Claudia CARDINALE: “I have been on the road for my whole life.”
The main adornment of the “Italian component” of the Vologda VOICES Festival was Claudia Cardinale, a wonderful actress, an idol for many generations of audiences. Very communicative and organic, joyful and open, she was admired not only by the festival’s guests and participants, but all residents of Vologda, with no exceptions. Claudia was tireless and she did not refuse anyone eager to make a photo with her, and these photos could make up a huge album.
Born in Tunisia, Claudia Cardinale conquered Italy, and currently she’s residing in France. She’s full of energy and creative power. Her filmography is quite long. It would suffice to mention only two cinema gurus, like Luchino Visconti and Federico Fellini, and their films which became classical, Rocco and his Brothers and 81/2, so that everyone remembered full-length portrait of Beautiful C.C., as the whole world called her.
The famous beauty and actress agreed to give an exclusive interview only to Den/The Day.
Dear Claudia, audiences in Ukraine and Russia admire you, remembering all of your wonderful roles. I want to start our interview with the VOICES Festival, which has gathered people who might become pride and joy of the great European cinema in the future. Now they are young, they are beginners, and it seems to me that your arrival to the festival as a world-scale celebrity is quite symbolical. What was interesting for you here? What have you seen? Whom have you talked to?
“It is wonderful that there is such a festival which helps young film directors to show themselves, but also it screens the films by famous old masters. This offers an opportunity for them to meet each other on the same stage. This is a unique and very important event. All films in which I took part recently are debut films, because it seems important to me to help youth in their maturing as directors, and the films were produced in New York, Tunisia, the next project will take place in Southern Italy. Those are all debut films of beginner directors, I help them this way.”
You had luck to work with wonderful film directors and you have your name written in the golden book of the world cinema. In your opinion, which of the great persons you worked with had the greatest impact on your personality?
“I was very lucky, as I started to work in cinema in golden years of Italian cinema – I came to the cinema in 1958 – at that moment Italy was ‘ahead the whole planet’ in terms of cinema, there was Fellini and Visconti, the great masters. I cannot but mention the westerns produced by Italians; Sergio Leone shot very successful so-called spaghetti westerns. I never liked to thrust myself upon [films. – Ed.] – it seems to me very important when namely you are being chosen. I have always paid attention [first. – Ed.] to the screenplay, how it was written, and second, to the personal contact we developed with the director, which is also important for me. It is impossible to do without it on a movie set, be it the work with a master or a debutant.”
You said that it is a pleasure for you to work with debutants. But you know well that the problem of the contemporary moviemaking is that directors are unable to tell the story and lack literary, screenwriting background. Which of the directors you work with is interesting for you?
“That is the reason why I choose films to work on by screenplays. I pay attention to how it is written from the point of quality literature. However, nowadays there are many talented script writers and directors. I took an active part in the films based on the works of the grand Authors of the Italian literature. That was how I became versed in scriptwriting and literature.”
You have worked with the best actors of the world cinema, not only Italian. Working with whom did you remember best, which one was interesting and easy, in terms of communication, on the movie set? Have you discovered any young actors in recent years?
“I have played with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Rock Hudson, Burt Lancaster, Henry Fonda, Tony Curtis. The most important thing for a partner is to be a good actor, for if the partner does not give you anything, you get nothing, and no contact is built to produce a spark flying from the screen to the audiences; emotions should be transferred from an actor to an actress. The thing is that cinema was a dream previously, compelling you to dream, there were no special effects, everything was natural. Currently there are so many technical tricks that the actors’ work is losing its importance. I like when the films compel you to become thoughtful and dream, because when you enter a movie theater and the magic screen lights up in the darkness, and you plunge into the light it radiates. This is the beauty. I do not like when people eat and drink in movie theaters, talk on the phone, breaking the overall atmosphere, they destroy the magic of cinema.”
Public activity is a huge part of your life. Please, tell a few words about it. What do you do? How complicated is it? In our country charity is immature. Maybe we could learn something useful for ourselves.
