"I didn't want to be another cutie in Visconti's arms"

Helmut Berger: "I've tried everything in life, but I'm always Visconti's widow" - 2019

Watching Helmut Berger today has a certain effect. The man who the English press called "the most beautiful in the world", the star who made recklessness and damnation an existential philosophy is today an elderly gentleman who sips a cappuccino in the armchair of his hotel, in Turin where he was guest of honor yesterday at the Lovers Film Festival.

The Austrian actor speaks softly, suffering from pneumonia from which he is slowly recovering. Behind the next 75 years, however, the piercing blue eye still flickers..

43 years have passed since Visconti's death. Does you still feel like his "widow", as you defined herself on the day of his funeral?

'How could it be otherwise? He was my teacher, of life and culture. He was a man who not only made cinema but also theater and opera . An unforgettable man. When he died the world collapsed on me ".

Why did you say that Italy has disappointed you?

«After Luchino's death, the Visconti family made the will disappear in which he had thought of me. I found it odd that no one took my side. Even Italian cinema has turned its back on me, despite the fact that the public adored me ».

Quentin Tarantino has called you one of the greatest living actors. Was he wrong up or down?

"Andy Warhol said so too. They can't both be wrong. '

Did Warhol ever know Visconti?

“Not him, but his assistants and one of his muses, Ultra Violet. Luchino didn't like me hanging out with Warhol's group and he didn't like him. I remember when his works came out, like the electric chair or Campbell's canned soup, he blurted out: "What is this bullshit?"

Is it true that it was you who introduced Mick Jagger to his future wife Bianca?

“I've known her for some time. she lived in Paris and we both frequented the group of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. There I also met Marisa Berenson and Grace Jones. Life was common. We went to the same group, the same night club, the same restaurant ».

How did you end up in the cast of Dynasty?

“My friend Ursula Andress was also friends with Linda Evans. It was she in 1983 who proposed me to production. When they called me, I took the first plane and flew to Los Angeles. It was a nice experience. Very Hollywood, sure, but the money was perfect, lots of it and on time. I spent them all ».

Have you ever felt discriminated against for openly declaring your bisexuality?

"Never. And you think I was the first to have the courage to say it openly. Besides, what should I have done?"

You have always consumed alcohol, drugs and free sex, squandered money, been in prison, attempted suicide. Is there any excess that you regret not having practiced?

«I have no regrets, luckily I have tried everything. I have lived four lives and am satisfied with all four. And anyway I'm still here ».

Louis II of Bavaria - who went down in history as a madman and a wasteful - said of himself: "I want to remain an eternal enigma, for myself and for others". Is "Ludwig" your autobiography?

“He was a king, I wasn't. But it's true, I felt the character was mine. We only worked at night, with impossible schedules. Visconti shot 16 hours of film and for six months I didn't see the light of day. To resume normal rhythms of life, I had to be treated in a clinic. The same happened to Romy Schneider. And even Luchino at the end of the shooting had a stroke and was paralyzed. We all paid for that effort, but the film remains extraordinary ».

As a "family group in an interior".?

“Another splendid film. Everything that Luchino touched became a masterpiece ».

Are you aging as you would have imagined as a young man?

“I never thought about old age, I didn't have the time. I lived my life day by day ».

How do you imagine you will die?

"I do not know. In the meantime, I am waiting for a good script to arrive ». -

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