L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS lucci as an international star. It also proposed On the Milky Road by the Serbian director Emir Kusturica. In the film, that premiered in the US at the Har- mony Gold Theater on Sunset Boulevard, Bellucci plays an Ital- ian refugee in Herzegovina, who embarks on a very complicated love story with a milkman. Monica Bellucci acted in 67 films in her long career; the last, at the moment in post production, is Nekromance in which the actress of Città di Castello was directed by Australians Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner. In recent years, she also con- quered the United States thanks to her role in the last season of the American television series Mozart in the Jungle, and a cameo in Twin Peaks, where she plays herself in a dream of direc- tor David Lynch. We met her for an interview at the Italian Cultural Institute in Westwood, where she was awarded with the IIC Los Ange- les Creativity Award, dedicated to Italian excellence in the world, in the shape of a work specifical- ly made for the Institute by Emilio Cavallini, an internation- ally known artist and fashion designer, who was inspired by the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome in crafting it. The actress arrives wrapped in a black mer- maid dress, by Dolce & Gab- bana. "I'm always the one who picks up the dress to wear" she tells us, "but black is not linked to the Hollywood protest, I always choose this color." Monica Bellucci is certainly not new to being awarded for her career, in addition to the many awards received all along the way, she has recently been given the prestigious French Legion of Honor, the Donostia award to her career at the last San Sebastian Film Festival and the European Nastro d'Argento. Monica, today you receive a very important award from the Italian community in Los Angeles to honor your career. What makes you feel proud the most, among the many things you have achieved? I am proud of everything because I did it all with passion. If passion is gone, there is no more reason to work and I am passionate and in love with my job. Films are important, they give us answers, they are an essential art form and I know I still have a lot to learn. I am aware of how lucky I am to still have the opportunity to do this job. You are a symbol of Italian cinema and Italian beauty. Do you feel you are -and enjoy being - an ambassador of Italy around the world, and what image of your country do you think you represent? Italy is called Belpaese because it is. I always get the impression that, everywhere I go representing Italy, when we say that we are Italian there is always a smile awaiting us, there is always affection towards Italians. So I would say I represent friend- ship first of all, and then talent. We have so much talent in Italy, expressed in different forms, from fashion to cinema to paint- ing. I am very proud to be Italian. You have been living in France for a long time: just as many immigrants who came here to the West Coast, you left Italy as well. What relationship do you have with Città di Castello, with Umbria and with Italy? Italy is my country. I am Ital- ian, the only passport I have is Italian and even with my daugh- ters, I always speak Italian. They were born in Rome and they speak without accent, this was very important for me. There are many young people that go abroad to find new possibilities. I think we should do more so that our beautiful youth doesn't have to leave. We should make it pos- sible to find a job, we should give hope to Italian youth. You're in Los Angeles and, after the black dress code at the Golden Globes, I have to ask you about the anti-harass- ment movement here in Holly- wood. What's your opinion about it? It is very important that women have started talking about it. There used to be fear, we are not used to talking, we are afraid of offending or not being listened to. Now women are less afraid and men are more. Personally, I was lucky I made my first film at 25 coming from fashion, where I learned that these things hap- pened: once I landed in the world of cinema, I was ready to face that kind of situation. But I think it's a matter of power rather than sex. It also happens to men. So you've started your LA's love for Italy's 21st century diva: Monica Bellucci career pretty early. Was it important to do so in order to realize your dreams? I am not so sure that starting too early is a good thing. I started with fashion, I was very young but at the same time I was still going to school, so there was this alternation between an adult life and, when I would get home, my normal life. I started working at a professional level after high school, at 18, and it is not the same as 14, 15 or 16. It's just a few years but there's a big differ- ence. A new haircut of yours is enough to launch new beauty trends and have people gossip- ing. One of your photos on Instagram's been liked by 1.2 million people. What does being a diva mean to you, knowing that you are an icon of beauty and style? I prefer to be considered an actress, not a beauty icon, because being an icon almost means time stops, while an actress is a woman who keeps moving, changes, who is young, then matures, eventually becomes an adult and then ages, just as it should be. And there are roles for all ages nowadays, because there is a different way to look actresses, a very different thing compared to the 40s and 50s. Your career and the very different roles you have played show that being an icon of fem- ininity also means challenging yourself professionally. What kind of woman do you prefer to play? Which roles do you prefer? I choose instinctively. I like working with directors with whom I can develop artistically. I am not interested in making a movie based on how many min- utes I will be on screen. I also believe there is a different way of showing female characters today. In On the Milky Road, for exam- ple, Mlada is no longer young but she doesn't care. It is won- derful that Emir showed a woman who has aged naturally. The same thing happened when I played Lucia Sciarra in James Bond. In that case, director Sam Mendez said that showing such a woman would have been revolu- tionary. Soon, you will begin filming Spider in the Web by Eran Riklis, a contemporary thriller that touches on geopolitical issues, but which is also an inti- mate story describing the com- plexities of trust, loyalty and betrayal. Your character is enigmatic, very different from the beautiful Malena, a woman that's impossible to forget. Which role do you think repre- sents you the most? I'm very attached to Malena, that film allowed me to become international, to travel the world and work here in Hollywood, where I come back today. For Emir Kusturica's movie, I have worked for three years: he is an eclectic artist, he is a director, musician, producer, an actor. Without Malena I would not have had the chance to work for him, to be able to travel and learn about other cultures, not only as an actress, but also as a human being. How much does Hollywood matter in order to be consid- ered a real actress? There are Italian actresses who have never gone to Holly- wood, but have a wonderful career. I have great respect for Hollywood, because here both big-budget and more intimate movies are made. Cinema here is an industry, but I've never been part of it, I've never lived here because I've chosen to live in Europe. All American films I played in, I was cast as a Euro- pean. Continued from page 1 Monica Bellucci receiving the Filming On Italy Award and the Proclamation from the city of Los Angeles presented to her by IIC Los Angeles Director Valeria Rumori (l) and Filming On Italy Director Tiziana Rocca. Ph: Stefania Rosini L to R: Filming On Italy DIrector Tiziana Rocca, Actress Paz Vega, Monica Bellucci, Lula Karimova and IIC Los Angeles Director Valeria Rumori. Ph: Stefania Rosini

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