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What do you remember about your first visit to Berlin?I went to Berlin very late in life.
My interaction with Berlin has always been through films and through books.
The first time I went to Berlin was through Fassbinders films.
Suspiriatakes place in 1977, when you were 6 years old.
The Red Army Faction in Germany is part of the background of the film.
Italy at the same time had the Red Brigades.
Were you conscious of these things going on as a kid?I was conscious and not conscious.
I definitely remember the sense of dread in the street.
78 was the year in which Aldo Moro, our former prime minister, was kidnapped and killed.
And I grew up in a place that was really tough.
Palermo, being the capital of Sicily, is also the center of the other state, the Mafia.
There was a moment during the 80s in which the Mafia decided to go on a war.
Every day there was a killing.
The idea of a moment of dread in society that reverberates in everyday life is something that I feel.
Its what Dakota says in the film: Why are people ready to think that the worst is over?
Youve said that this is a film about motherhood.
Have you shown this film to your own mother?She saw it in Venezia.
She told me she cant stand horror films in the first place, but also shes biased.
Shes Algerian but also very Italian, so everything her child does, its good.
I think she saw the movie superficially, because she said to me, Oh, its beautiful.
I think she didnt want to deal with what is onscreen.
But always we are in denial.
Oliver is in denial at the end ofCall Me by Your Name, no?
And I think Elio is not.
Is that something the sequel will explore?No, I dont think this is thematic.
I think its more an aspect of a personality, you know?
So much of this film takes place during a rainstorm.
I was wondering what that precipitation means to you.I think its instinctual.
And its telling that I cant swim.
If I dont touch ground I will drown.
Its something that should be discussed in the privacy of therapy maybe.
I think they buried themselves within the company.
They have enough money that they could pay to be left alone.
The witches are very rich.
I was trying to figure out which side they would have been ideologically.I think they were witnessing.
They were not interested in that.
Theres a line in the film about how the world needs guilt and shame.
Something of pain, or suffering.
I dont think its something you’ve got the option to overcome easily.
Its very telling that after the war, for 20 years, there was a silence about it.
Many great artists still deal with that.
Think of Anselm Kiefer, for instance, in his sculptures.
You feel that something good has happened to a beloved character.
But in truth, its a monstrous act.
Without memory, even the most painful of memories, we are nothing.
We are not human.
So the person who wipes off the memory is really a villain.
This is your second film with Dakota Johnson.Isnt she amazing?
Ive never said it to anybody, but this is a little present for Vulture.
She was playing Naomi, the twin sister of Susie, back in Ohio.
She was having a little holiday in Europe, so she came to see me in Crema.
I remember she was very suspicious.
She was really private in that meeting, but I knew it had to be her.
I found her very sharp.
I like intelligent people.
And I like her face very much.
What is it about her face?It can change very much.
And I instinctively felt that the camera would love her face.
Dakotas her own thing, but there are these remnants.
And thats so attractive to me because I am a big fan of Tippi.
I love all the great Hitchcock blondes.
You made her a redhead here.Auburn hair comes with a sense of unknown, to me.
She doesnt shy away.
She goes for it.
Shes not pretty and nice and acting.
Shes really committed tobe.
Shes not an actor whos worried about her angles.Oh, no.
When an actor is worried about the angles, its the end of it.
Its like a date gone south.
I would say that Markos is the id.
And then Lutz …Its not Lutz.
Right.Do you like the performance as a whole?
Which do you prefer?
But there was something about Madame Blanc I really enjoyed.
Which was your favorite?
Can you separate them?I cant.
Ingrid Caven thought she was acting with Lutz Ebersdorf until the end.
Did she think he was a good actor?I think so.
I mean, he is a great actor.
Its sad hes only going to do one movie.Hes quite old.
Maybe if he doesnt die, we can hire him to do something else.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
