Jeroen Krabbé is a wonderful Dutch actor who was looking to make his directorial début. He asked me to act in his film, in the role of an Orthodox Jewish mother in Antwerp, in the 1970s. I asked him: “Why not cast a Jewish actress? I am Catholic and Italian, why me?” He replied: “An Orthodox Jew could never act in my film, she would have to stay at home and work, and if I cast a non-Orthodox Jew, she would exaggerate her representation of an Orthodox Jew. But you don’t know anything about that world and you’ll do exactly as I tell you.” I not only had someone on set to correct my English, I also had a coach to correct my body language. In one scene, I see my son in danger and I clasped my hands to convey my desperation. My coach got angry because that represents the Catholic act of prayer, a gesture my character would never have used. I learnt a lot of things making the film. There are many problems inside the Jewish community due to internal divisions. Jeroen wanted to make a film about doubt and the sense of humanity that erases these differences. In the face of death, we are all brought closer together. I think that’s why he wanted to cast me, because by not belonging to their religion, I was more conciliatory, I didn’t have any prejudices or preconceived ideas. (Isabella Rossellini)
DIRECTOR: Jeroen Krabbé
NATION: The Netherlands, Belgium
YEAR: 1998
RUNTIME: 100′
CAST: Laura Fraser, Adam Monty, Marianne Sägebrecht, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini, Chaim Topol, Maximilian Schell
Original version with subtitles