«Looking back in time my passion for work is always alive, but it is no longer a priority as it once was, now there is life, there are my daughters. When I was twenty and thirty I was always with the suitcase in hand between films to shoot and promotion ».
So today Monica Bellucci At the 71/A edition of the Taormina Festival where it will receive tonight, closing day, in the ancient theater, the Excellence Award. Have you ever suffered harassment or advance? “As far as I’m concerned, I never found myself in situations that I could not manage and with this I do not deny that several embarrassing situations have happened to me.” And again the actress, in Taormina also on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of “Malena” by Giuseppe Tornatore – to whom, among other things, the manifesto of this edition of the Festival is dedicated – to those who ask her if it is a film that today could be made without incurring the debate on the politically correct, replies: «It is a very current film, it tells a timeless story, that of a woman who has to defend itself in a world of men. I still thank Tornatore for giving me this gift, I lived with him a very beautiful artistic and human experience ». Always speaking of “Malena”, he says: “I met Tornatore for an advertising spot and then he said to me: I have an idea in my head where I would like to involve you. And it was of speech. He called me years later while I was in Puerto Richam and we made this film that gave me access to international cinema” What is love for Bellucci, 60 years old last September? “Love is something difficult to explain, something that changes continuously over time, because two adult souls speak, one with the other, even with their experience”.
The future
Projects for the future? “I am shooting a French film with the director Léa Mysius entitled ‘Histoires de la Nuit’ with Hafsia Herzi and Benoît Magimel, and then I come to Palermo in July to shoot a film with Giovanni Tortorici, but I cannot reveal the story”. Catherine Deneuve, another star of the Festival? “For me Catherine is truly a diva, instead I am a person who thanks to being still here and for doing this job, I feel above all a comedien, or a person who still has a lot to learn”. Will art, beauty will save us? “Montalcini said that man is dangerous for himself, because he is able to rise technologically, but he cannot develop his emotional part at the same time”. Will he still work with his partner Tim Burton after Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? “How can I say it? He is the person with whom I am in addition to being a wonderful artist, I appreciate him a lot: he will depend on him ».