Andrea Bocelli Reveals Surprising Talents in Upcoming Documentary
Movieguide® Contributor
Not only does Andrea Bocelli have the voice of an angel, but he can ride horseback and sense sound as it bounces off of surfaces.
“It’s basically the concept that bats use for their orientation. When you walk, you make sounds, and that sound comes back to you. Echolocation,” the Italian told Deadline.
“The fact is we all have this capacity. It’s just that we don’t know we do. And we don’t use it because we don’t develop it,” he explained ahead of his world premiere for his documentary, ANDREA BOCELLI: BECAUSE I BELIEVE.
In the documentary, viewers will explore Bocelli’s success and childhood in Tuscany. There, he learned to play instruments and sing. He was born with congenital glaucoma and lost his sight fully when a soccer ball struck his eyes at the age of 12. His mother, Edi, discouraged self-pity.
“My mother was really a very strong woman,” he comments. “She wouldn’t have it if I went to her complaining about some sort of problem. ‘How do I do this? How do I do that?’ She goes, ‘Make do on your own. You can do it. That’s it. No excuses. Figure it out.’”
That attitude helped him not to limit himself, including when it came to horsemanship.
“I began to ride when I was seven years old, so for me it’s a natural, normal element in my life,” he says. “I live in a beautiful place — Tuscany is incredible. So beautiful. And to ride in the middle of the fields and woods, it’s very inspiring. And you breathe freedom.”
A description of the documentary says that as he grew up “he frequently took long horseback rides alone, feeling, as he declares, ‘zero fear.’ That same fearlessness helped him work his way up, going from dues-paying gigs singing Sinatra songs at piano bars to eventually having a worldwide smash with ‘Time to Say Goodbye,’ his astonishing duet with Sarah Brightman. Earning plaudits from Pavarotti, Bocelli then went on to make his name with the gale-force power of his dazzling tenor. Decades later, he continues to move fluidly between genres, singing alongside peers as diverse as Cristina Pasaroiu, Jennifer Lopez, and Dua Lipa.”
At an event in the U.S., he had the opportunity to sing and ride — two of his strongest passions.
“I performed an opera in Detroit and at the beginning of the opera I went to stage riding a horse — a real horse,” he recalled. “And I remember the boy that brought me the horse asked me, ‘Are you worried to go on stage with the horses?’ I said, ‘No, I will be worried when I have to get off the horse and start singing.’”
He can’t decide whether he likes singing or riding more.
“It’s a tie,” he replies. “If I’m singing well, it’s a tie. If it’s not good, I like my horse.”
He also has an affinity for his pet, an Italian Greyhound named Ginevra.
“She’s a good traveler. Very happy. Very happy,” he says. “She’s always the first to get in the car, first to get on a plane. Oh, she’s very happy.”
For an emotional and experienced artist like Bocelli, there’s no favorite song he likes to perform.
“It’s like every day and every moment, there’s a mood for a certain song,” he said. “So, there is no favorite. It’s just what you’re in the mood for.”
Bocelli said about the response to his documentary:
You never get used to it, even after 30 years in the business… But I should’ve inured myself to the fact that the feedback you receive is more generous than you can imagine in your wildest dreams.
I’m still constantly shocked by the outpouring of goodwill and affection aimed at me. And so it was, with a heart full of gratitude, that I watched the warm reception the documentary about me, “Because I Believe”, received at its debut at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival…
The film’s title sums it up perfectly: because I believe. In people, in our heavenly Father, and in the life that he has gifted to us. I believe in the power of love as the world’s driving force, a love to which I have sought to bear witness through my music and through my existence.
That’s the message behind the documentary, one which I, merely its humble emissary, hope will come through. If it manages to warm its viewers’ hearts a little, make them smile, surprise them, and leave them with a little more faith in life, then I’ll have achieved my goal, and I’ll be a happy man.
Movieguide® reported on another movie about Bocelli that will be released soon:
The film, titled ANDREA BOCELLI 30: THE CELEBRATION, will release by Fathom internationally for three days this fall and “will document the three-day July event honoring Bocelli’s 30th anniversary in music,” per a press release.
This event will take place in Tuscany at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theater of Silence) on July 15, 17 and 19. Deadline reported, “The film will be directed by Grammy nominee and Emmy winner Sam Wrench, who recently helmed TAYLOR SWIFT – THE ERAS TOUR, the highest-grossing concert film of all time. He also is behind live-performance films with Billie Eilish, Lizzo, BTS, The Weeknd and more.”
“To celebrate the 30th anniversary of my career at Teatro del Silenzio, a place that means so much to me, with artists and friends is an honor,” Bocelli said about the event. “To be able to share this unforgettable event with the world in cinemas is beyond my greatest dreams.”
