After Dominguin, my heart beats for no one.
Lucia Bosè has just arrived in Capri. It is May, 1994.
Why Capri?
I return here whenever I can. I’ve been coming since I was twenty when I would come with Tirelli, Esa De Simone, and Dino Trappetti. We would rent little boats and motorised dinghies. Then along came a certain “Riva”, but I was already married to Dominguin.
How many years have you lived in Spain?
Thirty-eight years, and I am very happy there. It was a bit difficult at the beginning, but now I don’t think I could return to Italy.
Why?
Because I have my family in Madrid. My house and my children.
Did you spend your childhood and youth in Milan?
I lived in the Porta Vigentina, Via Ripamonti area. It was a farmhouse. I had a wonderful childhood. Then I became Miss Italia. Actually, I first worked in a pastry shop – the Pasticceria Galli. They made exquisite marrons glacés. One day Luchino Visconti came in with Giorgio De Lullo. I didn’t know who Visconti was. He told me, “You have a face for cinema.” When I became Miss Italia, he wrote me and said, “Do you remember? I was right.” He is the one who told De Santis and Antonioni to give me work. I never worked with him, but he was my son’s godfather, and my son actually also calls him Luchino. He wanted me to do theatre, but I couldn’t. From the age of nineteen until I was twenty-five, I had a collapsed lung. I was sick in my lungs.
Then what happened?
Then I did my first film with De Santis, and then films with Antonioni, Pellegrini, Maselli…
How long did your marriage to Dominguin last?
From 1955 to 1968. It was a big scandal when we got separated, but I didn’t think about returning to Italy even if, deep down, that’s what my husband wanted.
Do you still feel Italian?
In Italy, yes. In Spain, I feel Spanish. But it is strange because I am never at home in either place. Yesterday in Rome, for example, on the street, someone thought I was German. But I should say that I get a pension every month from Italy, and I thank the country that sends it to me.
Do you keep up with what’s going on in Italy? Do you still have friends here.
Yes. I come to Rome three or four times per year. I no longer have anyone in Milan. I used to come back when my son Miguel had a small flat in Milan, but he sold it. He lives mainly in Spain where he has his base.
What do you do during your days?
I spend time on my house, my flowers and my garden. I travel and I play golf. I want to dedicate myself to things that I like doing and not try to please others. I like artistic things. My religion is love. I consider myself a Christian but without being fanatical.
Do you still have friends in the cinema world?
Yes. Mauro Bolognini, Franco Zeffirelli, Piero Tosi…
What about other actors?
I don’t see anyone.
What was your life like when you were married to Dominguin?
Life was fun and boring at the same time. There were many parties. We lived in the country, went hunting, and moved to different parts of the countryside.
Do you live with another man now?
Good heavens, no! I’ve lived alone now for thirty years. I never found the right man after that. Perhaps the right man doesn’t exist.
What is this time of life like?
I am enjoying my sixties, and I wouldn’t go back to my twenties, to age twenty-five or thirty, for example. I started living more serenely after age forty. Unfortunately, you start to lose dear friends, but those were wonderful years for me. I am a person who is content with her happiness. Everyone needs to create their own happiness.
La Stampa
30 May 1994
