Rome is a city I love very much. I have lived there since I was a child.

I watch a lot of football.

I usually don't say anything to the actors. It works better for me because when they come to the set, they are at the same time scared and excited because they are not well aware of what will happen.

The way I work with my cinematographer is not based on general principles, but the ideas are triggered by the locations where we shoot.

I hibernate. I hibernate until the next project takes shape in my mind.

What I find compelling is the moment in which people realize, with suffering and pain, that in the past there was a time when they were happy, because back then the present and the future coincided -- they were one and the same thing.

I have learned that I will not pay any attention to anything people say about my movies, because people say things that are all over the place.

There's one thing that I like about Rome that was stated by Napoleon: that from sublime to pathetic is only one step away. And in Rome there's a constant shifting between sublime and pathetic.

What I'm interested in is human beings alone.

I think cinema has this beautiful component. It's a universal language.

There are contemporary artists that I hate with all my heart. These are provocateurs that are without feeling. Where is the real emotion?

Andreotti had style and class; Berlusconi does not.

The thing is, even though you think a lot about your movie, and there's a lot of preparation behind it, the final end result completely goes beyond it. It's not something you're aware of.

The fear of old age is something that one feels when they're younger. Once you get to being old, you're already there, so you don't even think about it anymore.

Rome is a city where in every corner you have a reminder of the sacred world. That's why I have sacred music, minimalist sacred music, which is also music I like, because at the end of the day, that's what I want to do.

Going around Rome, you can find beauty because, quite simply, Rome is very beautiful. But the beauty of the people is sometimes harder to discover.

I don't use Twitter. I'm a serious person.

I do read a lot. I read more than I watch movies.