#Antoine Cervero

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 14

I didn't film for a few years. I played a scene in the metro in “Les Fréres Pétard”. At the same time, we see me in "La Bande du Rex", where I am Higuelin's groupie, but he doesn't really play his own role. It is a comedy. It must be in 85 or 86, and then there is this pantomime, therefore silent, in black and white, Marc Sennet style, with Jean-Pierre Lelaud. It's "Rebelote". Needless to say, Jean-Pierre Lelaud is fabulous, and I play the butcher's wife behind the cash register.

Then you meet the emperor of Z in the person of Norbert Moutier with "Dinousaur from the Deep". How did that happen?

We met in 93 for the filming of "Dinosaur…" Norbert is a friend of Jean Rollin. I especially knew Jean and Quélou. Our roads had to cross. Quélou, to whom I had lent my apartment, wrote the screenplay for “Marquis de Slime” with his American friend, here at my home. They wanted to make it into a feature film. when I returned from Santo Domingo and New York, the script was written. Finally, she introduced me to Norbert, and we shot a scene with Jean Rollin. I play the role of an intriguing nurse and mistress of the doctor - Rollin. Then I starred in Quélou Parente's film, "Le Marquis de Slime", a very beautiful film. For a first try it was successful. And then Rollin's film "Les Deux Orphelines Vampires". In fact, it was just before Quélou's film, it dates from 96. I'm a vampire, well that's it, that's how it's done! A vampire in a Rollin film. He shot his film in New York and Paris.

Have you ever wanted to go behind the camera?

I would like to, but to begin with it would be easier to write a screenplay. I don't think I have the knack for directing. I prefer to be directed.

You don't want to talk about projects? Are you waiting for this to happen?

Absolutely. When I have a project, I keep silent about it out of superstition.

Thank you Tina.

It's been a pleasure.

Interview by Antoine Cervero.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 13

In 76, I had the chance to be in Fellini's "Casanova", and to have an interesting role. The film was interrupted for a time because Fellini did not know who to play this character who is effectively the first woman idealized by Casanova, who disguises herself as a boy and leaves Casanova. An adventurer who plays the cello. So obviously, there is ambiguity. I don't know what was going through Fellini's head, I wouldn't allow myself to say anything, but one might think that Casanova was seduced by my androgynous appearance in the film.

The character of Casanova, played by Donald Sutherland, is so "preciously ridiculous" that the homosexual aspect comes through slightly. It also reinforces the “tiny human” side lost in Fellini’s maternal universe.

Absolutely, and Donald Sutherland achieved a very beautiful composition. His character is not very likeable. He had already played roles that were a bit crazy, but here, he is completely enlightened.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 9

Can you tell us about "Racconti proibiti… di niente vestiti"?

I think it's a "peplum". I remember a temple in front of a lake. With a title like that, undoubtedly an erotic film.

Is this something that bothers you?

No, when it's not vulgar, of course. Suggesting with an attitude, a look, it's interesting.

Have you ever played a vampire? You couldn't ask for a better erotic character.

It's just Antoine, but no, not yet, although I would like to, it's such a rich theme that it doesn't need to be modernized. It is by definition.

Please tell us about “Les Hautes Solitudes” by Philippe Garrel.

Yes, the film with Jean Seberg that I was talking about earlier. Without sound recording, total improvisation. He attached more importance to image. Well, he's probably right. Today, critics recognize it.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Interview with Tina Aumont 2

Modesty Blaise by Joseph Losey was your first film. How did it go? Was it during a casting call that you were selected?

No, it was by chance. I was under contract with FOX to take classes in New York, and I was married to Christian Marquand, a great actor older than me, who had already made a lot of films, and so I was in love. He happened to be filming an Aldrich film in America at the same time in the Colorado desert. I don't know if it was Darryl Zanuck who said to me, "You have to have a career." And so it was he who put me under contract with FOX, renewable every year. From time to time I went to see the filming of "Flight of the Phoenix" by Robert Aldrich with Christian Marquand and Peter Finch, the story of this plane which crashes in the desert and which is reconstructed from another plane.

