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Ungari had sadly passed away). The English translation of the volume - by the same
publisher - was entitled Bertolucci by Bertolucci. My study utilizes the Italian version of the
book and I have preferred to translate original quotations into English myself (this applies to
all quotations cited from Italian texts in this volume), since certain nuances in the original
volume appear to have been lost in translation. Although the book is structured like a long
interview, Ungari's utterances are rarely phrased as direct questions, and seldom query
Bertolucci's cinematic choices and decisions. Ungari's input provides a platform for
Bertolucci to narrate himself in respect to his films and his idea of cinema. The book presents
a series of subheadings, two of which are particularly significant. One is entitled Coda
Iniziale/Opening Tail, an oxymoron that arguably hints at the dual nature of the following
sequence and acts as a caveat regarding the nature of Bertolucci's answers. Remembering
how the director Raoul Walsh's approach to a two hour interview was that of telling
anecdotes, Bertolucci expresses his desire to do the same, to be allowed to speak in the 'first
person', with no shyness and with a lot of affection towards 'some nonsense' that was dear to
him (Ungari, 1982: 9). Bertolucci declares his admiration for other director s way of
discussing their own work, [...] comparing their reflections to 'liquid words that rinse the
bodies of the films'. He concludes by stating: 'for me, however, cinema is a life or death
issue' (Ungari, 1982: 9). I believe that this sort of incipit reflects the essence of Bertolucci's
interview answers, which are often framed in poetic or epic terms, and whose emphatic
language contrasts with the elusiveness of the responses.
Another example of this attitude can be found in Bertolucci's answer to Ungari's
question about writing his first 'mainstream' film Once Upon a Time in the West. Bertolucci
merely recalls a telephone conversation with Sergio Leone about The Good, the Bad and the
Ugly, in which he praised Leone for being the only European director to frame horses from
behind. Apparently, the comment startled Leone and prompted him to say 'We must do a film
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