Eclipse

“I'm then going to try and head to Italy. Yes, I'm going to head to Italy, to Antonioni and L'eclisse because well, actually, sentimentally, my first car was... Is – still have it – is a Citroën DS which I bought when I was making Pride & Prejudice, and it was owned by Monica Vitti. There's a postage stamp on the dashboard, which I always sentimentally believe came from an important letter that was sent to her, so... Monica Vitti's coming with me.”

“L'Eclisse, the, the very first, next to my first movie. L'Eclisse is the one I wanted to have, that's what I came for. And, and as it is sitting next to Young Törless, it makes it even nicer. Isn't it an honor? Michelangelo, he took me to a palazzo once in Venice to watch the parade of the boats. Well, you see, L'Eclisse is really the one what I, why I came for. And isn't it magical that you come in, there hundred, hundreds of them, and the first one I see where I stop is the Eclipse? I might just as well leave right now. But I'm very, very happy with L'Eclisse and All That Jazz.”

“So, the only poster I have in my house is of Monica Vitti. Well, I have one of Pasolini also, but Monica, I think she, I grew up in Italy and I think she was one of the first actresses for me that wasn't the usual busty, provocative. I felt she was so beautiful, but so intellectual. I don't even know how old she was, but she always looked like she was 40 and she was probably 22. I ran into her at a, at the Venice Film Festival, and she was looking in a mirror. And I was, we were there for Mississippi Masala, and I was just staring at her, and she saw me stare at her, and she said a very humorous, lovely thing to me. She said, she held up the mirror and she said, which means you don't need this, because I was 24. I need it now. So yeah, thank you, Monica. And L'Eclisse is one of my favorite Antonioni.”

“I had a very interesting experience with Antonioni, which is slightly the opposite of what happened to you because I loved his movies when they came out, because he seemed again like a prophet. He was showing the shape of things to come. And then about 25 years later, I went back to see his movies and hated them because the world had already become what Antonioni was predicting. And then about 10 years later, I went back to them and again was just staggered by them, absolutely.”