I had friends in England, and I wanted to see them. It was easy to travel at that time. Aldrich said to me: "If you go to London, go and see my friend Losey, and say hello to him for me." which I did. He was preparing "Modesty Blaise". We had lunch together. Losey asks me, “Do you know how to ride motorcycles?” and I say, “That’s all I’m doing…” and Losey: “well, fine, I’ll take you.” I signed in Amsterdam, ready to shoot on the day of filming… I try the motorbike without having used one, and I hit a wall. So, the scene is done on a bicycle. I watched the film again, there is a very pretty scene, the one where I am killed in a fairground, with a house full of dolls that really exist in Holland. A film shot with the wonderful Monica Vitti.

Is she a friend of yours?

Yes. She's not a close friend. Both Terence Stamp and Monica Vitti are friends that I saw again in the future. And Losey even more, between Paris, Rome and London. He was quite European.

I love what he does in general. And he is a fabulous, generous, intelligent man obviously; a great director. I was very lucky to make my first film with him, and the role was nice. We had to reshoot scenes because the English censors were quite picky at the time. We caught a glimpse of one of my breasts, but that didn't happen. We went back to the studio in London.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 11

In 75, Vicente Minelli offered you a role in “Nina, A Matter of Time”.

Ah, yes, it's the last film by Vicente Minelli with Ingrid Bergman, her daughter and me, based on the play by Maurice Druon "La Comptesse". This is happening in a big hotel. A young girl brings her cousin, it’s me. The other girl is Liza Minelli, and we are both maids. The character of Liza becomes friends with a former star played by Ingrid Berman, a little lost in her memories of glory, and who will encourage the little maid to take her first steps in cinema. I couldn't synchronize the film because on one hand I couldn't return to Italy, and on the other hand, unfortunately, Minelli died before the film was released, I think. There is also Charles Boyer in this film. Also in 75, I had the chance to appear in “Cadavres Exquis” by Francesco Rosi. A very good, fairly realistic thriller that deals in detail with corruption. I play the role of a prostitute who witnesses a political crime.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 8

Was it too long for you?

No, because I went to Tunis during the weekends, or I came to Paris, but we were isolated from the world with thousands of extras. I had the main role. It's the story of a guy who falls in love with a girl in a harem. In the first scene, I catch fire and he jumps the walls to save me. We are going to make the revolution in the Rif valley, in Morocco, but the location was transposed to Tunisia. It was filmed as a comedy-drama. In the film, I give birth in the middle of the desert. For the record, the air conditioning did not always work well in Sergio Grieco's caravan. It wasn't always obvious. Initially, I guess the production didn't want to spend too much money. Peter Straus thought he was working with Visconti. I believe he never returned to Italy. During filming, he was often ill, which delayed the film crew each time.

All the time the filming lasted, it had no favorable consequences on your salary.

Yes, although I was never paid very well. Anyway, I never worked for the fees, otherwise I would be rich today. (laugh)

Do you have American nationality?

Yes, I was born in Hollywood itself. My mum and dad filmed there.

What do you think of their films? For example Atlantis?

I regularly go to Santo Domingo, and there is a gentleman there that I met, who has all of my mum's films. Which means I saw quite a bit.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 7

And the actor who played Casanova, Leonard Whiting?

I haven't seen him since. He had shot a Zeffirelli before, I think. He was initially a stage actor, like many English people. I guess he's still playing. Comencini's film sometimes resembles Watteau's paintings.

Yes, although he often hesitates between humor, tenderness and sordidness.

Of course. You remember the episode of the surgery which was fatal to his father. Surgery which the good bourgeois attend like a show. The miracles of science.

70 is also the time when I filmed in “Corbari” by Valentino Orsini. This is the story of a resistance fighter in Cologne. A true story. I myself play the role of a resistance fighter. We are all shot. I would love to see it again. I can't say anything special about Corbari other than the fact that I have good memories of both the film and Giuliano Gemma. Coming back to fantasy, do you know that Dario Argento asked me to play in Suspiria? Unfortunately, I was not free.

Following that, you played in Necropilis by Franco Brocani.

