You have said that for the women it is more difficult to make cinema. 
"The public is still very misogynistic.  In the American films by now Sharon Stone is gone, Demi Moore.  There is not the shade of Meryl Streep anymore." 
Do you believe in heaven and hell? 
"When you are dead, you are dead.  When I had the accident, for 48 hours I was unconscious.  Once awake I didn't remember anything, not a feeling of peace, light and good." 
Do you think about death? 
"No." 
Will you go back to driving the motorbike? 
"Certainly.  I adore the freedom and the motion. You go where and when you want."
To eat is one of your greatest passions? 
"It is true I like to eat pasta and ice creams. And then, to cook with wine and oil. The kitchen is an ethics, a way of communicating. I adore Italy for the simplicity and the delicacy of the food."
And the belly? You are sometimes seen with many kilos more. 
"I don't take an interest in the body. I like thin and fat. And the belly is comfortable." 

A Parisian supper with his ex girlfriend, Karine Sylla and their daughter Roxanne. 

What do you like in women?
"I don't know, I don't see them as objects. And then I believe that the friendship of a woman is the most beautiful thing that exists. With Marguerite Duras it has been fantastic: there obviously was not physical desire but a strong spiritual agreement. I don't love the relationships of seduction." 
What do you give to women? 
"Jewels. Also cars." 
Have you also received many gifts? 
"Yes, but they embarrass me. One of the most beautiful was a gift from Fanny Ardant: an ancient edition of Cyrano de Bergerac." 
What relationship do you have with money?
"I was born in a poor family. My father was a very simple man, an anarchist. And the sense of the liberty was communicated to me. I am also now this way. I'm interested only in freedom." 
Do you spend it all? 
"It is useless to hold onto it with all the taxes that you have to pay in France. I want naturally to leave money to my children and my women." 
An object that you love a lot? 
"Clocks, those that I need to wind before sleeping." 
What was the legacy of Mastroianni?
"I have known him since I was 25 years old, him 40. He had a splendid philosophy of life, an extraordinary generosity. Like Truffaut.  Benign, great human intelligence." 
Do you have many American friends? 
"Certainly, but they have the European mind: Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Francis Ford Coppola."
You are one of the few cinema actors that doesn't snub television. 
"It is considered popular, and many superstars fear to ruin their image. Instead the tv is an  extraordinary medium.  The Count of Monte Cristo was proposed me as cinema, years ago, from Truffaut. I said no. For such long stories it takes the television. Soon I will also film Les miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I don't want to be told how to be or not to be an actor. I want the pleasure of doing it all." 
What is a vacation for you? 
"I went this year for the first time on vacation. I was in Pantelleria. But usually I never do it. I am always on vacation to me." 
What countries do you love? 
"All of Europe and Coast Rica."
Is there a place that has remained inside you? 
"Africa and the South of Italy. Naples I feel her very near. Sicily has an extraordinary strength." 
What do you think of 'sexygate'?  [note: I think this is the Monica Lewinsky scandal]   
"Absurd, this is America, the disproportion that makes her dangerous." 

Mirka, with the regal one of the Algerian, now transplanted in Rome,  Rachid Benhadj [the director]. In the cast with Depardieu is Vanessa Redgrave,  Barbaric Bobulova and 
Sergio Rubini. 

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