Rome, January 22 - Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella were among mourners who visited Rome's Casa del Cinema Friday to say a final goodbye to film director Ettore Scola on Friday. "He was a great Italian who touched the lives of entire generations, not just one person," said Renzi as he was leaving the chapel of rest where Scola's coffin had been placed. "I believe it is right and proper, not only to pay tribute to him, but to find a proper way to remember him. "Speaking with his family and with Walter Veltroni (former Rome mayor and the first leader of Renzi's Democratic Party), I think it would be good to find a suitable way to remember this extraordinary cinematic master"". A tearful Sophie Loren was among a host of cinematic stars to visit Casa del Cinema to pay their respects on Thursday. Scola died in Rome on Wednesday aged 84. He had been in a coma at Policlinico Hospital's heart surgery department since Sunday night, and died surrounded by wife Gigliola and daughters Paola and Silvia.