ITALY: Italian actress Monica Bellucci lents her support to Rome's inaugural film festival with her movie 'N (Io E Napoleone)'.
- 00:01:38
- ITN Source
ITALY: Italian actress Monica Bellucci lents her support to Rome's inaugural film festival with her movie 'N (Io E Napoleone)'.
Monica Bellucci on Saturday (October 14, 2006) attended the premiere of her latest movie 'N (Io E Napoleone)' at the first ever Rome Film Festival. In the movie - an offbeat story on the life of Napoleone Bonaparte in exile - Bellucci plays the role of Emilia - a 40-year-old baroness who has an affair with a twenty-year-old school teacher and budding poet who hates the the ex-dictator and constantly dreams about killing him. Like most of his other projects, Director Paolo Virzi, rated highly as one of Italy's new generation of film-makers, uses irony and comedy in his latest movie. His characters, through anxieties and neuroses, often have political reflections. Bellucci, who played the role of the 500-year-old Mirror Queen in last year's 'The Brothers Grimm' says that although she normally goes by her instinct, ultimately confidence on who's directing it, determines the roles she accepts. This is the first time Bellucci is working with Virzi. "It's always instinct, there's nothing more. There was never a rule. The director is important for sure because a script which might be a little weak can turn into a great movie with a good director. And a wonderful script does not become a great movie with a bad director. So for me my first choice is the director, and then the script," Bellucci said during a news conference at Rome's Auditorium where most of the films are being screened. Actress Meryl Streep, who plays a tyrannical fashion editor in the blockbuster hit "The Devil Wears Prada" recently lashed out at Hollywood's sexist culture, accusing it of deliberately demonising older women. But Bellucci, who played the role of the 500-year-old Mirror Queen in last year's 'The Brothers Grimm' , says this has not been the case with her. "No, absolutely the roles are even more interesting," Bellucci, who's 42, said as she made her way on the red carpet wearing a stunning red gown. The film, with an international title 'Napoleone and I', is the first Italian film screened during the nine-day festival.
ITN Source | October 19, 2006
