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Critical subject matter has never frightened her. Once, Margarethe von Trotta even dared to handle a screenplay about the mafia. In the interview the film director speaks about her motivation for the film, the time she spent in Italy and the courage of today’s anti-mafia writers such as Roberto Saviano.

Ms von Trotta, are you a courageous person?

Goodness gracious! I don’t know whether I’m courageous. Perhaps certain things are a matter of course for me that other people think are courageous.

It shows a great deal of courage to shoot a critical film about the mafia in Italy. In 1992 you directed The Long Silence. How did that come about?

I was living in Rome when two of Italy’s most important public prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, were both murdered by the Sicilian mafia within a short period of time. The film The Long Silence was a reaction to these terrible incidents. At first, all of Italy was paralyzed by fear and outrage at the violence. If you’re a filmmaker, you react to certain events. I asked myself, ‘How can you react, defend yourself? How can you go on living at all without defending yourself?’ With the film, we had a means of making our outrage public. My partner at the time, the journalist Felice Laudadio, sat down immediately and wrote a screenplay.

What is the film about?

It is basically about breaking the long silence about the mafia, which gave rise to the title Il lungo silenzio. In the film the protagonist fears for her husband’s life daily. He is a public prosecutor investigating a case of bribery involving persons from the justice system and the government. In spite of police protection, the mafia manages to murder him and his colleague. Rather than simply grieving, his wife encourages the wives of other victims to break the silence and address the public.

Were you and your work known in Italy?

Of course. After I picked up all the awards at the film festival in Venice in 1981 with my film Marianne and Juliane, I became very well-known in Italy and was given an offer to shoot a modern version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. Although it wasn’t planned, I then stayed on in Italy because I had fallen in love and was given another film offer right away. The first two years, I hardly understood anything about Italian politics, but Felice Laudadio, who was very interested and well versed in politics, explained to me how it all is linked together. When the two public prosecutors were murdered, I was integrated in society, politics and in current events, so that I naturally reacted in similarly like the Italian people.

Is it true that during filming you also had to pay protection money?

Not during this film. We deliberately filmed The Long Silence in Rome and told no one about it. No one knew about the film, we didn’t give any interviews or let the press know about it, because we were afraid we’d be impeded in the filming. We had to pay protection money while filming Marianne and Juliane. Part of the film was shot in Sicily and the screenplay also contained a scene that was planned for Palermo. While we were shooting in Catania I noticed that we no longer would need the scene. I went to our associate producer to tell him that we were going to drop the scene. He replied, “Oh, that’s good, then I don’t have to pay a second mafia.”

What were the reactions to the film?

We presented the film in Palermo, in a cinema with 1,000 seats. On the way there the driver told us that the cinema had already been burnt down by the mafia three times. Fortunately, nothing happened to us. A few widows of mafia victims even came to the screening and told their stories. One of them, who lost her husband and two sons, stood up and turned to the audience and said, “And you all know who it was!” Of course, that was a shocking moment because we were all aware that there were a few mafia spies among us that evening. After the premiere we had the impression that the film was being boycotted since many cinemas that had pledged to show the film suddenly backed out.

Would you still have the courage to shoot a critical film about the mafia today?

Yes, but I always need a personal reason. Back then I was really personally affected. I haven’t lived in Italy since 1995, so I don’t know as much about what’s going on there. That’s the job of people who really have something to say about the subject.

Like Roberto Saviano, who challenged the Neapolitan mafia with his book Gomorrah.

Exactly, you asked me about courage, well, Roberto Saviano is a truly courageous man. He knows an incredible amount and was able to precisely describe the machinations of the Camorra in his book. Both his article and his television show Vieni via con me (Come away with me) are epochal for Italy. With The Long Silence we merely reacted to the murders, but could not convey any inside knowledge.

Why is it so important that people report about the mafia? What effect can art have in this context?

I am not convinced that art can have an effect. But when you are an artist and are interested in your times and your environment, you naturally feel obligated to pass on what you perceive.

During a party congress in Rome in 2009, Italy’s prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said he’d like to “strangle” the anti-mafia writers because they shed a bad light on Italy. What do you say to that?

That doesn’t surprise me in the least. It is well known that he is supposed to have links to the mafia. Really nothing more needs to be said about Berlusconi...

Is the mafia an Italian problem?

No, plenty of crimes of this kind happen in Germany, too, look at Duisburg in 2007. Many of these societies are also active here and they need to be fought. I sometimes have the impression that we Germans look down a little at the Italians – but ultimately, we are not a people with a clean slate.

Caroline Meurer held the interview.