Alessandra Martines

"[Mi manca] il calore delle persone [italiane]: c’è una grande facilità nella comunicazione, mentre i francesi non sono così estroversi. D’altra parte, in Francia c’è una grande vivacità nel mondo del cinema: si producono almeno duecento film all’anno e le occasioni di lavoro sono moltissime. Purtroppo non c’è paragone col cinema italiano."

"[I miss] the warmth of the [Italian] people: it is very easy to communicate with them, while the French are not such extroverts. On the other hand, there is a vibrant film industry in France: at least two hundred films are produced there, and the job opportunities are many. Unfortunately, the Italian film industry does not compare."

"[Claude Lelouch] m’a toujours dit : «Madame, vous serez ma veuve!» Je l’ai épousé en croyant qu’il avait forcément appris quelque chose de la vie. Erreur totale: il se marie et fait des enfants comme on boit un verre d’eau! … Claude est un homme à l’ego surdimensionné. Comme il veut toujours rester maître des situations, il se comporte comme un dictateur et tout le monde se met au garde à vous et lui donne raison. Moi, au contraire, je lui ai toujours dit la vérité..."

"[Claude Lelouch] has always told me : "Madame, you shall be my widow!" I married him thinking that he had learned something from life. Big mistake: he gets married and sires children like he drinks a glass of water! … Claude is a man with an oversized ego. Just as he wishes to always be the master of the situation, he acts like a dictator and everyone has to agree with him. I, on the contrary, always told him the truth..."

"Ne sono lusingata, ma ripeto: non è il mio paese a darmela. In Italia, chi si fa valere all'estero non viene considerato."

"I am overjoyed, but I repeat: it is not my country which awards me. In Italy, those who make a name for themselves in other countries are ignored."

"Pure in Francia è un ambiente tradizionalmente schierato a sinistra e fa molto chic essere anti-Sarkozy. Ma la cosiddetta "sinistra-caviale", cioè quella snob con la puzza sotto il naso, mi fa schifo, è ipocrita."

"Even in France, politics are traditionally left-wing and it is fashionable to be anti-Sarkozy. But the so called "caviar-left", that is, the snobbish, stiff upper-lipped kind disgusts me, it is hypocritical."