Italian Directors - Luchino Visconti

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Italian Directors - Luchino Visconti

The Damned Luchino Visconti A gigantic allegory of the rise of Nazism through the decadent Krupp-like family, who wallow in their opulent decay while their factories produce armaments for the Nazis; a baroque film which explores the dark cycles of violence and evil in human history and consciousness with erotic indulgence. With Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Berger, Charlotte Rampling. The DVD is letterboxed, closed-captioned, and includes French and Spanish subtitles. In Italian with English subtitles. Italy/Germany, 1969, 146 mins. DVD $37.95

Death in Venice Luchino Visconti Visconti's adaptation of the classic Thomas Mann novella was a tremendous triumph; Dirk Bogarde plays the aging artist who, in Venice, becomes obsessed with the ideal beauty of a young boy. With stunning cinematography and Visconti's elegant, operatic touch. The DVD is letterboxed, closed-captioned, and includes French and Spanish subtitles. In Italian with English subtitles. Italy, 1971, 130 mins. DVD $37.95

Le Notti Bianche Luchino Visconti Mario, a shy young man, meets a mysterious girl, Natalie, weeping as she stands on a canal bridge. She tells him that she loves a sailor who left on a long journey and promised to return in one year; a year has passed and he still hasn't arrived. Gradually, Mario falls in love with the girl and struggles to persuade her that the sailor will never return. Just when he seems to have convinced her, the man from her past does in fact appear. Based on a story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. With Marcello Mastroianni, Maria Schell and Jean Marais. The DVD is a Criterion Collection Edition, and includes interview with screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico, interview with film critics Laura Delli Colli and Lino Micciche, interview with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, interview with costume designer Piero Tosi, recorded reading of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's short story (115 mins.) downloadable as an MP3 file, screen test footage of Marcello Mastroianni and Maria Schell, essay by film scholar Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, trailer, and optional English subtitles. In Italian with English subtitles. Italy 1957 107 mins. DVD $44.95

The Leopard Luchino Visconti Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale star in what many consider Luchino Visconti's greatest film. Based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the epic story follows Prince Fabrizio Salina (Lancaster) and his family as their prominent place in the aristocracy is threatened during the unification of Italy. This visually opulent masterpiece was first widely released in a poorly dubbed and edited, 165-minute version, printed in an inferior color process. This is a restored, Italian version, with its magnificent color intact, although it is still 25 minutes shorter than the version that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. "...one of the grandest widescreen historical epics...Visconti ends his film with a stunning ball scene, in which all his visual powers, his philosophical doubts and ruminations are in evidence" (Derek Malcolm, The Guardian). This is a three-DVD set Criterion Collection edition, and includes the 187-min. Italian-language version and a new transfer of the 161-min. American release, with English-language dialogue (including Burt Lancaster's actual voice); a commentary by film scholar Peter Cowie; a new 60-min. documentary featuring interviews with Claudia Cardinale, screenwriter Suso Ceccho D'Amico, cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, Sydney Pollack, and more; an interview with professor Millicent Marcus of the University of Pennsylvania; the original theatrical trailers; a stills gallery; optional English subtitles; and more. Italian with English subtitles. Italy/France, 1963, 180 mins. DVD $69.95

Luchino Visconti: A Portrait Carlo Lizzani Burt Lancaster, Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Franco Zeffirelli and others share their memories of working with the great Italian director of Rocco and His Brothers, Ossessione, Death in Venice, The Leopard, The Damned and other classics. The film surveys Visconti's career and examines how his background influenced the movies he made. In English and Italian with English subtitles. Italy 1998 61 mins. DVD $44.95