Giuliano's actress daughter Gemma talks about her life. Between the excesses, money was wasted and then recovered through striptease. But now the film about her is in the running for cinema's most coveted statuette
Vera Gemma talks about her life full of excesses, squandered inheritances and jobs at the limit: from tamer in the circus to stripper. And that while the film she inspired, “Vera,” is running in Austria’s race for the Oscar as best foreign film. – Photo | Video
Vera Gemma, I live in Papa Giuliano's refuge: “He tells me about him” – look
HOW THE FILM WAS MADE – Vera, the daughter of Spaghetti Western icon Giuliano Gemma, tells Corriere della Serache that the Academy attendees at the film's screening in Los Angeles “laughed a lot.” How much these Americans laugh… The problem is that they laughed even in the dramatic moments… At the end they applauded and shouted Fellini, Fellini and realistic films. And when I told them that we shot it with four people, without even a trailer for the actors, they applauded like crazy.” And to think that it all started by chance, when the directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel met one Made a short film about the circus and stumbled upon the one in which Vera tamed tigers and lions: “I grew up in circuses, Dad learned acting.” Stuntman. When he died in 2013, I felt the need to find him again in an environment where they loved him. I began spending my days in circuses and made a documentary about that world. Becoming a tamer was a given: I went into the cages to bring food to the animals, who got used to me and saw me as the pack leader. I toured Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. I found my way of being an artist in the circus.
Asia Argento and Vera Gemma, show forbidden for minors: this is how they meet again after the Beijing Express (from a distance) – see
LIFE AS A STRIPPER – Her last job, after working as an actress in the theater and in the cinema for Dario Argento, Paolo Virzì and Pupi Avati: “I quit when I realized that in Italy they would never take me as a protagonist: I'm not beautiful enough to be.” beautiful, I’m not the ugly one who makes you laugh; My face makes you think of extreme things, but there are no protagonists with extreme characters here. At that point I was writing books, performing in the circus, being a stripper: I gave up being an actress, but not an artist.” And he came to the strip at a very specific moment: “When Mom died, I inherited the money and eaten up in no time, and dad told me he wouldn't give me a cent.” I decide to go to Los Angeles, I try to propose myself as a waitress, but nothing. Eventually I discover a striptease venue, The Body Shop, with shows of the highest caliber. I go to the director and ask what it's like to work there. After the audition, he started that same evening and earned 1,200 euros in one day: “I have never felt such a feeling of omnipotence.” The stripper is a dream to look at but not to touch, and the Americans are crazy: they give two hundred Dollar tip, they take money just to watch you dance. Even if Papa Giuliano didn't know it: he had told him that he was a tap dancer.
Vera Gemma’s dedication: “To my wonderful father, Giuliano” – look
drugs – At home, he remembers, his parents “never talked to us about drugs, but they told us a thousand times not to gain weight.” They were obsessed with beauty. They wanted us to do justice to Dad. Maybe she cared because he became a star through beauty and only then proved he was good. Do you think they did our nose and there was no need? However, they were still a solid example of love for life, so I tried all the drugs but never became addicted. In fact, as a teenager, I made a mess.” In fact, he says: “At the men's level, I looked specifically among the criminals, I liked those released from prison, I felt their anger, I wanted to help them… I still find criminals more fascinating than daddy’s boys.” .
Vera Gemma returns to the super-tight one-piece – check it out
THE HUSBAND AND THE FATHER – She was married twice, the first time to a Moroccan-Parisian kung fu master and the second time to a blues musician with whom she had a son, and has now returned to the cinema as an absolute protagonist. The film “Vera” has already won the awards for best director and best actress in the “Orizzonti” category at the Venice Film Festival. And many directors call them from abroad. He also met Quentin Tarantino: “I read in Corriere della Sera that he said that Hollywood wouldn't exist without Giuliano Gemma and Franco Nero.” I told a mutual friend that I wanted to meet him and make him carbonara. I left with the pillow in my suitcase. Quentin told me: You made me realize how badly I've been eating until today. And for Papa Giuliano, it brings to mind a poignant memory: “In Beverly Hills, in a movie theater covered with my face, I thought of him and burst into tears.” An old man from the academy came, I told him, that I cried because I wished my father was there, he took my hand and told me: your father is here.
Vera Gemma debuts at the Venice Film Festival: “Papa won’t send me” – watch
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