“I got involved with this activity long ago, I have been UNESCO envoy for many years. The sphere of my interests and Authority are women, their position in the society, protection of their rights, my next topic is environmental protection. Thirteen or fourteen years ago I became ‘godmother’ of combating AIDS in Avignon and supporting Cambodian children. Most importantly, you should give the right to speak to those people who lack it. Surely, sometimes it is hard to protect, because when some political component gets involved, it becomes hard to provide humanitarian assistance. But this is very important.”
Please, share your secret with us, how do you rest under such a tight schedule? What do you do in your leisure time? What or whom do you spend your time on? How do you restore the emotions you give in large quantities?
“You know, I have been working in cinema for 53 years and I have been travelling all the time. As a child, I wanted to be a traveler, therefore my dream has come true on the whole. I am very thankful that people invite and wait for me. It is important to be needed for any person. I like a lot to communicate with people; I do not like to be guarded, because it prevents from direct contact with people. At home I simply relax, put on my Arab clothes and idle. But it happens very rarely, as I am on the road all the time.”
I cannot but ask you this probably banal question. In principle, the world, including Europe, suffers from the expansion of American cinema. In your opinion, how should wonderful European cinema survive? How to counteract this expansion?
“You should simply protect your country, because we are not as rich as Americans. American movies prevail in Cannes, Venice, at every festival. What I like in Vologda is that it gathered people from all corners of the planet. This is important. It seems to me the most important thing for contemporary cinema is co-production, i.e., the countries should cooperate in order to screen the films in all countries simultaneously. This trend used to be more popular, no there is less of it. As a result, we do not know what to do, even in France it is hard to see Italian films, because not all of them are screened. If the films do not rotate, or move, and stay where they are, the market does not work.”
I am not an expert in Italian legislation, but France does have laws which protect the national moviemaking. In Russia and Ukraine, we have not come to this yet, unfortunately, but there are many talks in this respect. How should the scheme work?
“Currently Italy lacks money, so few films are being produced. The culture is scarcely protected, that is why I reside in France. In France, there is a lot of government support: both music and all kinds of art on the whole are being supported. This is very important, especially for the youth, the young generation. If your country follows this way, your culture will thrive.”
Alain Delon has recently been taking an active part in theater. Many other cinema actors also do not stand apart from this experience. What do you do in theater?
“I play in two plays by Tennessee Williams, Pirandello, and a play by an unknown Author. That makes four. I have recently received four more offers, but I have not agreed yet. I like theater, as well as cinema. On the whole, I have been enjoying my work for my whole life. This is also the secret of my good mood and good shape.”
Before expressing my gratitude for the interview, I want to express again my admiration with your looks. What is your secret?
“I have never made any skin lifting. Age cannot be stopped. We are all only guests here.”
The Day’s FACT FILE
Claudia Cardinale was born in Tunisia. Aged 18, she won a beauty contest, went to the Venice Film Festival, where she was immediately noticed. She has been involved in the cinema since 1958. She studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia of Rome. Since her first appearance on screen she immediately drew attention of the famous European film directors.
In the early 1960s she becomes one of the most popular actresses of the national cinema, playing successfully the roles of various genres in the films by Mauro Bolognini, such as Il bell’Antonio (1960), La Viaccia (1961), Senilita (1962), Francesco Maselli’s I Delfini (1960), Gli indifferenti (1964), as well as Valerio Zurlini’s Girl with a Suitcase (1961), Luigi Comencini’s La ragazza di Bube (1963), Antonio Pietrangeli’s The Magnificent Cuckold (1965), Damiano Damiani’s Il giorno della civetta (1968). The role in Frederico Fellini’s film 81/2 brought her world recognition, as well as the many-year cooperation with Luchino Visconti, Rocco and His Brothers (1960), The Leopard (1963), Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa (1965), Conversation Piece (1974). After divorcing her husband, producer Franco Cristaldi, Cardinale got married to director Pasquale Squitieri. The actress has won many honorary cinema awards, including Golden Palm in Cannes, and Golden Shell of the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Golden Lion of the Berlin Film Festival, and the Italian National David Award.
