Giovanna Cau quotes:

I was born in Rome on March 11, 1923. Because of my age, I've become a piece of this country's history, but it's also true that a certain strand of Italy's film history has passed though me.

It's one of the most beautiful memories of my life. Not everyone has a chance to meet Greta Garbo! I was so in awe of her that I recently had my assistant search online for her film Queen Christina [1933]. I cherish that rare DVD like a precious keepsake now.

There were a lot of contradictions between Marcello's[ Mastroianni] public persona and who he was in private. The fact that Italy chose to incarnate him as a model of beauty stupefied him.

I had fewer female clients. I don't know why. It was always the men who chose me. And the ones whose secrets I had to hold. I represented Sophia Loren. She was jailed in Caserta for 17 days.

I had a very full life, with pains and losses, of course. I lost all the people I was closest to: my partner, my father, and my best friends, but I can't complain. I am 91 years old and I am still here at my desk.

I didn't take care of the kids. I took care of the interior decoration of the house. I wanted to be an architect, so I curated that aspect of things. In the middle of the chaos, I moved things around and rearranged everything to find my order.

My father was everything to me. Unlike my mother - I didn't have a special affinity with her.

She [Monica Vitti] was a great actress, but a very difficult person. I am not in contact with her at the moment because she is very sick. Not a generous woman, I have to say. I don't see her much.

Today's consumerism has changed things. I think children are much less creative now.

I am a big fan of[Barak] Obama.I'd like to lie on the ground and have him walk over me.

I surely haven't only dealt with film people. As a lawyer, I also fought against evictions, or worked on leases - the unglamorous side of the business.

We [ with Italo Calvino] had a great relationship. I don't think it's a coincidence that his only daughter's name is Giovanna. I loved his book dedications to me: "To Giovanna Cau, another book that won't be turned into a movie."

It's my greatest success. Women did not vote in Italy until 1946. A good friend and I put together a group of women to protest this. I was very young, just a girl. We went to the Viminale [home of the Ministry of the Interior] and spoke to the chair of the ministry board. Thanks to our initiative, we got the bureaucracy rolling on giving women the right to vote. I have to thank my father for this. He was in Geneva at the League of Nations, and women voted there. He thought it was absurd that women didn't vote in his country yet.

Always care for the writing part first. Every good film project starts with good writing. If you have a good script, everything else follows. Writing is crucial.

Everything has changed now. The world has changed. It surprises me to be on the forefront. I've lost all dignity! I give interviews! I make movies! I'm amazed at myself.

He[ Italo Calvino] always said it would be impossible to try to make films out of his books, though he hoped it would happen because that's where the money was.

I hated being photographed and never wanted to go on red carpets, even though they always asked me to. My place was behind the scenes. I wasn't a diva. I preferred to look at life from the outside.

I never uttered a word about things, but with my age now, I've completely lost all reservations. In more ways than one. I was never in front of the camera, for example, but now I've been in films and documentaries.

I'd never seen Marcello [Mastroianni] truly in love with a woman. I called him "the man who couldn't love." He was capable of enormous amounts of affection. He respected the women who were close to him, but never once fell in love.

I've never been in love with Marcello [Mastroianni]. I wasn't even attracted to him physically. I admired him. I followed him and supported him, but nothing ever clicked.

Work is a great thing. This is something my father taught me. He didn't want me to grow up to be somebody's wife.