I'm a pretty calm person. That came from living in Italy for a long time. Nothing works, nothing is on time. You have to learn to deal with it.
I wanted already to be a filmmaker after I saw 'La Dolce Vita.'
Well, Fellini... there is always Fellini.
I have a profound admiration for Fellini. I met him lately and he's just fantastic. I feel very close to him even though he's very Italian. But his films could have been made in every country. When I say, I feel close to him, then also because we're both born on January 20th.
'La Dolce Vita' made we want to go to Rome and, if not jump into the Trevi Fountain, at least watch someone else do it. Maybe that's why I married an Italian...!
With Fellini, the fear dropped out of my work because it was such a happy experience... hanging out with Fellini, having pasta on the set with Fellini, and going out with Fellini!
I spent five years in Italy, and the Italians have a slightly different lifestyle. Everything is a bit slower and more easygoing. You can feel that when you live there; you become a little more relaxed about typically 'German' things like accuracy and punctuality.
The problem is you bring up the name Elizabeth Taylor, people think of jewelry; they think of husbands; the 'la dolce vita' lifestyle. I'm happy to have gotten to know her when I got to know her.
Italian culture is so deeply soaked in an appreciation of the good things in life.
Italians still know how to enjoy life, even as the country seems stuck in place.