Yes, it's a thriller where I play the role of a witch. There are plenty of references in this film to Bava, for example. It's pretty much the only thriller film I've made. Ah, there is "Lifespan" also in 75. But in 71, I play the fortune teller in "Arcana" by Giulio Questi. Again, a film that I am proud of. There is also "Bianco, Rosso e..." by Alberto Lattuada. It's a parody starring Sophia Loren. The story of a star who, following a car accident, finds herself in a suburban hospital, and she asks for her pedicurist, her astrologer... In it, Sophia Loren is a nun and Adriano Celentano is a patient. Me, the victim of my car accident, all plastered in my bed, someone gives me a slap to calm me down. It was very funny to play the role of a pain in the ass. It's a story inspired by Gina Lollobrigida's car accident. The same year, I filmed in “Il Sergente Klems” by Sergio Grieco with Peter Straus who had just filmed in “Soldat Bleu”. It was a shoot that lasted months and months, deep in the desert in Tunisia.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 5

L'Alibi by Vittorio Gassman, Luciano Lucignani and Adolfo Celi.

It's a sketch film, but I don't remember much about it.

L'Urlo by Tinto Brass.

Yes, there was no storyline. We had to improvise.

And you don't like that?

Yes, I like it. It's stupid for me to say that. Tinto Brass is highly esteemed.

Is this the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) genre?

Venetian style then… (laughing)

Like Godard? (laugh)

No, nothing at all, but I really like what Godard does. I hope to be able to film with him one day. Jean-Luc Godard is certainly more interesting than Tinto Brass who is much too macho, a little too bon-vivant.

In 69, you starred in a film by the painter Mario Schifano.

I don't know at all what the film is called, but he is a successful painter, between the figurative and the abstract.

Do you like his painting?

I like the person. His paintings… it depends on which ones. Also because he has orders. He's quite worldly. It is a friend. It's like Umberto Silva, the same year with "Come ti chiami, amore mio?". Again, I don't remember much, but Umberto Silva didn't make any other films. It was his first and his last.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 4

I would even say more, you shot a very beautiful film adapted from "Carmen" by Prosper Merimée in which you had the leading role.

Yes, by miracle.

Do you have a story about this?

The filming was indeed epic. Horses, flamenco of course. The story of Carmen with Franco Nero in the role of Don José, and Klaus Kinski in the role of my husband. Kinski who, contrary to his legend, did not create the slightest problem, nor even later on other shoots.

In 68, Partner of Bernardo Bertolucci. I was very happy to play in it. I had eyes painted on my eyelids. In the film, I arrive at Pierre Clementi's house to sell him detergents. I actually remember that, as it was 68, Bertolucci was afraid that Clémenti and I would leave the set.

Did you feel concerned about the problem?

Yes, it was difficult not to be concerned, but I was not on the barricades. In Italy, there were fewer riots, much less. The Italian students felt concerned, but there were fewer movements of revolt. For us French people, it was strange to be in Rome.

Still in 68, Satyricon, but not that of Fellini, that of Gianluigi Polidoro, shot in the same spirit?

A little, more kitsch in terms of the costumes and sets, the makeup. I played the goddess Circe. The story revised and corrected by Gianluigi Polidoro. Otherwise, before Carmen, I acted in a film by Alberto Sordi in 66, “Scusi lei e favorevole o contrario?”. This is where I met Fellini, because he was a friend of Sordi.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Interview with Tina Aumont 3

Following that, in 66 there was “La Curé” by Roger Vadim, with Jane Fonda. Do you have good memories of it?

Very good. Christian Marquand, my husband at the time, was Roger Vadim's best friend, and I practically filmed with family. I haven't seen Vadim for a while, but we've kept in touch.

Still in 66, you played in “Texas across the River” by Michael Gordon.

Yes, it was quite unexpected. This is Alain Delon's first American film. I had tried out for the role of an Indian woman engaged to Delon. It's a western-comedy, a really good one, too, with Dean Martin. Hollywood filming, with the construction of a city in the middle of the desert. In there, I play the Colt! I gallop a little everywhere. I'm doing others in Italy. So, I later played Calamity-Jane in Luigi Bazzoni's Blu Gang in 1973.

In 67 we discovered you in “Troppo per Vivere, poco per morire...” by Michele Lupo.

