Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials Page #2

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but the consequences of what had happened."

In this movie, Lucia Bose's face reveals

a grave, pure, somber beauty.

The actress has now abandoned her screen career

and we caught a glimpse of her in an international airport.

FRANCESCO ROSI director AD on The Vanquished The Vanquished had a very rough

time with the board of censorship;

the Italian episode, the one I remember,

had to be almost completely re-shot twice,

it was rewritten several times and shot over twice, exactly

because of those censorship problems I was talking about.

However, my experience with Antonioni has been rather important

because I had the opportunity to observe Antonioni,

an artist of a coherence that is rare in film making.

His work is always coherent and he is absolutely faithful

to his ideas, even through all the obstacles

that all of us directors have to face in this business.

Antonioni shot these stills in London, Paris and Rome,

during the long period of scouting for locations for The Vanquished.

FRANCESCO MASELLI director The choice of locations becomes truly

a sort of key for interpreting the movie.

That is to say that scouting for locations

was like starting to make contact with the subject matter.

So much so that for The Lady without Camellias,

the other movie I shot with him,

we came to know and understand each other,

and he trusted me completely to find his locations for him.

Still, it turned out to be a bit of a sour experience,

because I wasted a whole month looking for locations in Milan,

and he didn't like a single one. Yes, they were all wonderful locations;

still he didn't like any, really. For him,

scouting for locations is an intimate experience...

The Lady without Camellias is a portrait of the movie business.

Antonioni moves irreverently between

satirical comedy and drama,

shedding light on the process that the protagonist goes through

while gaining consciousness of herself and her surroundings.

...one here, and one here...

no don't ask anything... take the meat...

he mustn't do anything...

he doesn't need to say anything to the animals...

he must keep them quiet!...

I... I...

You keep quiet... quiet...

On the left...

Rinaldo, I would place it on that thing over there...

It's much better if it is on that thingy like this,

perfect.

Don't put it straight... at an angle...

do not lean it against the wall... a little forward...

Toward me... toward me... now in front of me...

Iike this... sticking out more... see...

Here you feel uneasy, Soraya, you're shy.

Do not relax and loose your concentration,

keep focused, really focused.

Did you take down the registration tag?

-Sure... -Mark it down!

Now you gotta tell me...

Only in the sequences with dialogue...

Right, only the dialogue...

'cause the rest is going to stay like in the original...

ERALDO DA ROMA editor Marinelli is going to to take care of the numbers

for the dialogue...

Sure...

-Can I tell them to go ahead then? -Of course!

...to record those noises?

That's the only solution.

Good!

So, this interview, are we going to do it yes or no?

No, no, I don't want to!

-Why not? -Because, no!

-Did you count them? -I think they're about 1 300.

-Some made by directors too? -This is by Mario Soldati.

CESARE ZAVATTINI author I'll show you this one later...

And I have one, it's a classic director, allow me.

You'll recognize him immediately...

Right, it's Rene Claire, his self-portrait.

And here in a few days, probably here,

I'll have one by Michelangelo Antonioni,

'cause he's making his self-portrait for me

and I'm sure, you know that Antonioni is a painter too.

Like in all of his work he is a little introverted,

secretive, a loner,

dealing with great stylistic problems like in his films.

So he cannot sit down and paint it in one evening.

I asked him to do it two years ago and... time flies.

Are you sure he is painting it?

Sure. Do you want to try something?

Let's ask him. We'll give him a call.

Zavattini had founded a review solely

comprised of screenplays for shorts;

it only lasted one issue

and its theme was "love in the city."

One of the shorts was written by Antonioni

and it had been inspired by the real story of women

who had tried and failed to take their lives

and re-enacted it on the screen.

Attempted Suicide can be placed on a borderline

between documentary and fiction

and it utilizes art as a means of exploring humanity.

You might think, because of all of these television programs,

that Antonioni and l had arranged this call,

but this is not the case. I swear it.

No one's answering.

Still nothing. This goes to show you it wasn't a set up.

One of the things I hate most about television

is when they point the camera on somebody and he says:

Were you looking for me?

And you know he was there waiting for one hour.

Hello? Is Mr. Antonioni home?...

...Hi, Zavattini speaking.

I'm calling you 'cause I'm here with our friend Mingozzi

who is shooting as I am talking to you,

he's coming closer with the camera for a close up,

so we've called you home and he had the good idea

of inserting this phone call in the narrative.

Yes, I know.

Right.

Right.

Sure,

it's no bother.

I showed him the sofa,

it's not the same one,

it's a new one and told him you sat there

and said you weren't going to do it that way.

"l do it my own way," he said.

You know it was about Lo schiaffo...

"It's a pleasure doing it

and I love working with you but I'll do it my way."

Understand? Right, ciao Michelangelo. Ciao.

Antonioni wrote Lo schiaffo one of his projects

that was never to be realized, and Girlfriends,

a story rich in nuances, played in the frivolous circle

of the mundane and artistic bourgeoisie of Turin.

This intimate combination of an unbalanced universe

and uncertain passions, opens the cycle of Antonioni's masterpieces.

I do not clearly recall the whole question; it's been ten years.

VALENTlNA CORTESE actress What I remember is that the movie met with a series of

difficulties,

financial difficulties.

It was during one of the industry crises

and no distributor believed in Girlfriends,

they didn't realize that as a movie

it was in a league of its own.

Actually, producer Franco Cancellieri had the courage

to promote the project and begin production.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later,

when the money ran out,

it had to be stopped again.

It was resumed, I don't remember if one or two months later, or less,

when it received more sponsorship.

Could you pull it a little back? This thing here is annoying.

Do you think that the difficulties encountered during shooting

had a bearing on the quality of the actors' performance?

No, absolutely not.

I believe Girlfriends is one of Antonioni's finest films,

I'm not sure about the performances,

but I believe that we all tried to give our best.

And as a matter of fact your performance won the Silver Ribbon

and, if I am not mistaken, the Grolla d'Oro.

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