Marco Bellocchio and Bernardo Bertolucci held a discussion and debate today, presented by Mario Sesti, on Sorelle and Histoire d´eaux. The first is a family saga made up of three episodes of the same story, shot in three different years and made together with the students of the film workshop in Bellocchio’s hometown of Bobbio; the second, a never before seen cross-section on immigration, integration and escapism. There was much applause for the two master filmmakers of Italian cinema, who sat against a backdrop of two paintings from Boccioni’s “States of Mind” series, “Those Who Stay” and “Those Who Go”, giving the sensation that the oscillating movements of one’s own origins are those of everyone’s lives.

“I think Marco’s film is beautiful, it moved me,” began Bertolucci. “As I was watching it, I thought of one of the differences between us: I often feel like I’m someone else (I wanted to be Godard, Renoir…), while Marco has always violently been himself”. Bellocchio responded: “I too was passionate about various filmmakers, but I tried to be personal in an obsessively narcissistic way”.

Bertolucci reminisced about their first encounter: “I met Marco at a friend’s house in 1962 shortly before I started shooting The Grim Reaper. My friends didn’t believe I’d start shooting my first film. The next day, in fact, they all came on set to make sure it was true… I really loved the nouvelle vague, he loved the free English films. Some time later, I saw Ginepro fatto uomo and then Fists in the Pocket. The first got me right me in the stomach. That and Before the Revolution are atrociously autobiographical films. Although Fists in the Pocket didn’t exactly influence me, it secretly left a lot of traces in me”.

Another tense theme was their lives in the city. “Up until the end of the 1960s, there was a ‘close encounter’ between Parma and Piacenza,” said Bellocchio. “Piacenza culture looked upon life in Rome with a certain ‘critical moralism’. Starting with The Conformist, this close encounter grew more distant. It was as if we had taken two different paths yet were watching one another with each step”. “Piergiorgio’s war in Sorelle,” added Bertolucci, “is one that Lou Castel already fought, and is the destiny of those who are born in (and hate) provincial life. Until 30 or 40 years later, when you start thinking that the countryside is the only place you can live in Italy”.

Also touching were Bertolucci’s memories of Pierpaolo Pasolini: “The first time I met him I was 14 and it was a Sunday, it was at my parents’ house in Rome. He knocked on the door and told me he had an appointment with my father but, not knowing who he was, I made him wait outside. His looks (the black hair, the intense face) were scary, so I went to my father and said, ‘There’s someone here for you, but I think he’s a thief’. Then Pierpaolo came to live in our building and quickly became a huge love of mine. When I wrote a poem, I would no longer asked my father for advice, but would run downstairs to show it to him”.

Lastly, the director’s opinions of the RomeFilmFest are ironic and positive: “I’m sorry that I rarely pass by Via Veneto… I was perplexed at first, but now you see me here: this is proof of my coherence. You’ve involved the city and this is something you’ve succeeded in. Perhaps you can improve but, ultimately, all men can improve in life”.