Bellucci Calls 'Ketticè' Role 'Unlike Anything' She's Done
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- Monica Bellucci stars in "Ketticè," directed by Giovanni Tortorici, which premiered at Locarno; she tells Variety the role is unlike anything she's done before, saying she appeared on set 'in pajamas with a knife in my hand and slippers on my feet'
- Bellucci's character is set in 2012 Palermo and described as a wife and mother embodying 'the angst and frustration behind the apparent perfection of decaying high society' — an unhappy, bitter woman whose rage has no outlet
- Director Tortorici praised Bellucci's 'very intelligent, very realistic interpretation' of the eccentric aristocratic character, noting that people familiar with that world 'found a lot of truth in her performance'
- Bellucci says she worked with several young directors this year, including Léa Mysius (Cannes premiere "The Birthday Party"), Maria Sole Tognazzi, and Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah ("Seven Dogs"), describing the exchange as 'their universe' meeting her experience
- Bellucci reflects that actresses today are 'so lucky' to keep working as adult women, noting that 'in the past, it was impossible to have a career after 40' — and adds she could not have played "The Birthday Party" at 30 or 40 because she lacked the needed life experience
- Bellucci says she chooses roles 'through instinct,' still values the 'element of surprise,' and closes with the line 'life is stronger than art'
Why it matters: Bellucci using "Ketticè" — pajamas, a knife, screaming nobody fears — to play a frustrated aristocratic mother marks a deliberate late-career turn toward tragicomic, neurotic roles far from her Mediterranean-goddess image. For an industry she herself says shut women out after 40, her continued access to festival-premiering auteur projects at Locarno and Cannes is the real subtext: she told Variety she couldn't have played Mysius's part at 30 or 40.
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