“For 8 months in a wheelchair due to a faulty operation” – Libero Quotidiano

“Today is having a bad day.” Alexander Haber You welcome us like this. And then he will explain it to us because he speaks of dreams and desires and passions, which are almost all fulfilled by a man, an artist, who at the age of seventy-five has really seen all kinds of feelings but is now living a certain parting life: «I am a decidedly fragile state of mind at the moment . I have been in a wheelchair for eight months. I do some treatment for an operation that didn’t go well, then I have another operation. I’m trying to recover. The fact is that I look at the world from half a height. I work, train in the theater, go to concerts, but I’m not independent. In short, you found me at a time when thinking and yearning were particularly strong.

One hundred twenty-six films, David di Donatello won, and five silver ribbons. The theater lived as a true temple of acting. Where it really opens up the actor’s portfolio. Haber sings too. as he has on all five studio albums. The first of these, Haberrante, from 1995 opened with a piece written by De Gregori for his actor portfolio. Among Haber’s passions are also short films in which he is particularly active. During the Rome Film Festival, he presented one that he directed, without many red carpets in fact, perhaps because of the title and the subject matter between provocative and stinging. It’s called L’inganno, made by Carla Vignelli’s Setembri Produzione with Sonia Giacometti as executive producer, and set in the midst of a pandemic in Gradara, land of Paolo and Francesca. Even if adultery is not the central theme.

Maestro, with this short film, are you defying the anti-Covid rules?
“The short film is called L’inganno because something unexpected happens. Because they told us something different. I would also have called it Mascherine, maybe it would have been better, because we are also talking about misunderstandings. During the lockdown I could not distinguish between feelings, faces and sensations and with these masks we were all approved, anonymous, without identification. It is so beautiful to see faces and expressions in rainbow colors.”

But confusing your woman does not seem too much?
“Obviously, I overdid it, but at that time I was finding it hard to even recognize myself and my friends.”

But now, after facial recognition, do you think these masks were at least useful for preventing Covid?
«I think so, but there were many contradictions. I want to believe that there really is no business behind it. I must tell you that I used them only when I had to because wearing them I could not breathe and I was fortunate enough not to take them though by wearing them as little as possible I was among those who risked the most.”

Beyond the clinical diagnosis, Covid certainly created misunderstanding from a social and political point of view. With the left becoming law and order and the right more lax and liberal…
“I am a left-hander, even if everything is now a thing of the past. No one has charisma, strength and persuasiveness. I hope that the people who govern us will have a humane, moral, and constructive sense toward others, to say the least. Politics must be serious. Who guides you, who protects you, who helps you. I stayed in Berlinguer but there might have been another way to live and manage everyday life. Today everything is easy. Look no further. Once upon a time life was more literal. Now we no longer look at each other. Children have been traumatized in recent years and are forced to go to a psychiatrist. In the face of all this, among politicians I have not heard anyone, right or left, who said they were wrong. I think there is something amiss behind their faces, their expressions, and their lexicon. That holiness, that truth is missing. It’s as if they’re lying to themselves.”

I was born in Bologna as Pier Paolo Pasolini, another heretic of the left. Did you know him? Is it said that the left betrayed him as well?
“I met him when he came to give a seminar at Alessandro Versen’s acting school. Pasolini was a charming and revolutionary man then and still is today. It was very cohesive, and it wasn’t polished. Direct, precise, badass. Intelligent and enlightening. Pasolini is one of those people who are born once. He was not liked because he was a little messy, out of the ordinary. These men are born every hundred years.”

Pasolini spoke of the dream of the thing. Who today could be the dream of new immigrants. What do you think of such a controversial topic?
I believe that every person’s right to seek a better life should be protected. Europe has a duty to protect these people, whether there are good or bad guys. Even under the house are the bad guys and the good guys. We need rules but we need to hear their stories before they can get on board. There are many more but the journeys they take are terrifying, and there are stories that make you shudder. Dreaming of making a movie or doing theater is one thing. Another thing is the dream of survival. I think those born into privileged circumstances should extend their hand.”

In the cinema, we now see her in two films dedicated to Dante and Caravaggio. Are you still dreaming
“I have made many dreams come true and I still have more. In Dante and Caravaggio I make a couple of etchings that I think are successful. I can tell you that when people thank me for giving them affection I feel good. As if I feel more real when I am unreal, While I feel lost in everyday life.”

A message you would like to send to the new Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni?
“I hope you look deeply into this Italy. What do you think of the common good? Be consistent and unselfish. You have to be a little saint, maybe I’m exaggerating. Now simplicity and humanity are needed. I hope you hear and draw from Pope Francis’ thought, which I really liked.”