Valentino: Tears and Cheers

VENICE — “I only remember what I want to remember,” joked Valentino to Giancarlo Giammetti during a stroll down Via Veneto, as the latter brought back memories of their first encounter at the Café de Paris in Rome on July 31, 1960.

“It must be since the Dolce Vita days that I haven’t been down here,” added Valentino with a twang of nostalgia.

Their walk down memory lane on a cold, winter day may have been orchestrated for a scene in Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary, “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” but the deeply rooted, inspirational and unique union between Valentino and Giammetti is really what sparked...