James Acheson

“I want to take Down by Law because I didn't know who Roberto Benigni was but I saw this in an Italian version in Rome in about 1986 and I remember him being the funniest man I've ever seen. To a Roman audience he just had to walk into shot and they laugh but he never said anything... I have to have this movie.”

“I remember this film Bicycle Thieves and I remember it was made by an aristocrat and this aristocrat was making movies about poor people... I remember this beautiful film. I remember the emptiness of their lives and the central Performance of this actor... De Sica showed me something I've never seen before which was I guess in a post Second World War Italian poverty.”

“This was a complete revelation to see this movie... Mid 19th century Sicily. I knew I was looking at something that was so special and the evocation of a period was so vivid... It introduced me to the work of Piero Tosi the costume designer... Most of the costume designers work is often jeopardized and sabotaged by the work of hair and makeup departments and so to see a man in control creating this world... When they're in this movie they inhabit the clothes.”