PRESS CONFERENCE- Alice Rohrwacher : “It’s a very personal film, all about an environment that’s very familiar to me”

The young Italian filmmaker Alice Rorhwacher, accompanied by the main actresses in The Wonders (Le Meraviglie), including Monica Bellucci and Alba Rorhwacher, spoke about the film this Sunday to the press.
 

Alice Rorhwacher on the film’s autobiographical aspect:
“It’s a very personal film, all about an environment that’s very familiar to me. The film describes the kind of family we all know. It’s not an autobiographical story even though my father is in fact a beekeeper. I wanted a feeling of being at home while working and that’s why bees feature in the film.”

The director went on to describe her film:
“It’s a slightly crude fable, based on reality. You could see it as a story of a king and his queen. We wanted to make a realistic film in order to leave a certain space for the spectator, at a time where that’s in short supply. My cinematographic influences are so many… and besides I’m inspired not only by the cinema but also by literature and other forms of expression, like life!!

Monica Bellucci on her experience in this film:
“The main reason I do this job is to enjoy human experiences. Working on Alice’s film was a very intense experience for me. I was touched by her honesty and integrity. Her personal power also imbues the entire film. There’s a link between her two films. She’s a woman who is searching for something. as for me, I play the role of the cherry on a huge cake. But a beautiful big cherry. The film has a marvellous cast. It’s always a refreshing experience to work with children because they are so natural. They do us a power of good.”

Monica Bellucci also spoke about being an actress:
“It’s all about the intensity of the role and communicating something to the viewer. Actors never choose the parts they play by chance. I was at a place in my life where I needed to do this. We’re all looking for what’s wonderful in life, and actors do it through the cinema.”

Alba Rorhwacher on working with her sister and her children:
“It all happened really naturally between us. Of course, being sisters made things easier. We worried about what that might do because we’d always kept a certain professional distance before this film. This time we had to work more closely together. With the children, we began by doing a few trials but we quickly became a family, just like in the film.”

Reported by Benoit Pavan