The function of festivals, the role of the cinema of a child who grew up in a humble home ("at five years old I was nourished by Italian neorealist cinema), the film about Jesus still to be made, identity crisis ("who am I today? A mystery) and above all his favorite dish: his mother's lasagna.
Thus a very toned Martin Scorsese, 81 years old, at the press meeting at the Berlinale where he received the Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the 74th Film Festival.
An award awarded by Mariëtte Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, directors of the festival.
Meanwhile, the lasagna: "It's my favorite dish, I always like it, but my mother's is unbeatable."
And again on his parents: "I grew up in a house with parents of little culture, in short there were no books and so I grew up with foreign films: French, Italian and Japanese. I saw Jean Renoir, Renè Claire, Wenders and Kurosawa".
Scorsese, whose latest film is Killers of the Flower Moon which is running for the Oscars with ten nominations, has a long history with the Berlinale, starting with Raging Bull, out of competition in 1981, followed by The Promontory of Fear, in competition in 1992 ;
Gangs of New York, out of competition in 2003. Shine a Light opened the Berlinale in 2008, while Shutter Island was screened out of competition in 2010.
Is it difficult to make a thirty-second film?
"In 1980 I made an advert for Giorgio Armani with two boys in a bathroom. Now I don't know if it went well promotionally, but I know it was more difficult than making a long film. However, I had fun."
Function of festivals and cinema in general?
"Film festivals must pay attention to new voices. The important thing is to find films that you could easily see even after thirty years. In this case if the film changes it is only because you have changed."
The future of cinema?
"I don't think it's dying, I think it's transforming and it was never meant to always be the same thing. Once upon a time to go to see a film you had to go to a theatre, whether it was good or bad, it doesn't matter, but it was an experience community. With technology everything has changed rapidly and continues to change. What needs to be safeguarded is only the individual voice which can also be expressed with a TikTok. However, we must not be afraid of technology, but only control it."
Regarding the film about Jesus he says: "It will be provocative and entertaining. On the other hand, my interest in Catholicism and the priesthood dates back to my adolescence. However, I also met the Pope a couple of times, once on the occasion of the film Silence , and we talked about Christianity and faith. However, despite this, I still don't have a clear idea of what my film about Jesus will be like."
Scorsese, the director of instinctive violence and guilt even within religion, was preceded in receiving the Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement by Steven Spielberg, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Isabelle Huppert and Helen Mirren.
Among the numerous awards received by Martin Scorsese, the Oscar for best director in 2007 for The Departed - Good and Evil, the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1976 for Taxi Driver, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Film Festival in 1995, three BAFTAs and four Golden Globes (including one for lifetime achievement, in 2010).
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