Left and above: Irreversible; right, Dobermann; far right, Under Suspicion
l‘eel that my private life was iny'aded.‘ she says. (‘assel equally appreeiated the aeting experienee. their l'ourth. in tact. l.'xl/r/mrlelm'ul. l)()/)('l‘lll(lllll and Brother/mm] (ill/1e Hilly/i. ‘l like working with her.’ he say s. ‘heeause she is a great partner on lilm. She doesn’t take it all too seriously. .\ lot ol aetresses are era/y. but she is not. .»\ sane actress is someone to treasure.~
Bellueei‘s international l’ilm eareer started modestly in liraneis liord (’oppola‘s Ul'rlr‘ll/(l she yyas ealled to muneh upon Keanu Reeves~ neek. and didn’t speak. But in I'm/er .S'us/lieiun she partnered (iene llaekman and Morgan lireeman. 'l‘hen her visibility soared alter landing a leading role in (iitiseppe 'l'ornatore's .lIu/enu. in \yltieh she plays a young \yolltall living in Sieily during World War I] who linds hersell‘ eonlronted yyith a eompletely male- dominated soeiety. And she‘s just played the Queen ol the Nile in the hloekhuster style/“it um/ ()lie/lt: .llisslou (Yen/mire. a box oltiee hit in liranee.
Alter starting to work as a model during her layy studies. Bellueei decided to leave ltaly' (ten years ago now) to make
‘It wasn’t porn, everything is revealed on our faces,you do not see anything’
her base in Paris. ‘Sadly. there are l’eyy opportunities for young actors and actresses in ltaly.’ she says ruelully. ‘()ur movies don‘t yyork internationally any more.’ One ol‘ her lirst jobs in liranee (on the lliteheoekian romantie thriller
I.'xl/l/nll‘lfllllt’lll.l proved a useltil calling card. ‘lt yyas yery sueeessltil in Britain. in the States and in Australia. yyhieh meant I yyas notieed.’ she say s. ‘1 play ed a niee syy'eet girl.
alter
like an angel.~ (‘learly she made an impression on eo-star
('assel they ’ye been together eyer sinee.
Home me in the l‘)th arrondissemenl in Paris is relatively normal. Bellueei and ('assel speak l-‘reneh together. because she elaims to need the praetiee. She even dreams in l‘reneh. No. they‘re not planning to start a lamily. ‘But who knoyys. maybe one day.’ she says. ‘l)on't lorget I am Italian and the l‘amily‘ is important. so I‘m sure \ye will lind the right
moment. .-\nd noyyaday s it is easier to eomhine both a career
and motherhood just look at (‘atherine Zeta—Jones lor one.‘
She enjoys the enlioreed glamour oi some aspeets ol‘ the husiness. ‘I love to play the game and he era/y l'or a ten days.~ says Bellueei. like at the (‘annes liilm liestiyal. I knoyy some people yyho \york in the einema. but I also have lt'iends who are neither aetors nor direetors. It keeps you sane being able to eompare your lil‘e to l'riends who are not eonneeted to the lilm business. My ideal night out is with good lriends and a plate ol‘ spagltetti.‘
Bellueei has never been eonseious ol the elteet ol‘ her beauty. She say s simply: ‘I am l'ortunate to have parents who loved me. and when you‘re loved. then it makes you l’eel
heautiltil. l knoyy many heautiltil yyomen who have lots of
problems. .-\lthough they are beautiful on the surlaee. they're not really altraetiye heeause they're unhappy underneath.’
She thrives on the unpredietaltle nature of her yyork. It appears to energise her. ‘lt is a strange world. I agree.‘ she say s. Then. with a smile: ‘You ney er knoyy yyhat is going to be next. You reeeiy'e a phone eall. and suddenly everything ehanges.’ l‘rom Drum/u to Irreversible to The .llulrit. that‘s eertainly true in Bellueei's ease.
Irreversible, Filmhouse, Thu 15 Aug, 10pm, £7 (£4.50); Cameo, Sat 24 Aug, 8pm, £7 (£4.50).
Australia were concerned.
0 Dancer in the Dark Harrowing. harrowing and harrowing — star Bjork and her director Lars von Trier fell out after completing this musical drama. According to the singer, von Trier put her through too much, playing a woman who ends up on death row.
0 Funny Games One outraged lilmgoer wrote to The List and Suggested the magazine's film critic should be put under police surveillance for praising Michael Haneke's shocking deconstruction of the stalk and slash thriller
genre.
0 Romance Catherine Breillat's well known for courting controversy (see also A Ma Soeur). Here. she encouraged her leading actress to have non-faked sex with an ltalian porn star for the sake of . . . what? Realism? Art?
0 Seul contre tous Gaspar Irreversible Noe's previous shocker. a sexually explicit drama about an unemployed and thus emaSCulated man at the end of his tether. A penetration shot was. ahem. “smeared with Vaseline in order to obscure it for the film's UK-wide release.
0 Storytelling Todd Solondz really made people snt up with Happiness. one of the main characters in which is a paedOphiIe. Storytelling has its own share of ‘challenging' moments. including a black man having anal sex wrth a white girl while he asks if she likes being fucked by a nigger. O The War Zone Tim Roth behind the camera directing this story of child abuse. Unrelentingly grim and very explicit, it was thought by some to be quite exploitative.
5y...; .‘ .‘ THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 37