If there is anything as royal blood in cinema it flows through Isabella Rossellini’s veins. Her mother was the most talented and beautiful Hollywood actress of the 40s and 50s, her father one of the most famous Italian directors of all times. She made a career in acting, modeling and more recently directing. This documentary broadcast by the European culture channel ARTE opens the door to her life, to her career, to her personality.
source http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000618/
Co-directed by Rossellini herself and Gero von Boehm the film lacks completely the morgue of many other biographical films, and rather chooses to invite the viewers into her private world. She speaks about the relationship with her parents, we are introduced to her children, she talks about the men in her life and especially about David Lynch, about modeling, acting and directing, about being young and getting older, and even about the sexual life of the insects which has become her interest and her subject of documentary-making recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EraHiteiCII
(video by machiikyoko)
We do do learn interesting things about her cinema experiences, but her fans may be surprised to her that acting is not really her passion, or her first choice, but rather a given because of her upraising. Although she is a fabulous actor (I have seen her on stage as well in an off-Broadway play a few years ago) she prefers focusing on directing recently. Most important of all is however for her to share with us her feelings about growing mature. With the years of youth and glamor behind her she is now happy to live a quite and happy life and share her feelings and interests in documentaries, while acting occasionally in things that interest her. It is that feeling of somebody sharing the happiness behind her luminous eyes that stays with us after having seen this film.