectly embodied that figure of a gentle giant, a typically human character universally recognized and, not by chance, strategically often led him to play roles like that of the monk (real or fake) who truly did justice and sided with the weaker. His success lies in the search and proposal of a simplicity that today lacks in the desperate quest for ever more innovative and experimental productions, just as it lacked in those years, instead seeking to present a certain sophisticated cinema with significant meanings not shared by all. The boom of genre films like crime dramas or sexy comedies, but similarly the spaghetti western, were, on the other hand, somehow opposed and considered something culturally low and popular. But I believe that, as much as Bud Spencer and Terence Hill's films were a supreme expression of 'popular', in general, no one ever opposed or made significant determinations about their movies, even in years when political tones were certainly more marked than today. This is perhaps another reason why Bud Spencer and Terence Hill were then decided to be completely transplanted into entirely different contexts in each movie: the Old West, the United States of America or Africa, or South America. In any case, their enemy is always a powerful person with the usual henchmen who, in many movies, took a lot of beatings (Riccardo Pizzuti, Claudio Ruffini, Sal Borgese, Giancarlo Bastianoni, Nello Pazzafini...). These choices, too, made their films somehow immortal and timeless.
Bud Spencer and Terence Hill were unique, imitated (how could we forget in particular their lookalikes Paul L. Smith and Michael Coby) but impossible to imitate. That they dedicated a statue to Bud Spencer in Budapest (behind it, they even made a sort of mural on one of those large concrete planters with a phrase of his: 'Napoli l'ho difesa, l'ho portata nel mondo') at this point, certainly seems strange, but not so impossible as it might seem. On the occasion, his daughter Cristiana wanted to use another of her father’s recurring phrases: 'My career wouldn't exist without my fans.'
All true. But without him, an entire imaginary shared by entire generations and a myth that still renews itself today would not exist.
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