He does not believe that Russia will ever have democracy, but says he believes in Russia itself.
He is still inspired by Shakespeare, the Gospels and classical opera. He would produce “The Divine Comedy” only with Russians, but he thinks that there is too much gold in the decoration of the Kremlin.
Holding the hand of his adopted son Pippo and accompanied by seven mongrel dogs, Franco Zeffirelli, 87, slowly enters the room and falls into a chair. He has lived at his luxurious villa on the outskirts of Rome since shooting “Romeo and Juliet,” more than 50 years ago. It is both a cozy home and a workspace — in his garden, a scene fr om his new picture “Rome” was filmed with Monica Bellucci and Andrea Bocelli.
Before beginning the conversation, Zeffirelli does not forget to introduce each of his dogs by name: Jack Russell, Blanche, Dolly, Biondella, Musetta, Lalla and Molly. After completing a mass of bureaucratic formalities, he brought four of them fr om Romania, wh ere he worked on the film “Callas Forever.”
“The poor devils were being taken to the slaughterhouse. I had to free them,” he says, and his very un-Italian blue eyes look unusually serious.
On the table near the open doors of the living room is a basket filled with skillfully made dolls. There is Charlie Chaplin, a Russian peasant and a Venetian in a mask. But the majority of the characters in the basket are Russian. Zeffirelli does not hide his longstanding love for Russia.
“No other people has endured as much as you have, Russians. Only think! But your great culture is a wealth that maybe you don’t fully understand yourselves,” he said.
He continues to believe that Russia has a bright future.
“The presence of culture is very firm in Russia’s destiny, that is the main thing. A good seed should germinate, and nothing else.”
On the other hand, he thinks that Russia is the unbridled East. Raised in Florentine restraint, he is horrified by the abundance of gold in the Kremlin. Neither Putin, nor Medvedev, nor any other ruler, he is convinced can make this country Europe. And there is little likelihood that in Russia there will ever be democracy.
“Take a look at your history — you have never had democracy, except for a few months when there was a parliament in 1917,” he said.
But the Eastern country is surprisingly close to the European Zeffirelli — the characters of classical Russian literature are brothers in spirit to him, and he draws obvious parallels between Russian and Italian melodrama.
At one time he plotted a Russian-Italian production of Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” — only in Russia, he said, can one find a true abundance of talent and a corresponding level of theatrical-cinematic culture. Interestingly, this plan was born in the depths of the communist period of Russian history, and Zeffirelli has always been a fierce opponent of communism, including in his own country.
Fearing precisely that the left could take over in his native Italy, he openly supported Berlusconi, as an anti-communist, when Berlusconi first announced his candidacy for the presidential elections. Many have not yet forgiven Zeffirelli for this support.
“We do not value our freedom because we have lived in freedom for 60 years. Thus we easily put it in jeopardy,” he said.
But, arriving in the U.S.S.R., Zeffirelli saw, first of all, not the state entangled in an ideology he hated, but the country that was the heir of Chekhov’s dramas, Tolstoy’s prose, Glinka’s music. The nation’s public responded to him with full reciprocity. People hunted for every opportunity to see his work, beginning with the memorable premiere in 1968, when together with Olivia Hussey the director arrived in Moscow to present “Romeo and Juliet.” He then brought Anna Magnani to Moscow in the production “The Wolf Hunt,” and, of course, his tour of “La Scala” was hugely popular.
Practically everything he put on the operatic stage has run for decades, whether in London, New York, Venice, Paris or Verona. The director never reshapes a classic to “modernize” it, and critics do not treat him well for this. But when his premieres take place, audiences arrive from all over Europe.
“My main principle is to come ‘from life’ and not from tradition. I cannot even say that I completely serve ‘high art.’ Life — that’s what really interests me,” he said.
Zeffirelli assigns Russians a special place in this parade of stars.
“I always remember them, everyone who was close to me in those years,” he said. “Of course, Yelena Obraztsova, who sang the title role in my staging of ‘Carmen’ in Venice, and Maria Gulegina, Vladimir Vasiliyev and Yekaterina Maximova, who were in my film ‘Traviata.’”
Moscow will soon see the premiere of his short film “Rome” about his favorite city.
“I gathered together the memories and feelings that Rome brings me, and added the correct music. I think that Puccini created the correct sound. A wonderful, open sound, passionate … and tragic, he said.”
Andrea Bocelli sings “Nessun Dorma” in the arena of the Colosseum, under the night sky, and Monica Bellucci, who, in Zefirelli’s opinion, embodies the image of real Roman female beauty, appears in the guise of Tosca.
He rises from the chair, and his dogs jump off the divans and ottomans with him.
As we slowly walk through the corridors of villas in the studio, the soft lights of the lamps burn everywhere, and he wonders why rich people in Russia have such little interest in culture.
“They stuff suitcases with millions of euros and could support the arts, make serious films to keep your classical heritage alive,” he laments.
The walls of the studio are cluttered with bookshelves and pictures. He says he wants to pass on his theatrical collections to younger generations and is already looking for a building in Florence wh ere he can open a permanent school and exposition.
“I want talented people to come here to study, including from Russia, of course,” he said.
In the center of the room, a model of the future staging of “Turandot” stands on a table. Every detail has been made by the skilled hands Zeffirelli. Here are dozens of pencil sketches of future costumes for the characters.
“See you at the premiere in Arena di Verona on June 18!” he said on parting and, waving to us, sat down again to work.