Yes, I think it's a detective story. Apparently, it didn't impact me too much. I filmed in a version of Carmen by Prosper Merimée, entitled “Man, Pride, Vengeance” by Luigi Bazzoni with Klaus Kinski. A very beautiful film. Luigi Bazzoni made a career on his side. He had previously directed “La Femme du Lac”, a film with Virna Lisi. Another beautiful film, detective this one. He remained a friend.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Interview With Tina Aumont 1

Tina Aumont, let's start with a classic question: was it difficult for you to start a career as the daughter of an actress - Maria Montez - and an actor - Jean-Pierre Aumont? Did this overshadow you?

I don't think it overshadowed me. I was lucky enough to be able to accompany my father on set and see how a film was made, before making one myself. On the other hand, at school… Having your parents in the newspapers can be disturbing. However, this is perhaps one of the reasons that pushed me to take this path to prove to myself that I could do it too.

Did your parents help you?

The idea came from me. My mother died when I was very young. I got married very young, and I took lessons with good teachers.

Have you done theater?

Alas no, not yet.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 6

Next Mauro Bolognini's Metello.

So there, yes! A very beautiful film. There we find three women and a young man. Love story, therefore, in Tuscany, with the beginning of the syndicalist at the beginning of the century. In this story, I have the role of seducer. We went to present the film in Cannes. Needless to say, I really like this film and its director. in 69, again, I acted in “Le Lit de la Vierge”. It's a film that we were making with friends. Well, that's the impression I had at the time. A film by Phillipe Garrel. I also shot “Les Hautes Solitudes” with him in 74 with Jean Seberg. I haven't seen it, except for a few extracts. I don't think there was even any sound. It's quite frustrating. No storyline. We were improvising, indeed. It was very neat, tracking shots, etc. He didn't work bad at the time, he's finally recognized.

70 is the year of “Casanova, a teenager in Venice” by Luigi Comencini. A film you like, I think, right?

Yes, absolutely, Comencini is a wonderful person, and his film, aesthetically, is superb.

This Casanova's motive is more comic than dramatic, right?

But Comencini has a way with children. It's not a children's film, but three quarters of the film shows Casanova as a kid, Comencini is in his element. Her daughter played in it, she played the one who wanted to leave for the convent at the end of the film.

Every time I watch the film again, I regret that you didn't have a bigger role.

Me too, I saw it again not long ago… It's right at the end of the film, it's frustrating.

Yes, because you give a lot of freshness to the character.

As a teenager, Casanova meets three young girls. This is what will change his vocation from priest to the one we know him to be, a great seducer and adventurer. The film ends there. Comencini tells these kinds of stories well.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 12

You find Tinto Brass with “Salon Kitty”

Yes, and again a role as a prostitute in a brothel during the war.

Still in 75, it was Roberto Rossellini who prepared “The Messiah” for you.

Yes, and I am Mary Magdalene. A very beautiful scene. It was at the time of this filming that we used the first monitors, which were very practical.

Ensuite c'est "The Divine Nymph" by Giuseppe Petroni Griffi.

And the pleasure of meeting Terence Stamp again.

Then "Giovannino" by Paolo Nuzzi.

Then again, I ride a bicycle. But perhaps it’s a film that didn’t really impact me. On the other hand, I can tell you about "Lifespan" filmed the same year by Alexander Whitelaw in which I developed a taste for cycling, and in Holland.

The story is quite vague. It's about gerontology. The search for immortality. I am an intriguer, in this adventure, allied with scientists for the purpose that you know. There is Klaus Kinski, it must be said anyway.

We see you in “Monsieur Klein”.

Yes, it's a small part. The character of a nightclub customer. It was filmed in Pigalle. For the record, it’s really no coincidence. I arrive in the vicinity of the shooting, Losey recognizes me and there he is, he puts me to work! It happened like that.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont interview 10

Afterwards, it will be "La Grande Bourgeoise" by Bolognini.

It's a film with Catherine Deneuve, a superb film, and I have the role which I really like. I am Deneuve's confidante and governess. Besides, I'm her brother's mistress. It's a dark crime story where everyone is a suspect.

This happened in Boulogne at the beginning of the century. A true story which obviously caused a stir. The father was a university professor, and it was the young woman's brother - Deneuve - who was the murderer. The film is a success with other wonderful actors like Fernando Rey, Laura Betti and Issabelle Adjani.

Tina interviewed by Antoine Cervero in 2001. Published in January/June 2002 Cine Zine Zone number 134.

Very special thanks to @74paris for sharing this gem.