Ingrid by Charlotte Chandler

Author:Charlotte Chandler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2007-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

Fellini described working on the two Rossellini films that impressed Ingrid so much:

“Rome: Open City was written in a week. There was no heat, and I worked in the kitchen by the cooking stove. I was credited for writing and as assistant director. I deserved it, but everyone doesn’t give what you deserve. Robertino [as Fellini called Rossellini] was never stingy with anything.

“He said he had backing from a rich countess. Women really loved him.

“We made Rome: Open City and Paisan just after the liberation of Italy by the U.S. military forces. We did Open City for less than $20,000, so you can imagine what kind of salaries we had. I, personally, have no idea what I was paid back then. The money was of absolutely no interest to me as long as I could survive. I was doing what I wanted to do with people I wanted to work with.

“It had a documentary style, some of which was a deliberate roughness. The style was called neorealism. It developed out of necessity, because of film shortages and shortages of virtually everything in Italy at that time. There was fluttering electricity, when there was electricity. It was melodrama perceived as truth because events like the ones that happened in the film had just shortly before been happening right before everyone’s eyes in the streets.

“Neorealism was the normal way in Italy in 1945. There was no possibility of anything else. With Cinecittà in shambles, one had to shoot at the real location, with natural light, if you were lucky enough to have film. It was an art form invented by necessity. A neorealist was in reality any practical person who wanted to work.

“Paisan is an episodic tale of the American advance into Italy during World War II. It represented a very important moment in my life. I had the chance to continue my association with Rossellini, who certainly influenced my life. I learned a lot about filmmaking, and I saw Italy, places I’d never seen before. I met Italians I had never known. I saw the ruins and disasters of World War II, and the war seemed more immediate for me than when it was happening. These images became part of me.

“Roberto was a very intelligent man and a highly intuitive person. He could look deep into the hearts of people and understand what it was they really wanted. Then, he offered it. I think he was sincere at the moment and that was what made him so believable. Then, he had a short memory. But I suppose later there are some who would say that about Fellini, that I had a short memory.”

Ingrid told me, “People couldn’t help but believe in Roberto because he believed so totally in himself.”

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