I had fewer female clients. I don't know why. It was always the men who chose me. And the ones whose secrets I had to hold. I represented Sophia Loren. She was jailed in Caserta for 17 days.

I am a big fan of[Barak] Obama.I'd like to lie on the ground and have him walk over me.

Always care for the writing part first. Every good film project starts with good writing. If you have a good script, everything else follows. Writing is crucial.

I surely haven't only dealt with film people. As a lawyer, I also fought against evictions, or worked on leases - the unglamorous side of the business.

Today's consumerism has changed things. I think children are much less creative now.

My father was everything to me. Unlike my mother - I didn't have a special affinity with her.

Work is a great thing. This is something my father taught me. He didn't want me to grow up to be somebody's wife.

He[ Italo Calvino] always said it would be impossible to try to make films out of his books, though he hoped it would happen because that's where the money was.

She [Monica Vitti] was a great actress, but a very difficult person. I am not in contact with her at the moment because she is very sick. Not a generous woman, I have to say. I don't see her much.

I was born in Rome on March 11, 1923. Because of my age, I've become a piece of this country's history, but it's also true that a certain strand of Italy's film history has passed though me.

Everything has changed now. The world has changed. It surprises me to be on the forefront. I've lost all dignity! I give interviews! I make movies! I'm amazed at myself.

Zen gives you tremendous dignity. There is no authority anywhere. Freedom is utter and ultimate.

Popular versus literary—a false divide?

In USA culture is just a matter of commerce. So, you know, I don't really look for that, and I don't expect to find it in any city.

Men and women aren't too dissimilar.

They all went down in droves because just scenes of palm trees and beaches can get pretty boring.

But everything you do in life has a downside.

In order to be a friend to anybody, you have to be a friend to yourself. If you're not a friend to yourself, there's no way you're gonna have any friends.

I worry sometimes that we're apt to confuse forgiveness with forgetfulness. The potency of forgiveness comes precisely from the fact that it must be done while being goaded by an unhappy memory.

Gold will buy the highest honours; and gold will purchase love.

I have things planned for every character like what they're doing down the road and coming to different realizations but I don't have how they overlap.