My mother was an actress. My father was an actor and a director.... by Sergio Leone

My mother was an actress. My father was an actor and a director. I am the son of filmmakers.

Sergio Leone

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I was born in 1929, and in the 50 years from 1930 to 1980, I've been able to live an unbelievably varied century. Before, you could never have seen such intense change in a 50-year span.

intense able years

As far as commercials were concerned, I did very few, and I did them only when they gave me carte blanche to them the way that I wanted to. And I did them as an exercise, because I, who do very long films, never thought I would be able to tell a story in 30 or 40 seconds - you come across a whole new system and manner of approaching a subject.

would-be exercise long

When I used Claudia [Cardinale] for example, in Once Upon a Time in the West, she represented the birth of American matriarchy. Because women had enormous weight in America.

example once-upon-a-time america

Producing films was a distraction for me for which I payed dearly... by Sergio Leone

Producing films was a distraction for me for which I payed dearly.

distraction film

I think that men of my generation - not me in particular - are among the most fortunate men in the universe.

generations men thinking

I didn't want [actress] just to be a woman standing at the window, waving hello and goodbye to men as they came and went in the world that they were struggling through. I wanted her to have a true function.

struggle goodbye men

Virginia Woolf was one example. She was called the "Lover of 100... by Sergio Leone

Virginia Woolf was one example. She was called the "Lover of 100 Gangsters."

virginia lovers example

Young people of this century, like my son, didn't live through all those things that went on during that period of time, from 1930 to 1950. They're missing that experience. To go from a bicycle to a vehicle that takes somebody to the moon - only we saw this kind of thing.

moon people son

Sometimes, I even recite the role to the actor if it's not clear. And I beg them not to imitate me, because I'm not a good actor.

roles actors sometimes

All the people I've met, many outside of cinema, knew everything perfectly about one thing or one subject or one area.

mets cinema people

I think women have always been considered objects, especially in... by Sergio Leone

I think women have always been considered objects, especially in the genre of westerns.

genre objects thinking

I don't enter into particulars with [Ennio Morricone]. I give him the feeling and the suggestions of the characters.

feelings giving character

My discussion is one that has gone all the way from Fistful of Dollars through Once Upon a Time in America. But if you look closely at all these films, you find in them the same meanings, the same humor, the same point of view, and, also, the same pains.

pain views america

[The director] has to, I feel, be one step back, not only from cinema, but also from politics and all these issues in order to tell and depict the situation that spreads to people.

issues order people

I realized than an author cannot also be a producer. by Sergio Leone

I realized than an author cannot also be a producer.

i-realized producers

I even had success with commercials, which is strange, because out of the six ideas, two won the platinum Minerva in France - it's the Oscar for their commercials. One was about the Renault diesel and the other about the regular Renault.

oscars two ideas

I'm not saying that the Americans had the same impact as the Jesuits, but I do see them as a very specialized populace, even in terms of being, to a degree, naïve. Because naiveté comes from lack of information.

impact degrees information

I've shot films in Africa. I've shot in America - English is not... by Sergio Leone

I've shot films in Africa. I've shot in America - English is not my language.

film language america

I've tried to consider stories that I have read, making them into films, but they would turn out unnatural. If a producer wants that, he should call other people. Not me.

stories want people

As Claude LeLouche said, his favorite American director is Sergio Leone. Not because I would be American, but because I was dealing with subject matter that an American could have just as easily dealt with.

would-be matter directors