Paolo Sorrentino -Why I Love acting bullish

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I first saw Raging Bull when I was 18. That was a period when I was trying to see as many films as possible. I was educating myself in how to be a director without studying it. I studied economics – much more useful for keeping a handle on things.

I admired so much Scorsese's facility for realism, and at the same his ability to reinvent that realism in such a spectacular manner. I love his use of music, but also the whole soundscape of a film. I attempt in my own way to match that use of sound. I've seen Raging Bull at least 15 times. Never while I'm working on my own film, though. For that period I abstain from good films, like a monk.

I have never met Scorsese but one of my friends was at dinner with him, and he told him that my new film, Il Divo, was one of the most beautiful films he had ever seen. So my life is changed.

Il Divo (15) is released on 20 March.