You are two greats in the German film landscape: Senta Berger (80) and her son Simon Verhoeven (49).
She has been successful as an actress for more than 70 years, he as a director for more than 20 years. BILD am SONNTAG met mother and son at Senta Berger’s home in the garden.
BILD am SONNTAG: Do you still like going to the cinema?
Senta Berger: “Secure! At Simon’s recommendation, my husband and I saw ‘Roma’ first in the cinema and then again on Netflix. But now I’ve become so sensitive that the popcorn scattered on the floor bothers me. I am irritated that you have to eat while watching a movie. Where is the respect? “
Simon Verhoeven: “I’m completely different. I grew up watching popcorn movies. “
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Berger: “I hear this man next to me and this rustling in the popcorn bag. That is terrible! Popcorn takes away the joy of cinema. “
Verhoeven: “The cell phones in the cinema are worse. But if it bothers you, you have to address it. “
Berger: “When I mention it, I get even more upset.”
Do you have a similar taste in movies?
Verhoeven: “When other families went to church on Sundays, we went to the movies. But of course I am also a child of my time. I grew up with Star Wars, Steven Spielberg. And thanks to my parents also with Billy Wilder, Truffaut and Chaplin, who was a kind of deity in our house. We still talk a lot about films. “
Berger: “This is a dialogue that is mainly led by Simon.”
As a mother, did you try to save your son from his job?
Berger: “Simon has definitely never let anything save him. And don’t let anyone warn you. “
Verhoeven: “I grew up with the inner world of filmmakers because of my parents. Not with the red carpets. Of course, I also noticed that people would look in the supermarket when I was shopping with my mother. But what I saw most of the time was my parents had to work really hard on scripts and film sets. Downright obsessive. “
Will you work together again?
Verhoeven: “We could certainly have topped ‘Willkommen bei den Hartmanns’ again with a second part, but I decided against it. But I would really like to do another film with my mother. “
Berger: “I dont know.”
Verhoeven: “I already have ideas.”
Berger: “And the ideas that were never realized are always best remembered. But I’m not even bothering to make another film. My year was also so full. “
Verhoeven: “You don’t have to play the uninteresting grandma who says anything.”
Berger: “In any case, I want to try to stop working. I have insane stage fright. When I do my readings, it’s okay once I’m on stage. But now I feel sick two days beforehand. Why do I have to do this to myself? I have become very thin-skinned in the last few years. Even more than I always have been. “
You will both be awarded the German Film Prize on Friday. You, Ms. Berger, for your life’s work. You, Mr. Verhoeven, for “Nightlife”, the most successful film of 2020.
Berger: “I didn’t really realize it at first.”
Verhoeven: “I’m not so surprised by that. I always expected my mother to get the honorary award one day. For me, however, she would have deserved a Lola five years ago as the best actress for ‘Willkommen bei den Hartmanns’. “