text Teresa Favi
Isabelle Huppert and her special bond with Tuscany
Our interview with the iconic French actress
She is one of today’s greatest film stars and one of the most awarded actresses in the history of cinema. The New York Times, in fact, described her as the best actress of the 21st century. Isabelle Huppert has performed in over 100 films, since her debut in 1971. A few months ago, sheimpressed everybody with her refined (but always understated) elegance at the Venice Film Festival and then she returned to Italy to attend the Romaeuropa festival with The Glass Menagerie, the evergreen play by Tennessee Williams in the version by Belgian director Ivo van Hove. Then came the Lucca Film Festival where, while she was receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, she talked about her passionate relationship with Italy, announcing also her latest work, a horror film directed by Dario Argento. The warm light of a tepid autumn day reflects on the snow-white skin of her makeup-less face (except for lipstick).
You are a very popular actress in Italy, what is your relationship with Italy and Tuscany?
Tuscany is a beautiful place and Lucca is a wonderful city. I have been here many years ago to shoot, between Pisa and Lucca, The Elective Affinities movie by the Taviani brothers. I immediately recognized Lucca’s walls when I came back. Italy is beauty and I think that most of this beauty is found in Tuscany.
You have never concealed your fascination for Italian cinema which, following the Tavianis, Bologniniand Bellocchio, led you to collaborate, in 2022, with Michele Placido in L’ombra di Caravaggio.
I had already worked with Placido, the actor, in Storie di donne, directed by Benoit Jacquot, in 1981, but this time it was different. Doing a movie on Caravaggio is an excellent idea, he was such a controversial figure, an artist but also a criminal.
You were able to perform alongside your daughter Lolita in this film. What kind of experience was it?
She has a remarkable personality and is a good actress.
Probably because she’s my daughter (she smiles). Working together was exciting, although what we share on the big screen is not what we share in real life.
We had never worked together before, but it was a very powerful experience in the end, because we enjoy observing each other.
Isabelle Huppert and Riccardo Scamarcio in Caravaggio’s Shadow by Michele Placido, 2022Do you see yourself reflected in her acting style?
She has her own personality and something more, which I do not have unfortunately: she speaks Italian very well, she has been studying it here since childhood.
After Placido, Italy came back into your life, to shoot the new horror film by Dario Argento?
A few months ago, Paris devoted a major retrospective to Dario Argento. He is really a great film director, so peculiar and original. I’m very happy to be able to work with him.I can’t say anything right now, expect that it is going to be an Italian movie project of the highest stature.
What about other upcoming movies?
Dans le viseur by André Téchiné, which is still in the editing stage.
A beautiful film in which I play the role of a policewoman.
Your work non-stop, going from one genre to the next, from theater to filmmaking. What quality of yours makes you so versatile, and yet so good at whatever you do?
I enjoy going from filmmaking to theater, they are two completely different worlds. On the stage, I am able to work with artists of great caliber. And after The Glass Menagerie, I am working on another project with Romeo Castellucci, Berenice (from Racine). I feel lucky.
What do you love about the theater?
The chance to explore points of view different from filmmaking. I also enjoy the relationship with the audience, I have aspecial one with the Italian audience. The Roman audience of The Glass Menagerie was wonderful. The French are more distant.
Do you make any gesture to ward off ill-luck before taking the stage?
No, I’m not a superstitious person. I have no time for that.
In 2019, you performed at Florence’s Teatro della Pergola playing the role of Mary Stuart in the monologue Mary said what she said directed by Bob Wilson, marking the oldest Florentine theater’s first step towards internationality. What did you enjoy about Florence on that occasion?
The city is marvelous and the Teatro della Pergola honors it from the cultural point of view.