Paolo Sorrentino On Maradona's Influence & Why He Doesn't Put Violence In His Movies: 'I Don't Like When A Character Suffers Too Much'
Speaking with Serbian filmmaker Ognjen Glavonić at the Bosnian Culture Center, the Italian filmmaker told a packed audience about his great fondness for Diego Maradona, noting that when the late Argentine soccer legend arrived in Naples to play for the city's local club in 1984, it made a huge impression on the young director. 'When I was 14 and Maradona arrived in Naples, for the first time I understood what a show was,' he said. 'Maradona told us – told me, told the Napoiltan people – what is a big, unbelievable show. And I found out the same thing through cinema – the opportunity to put on a big show.'
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Sorrentino is also set to receive an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award this week for his contribution to cinema and will present a retrospective of his films during the festival. When quizzed about how he gets inspiration for his next projects, he said: 'I don't love the idea that I have to do new things. I stay at home without doing anything and then suddenly something comes up in my mind that becomes an obsession and then I say, 'OK, let's do a movie about this obsession.''
The director was asked about the relevance of violence in films and he admitted that while he liked violence at times in other directors' movies, he found it 'very tiring to shoot violent scenes – mostly I'm too lazy.'
He added: 'Another reason I don't put violence in is I don't like when a character suffers too much. I like more Disney movies where everything is good. I never put characters in a condition where life is so desperate. It's a little bit desperate but not too much, and violence brings a big desperation.'
Sorrentino went on to credit Martin Scorsese as one of his favourite directors and when quizzed about which actors he would like to work with one day, Sorrentino quipped, 'There are many actors and actresses I would like to work with, but the optimum would be a movie without actors and actresses.'
When asked about the role that films and audiences can play 'in solving genocide' and the situation in Gaza, Sorrentino remarked: 'No film can prevent these kinds of things.'
Born in Naples in 1970, Sorrentino's credits include The Consequences of Love and The Family Friend, both of which competed for the Palme d'Or in Cannes in 2004 and 2006 respectively. His film Il Divo won the Jury Prize in 2008 and in 2011 he returned In Competition in Cannes with This Must Be the Place and two years later with The Great Beauty, the latter of which won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as three European Film Awards. His last feature Parthenope debuted at Cannes in 2024.
When asked whether he was working on anything new, Sorrentino remained vague saying, 'Probably I am going to do worse, like many directors.'
The 31st edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival takes place August 15-22, 2025.
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