When lauded Italian director Luchino Visconti first conceived of his big screen adaptation of Camillo Boito’s novella “Senso,” the “La Terra Trema” filmmaker aimed high: he wanted to cast no less than Ingrid Bergman and Marlon Brando in the film’s lead roles, a conspiring contessa and an Austrian deserter who woo amidst the dying embers of the Risorgimento. Both casting plans were waylaid by strange industry politics — Bergman’s then-husband Roberto Rossellini didn’t want the actress to work with other directors, while the film’s producers weren’t sold on the star power of Brando.
Still, “Senso” managed to make it to the big screen with some serious talent behind it: prolific Italian actress Alida Valli snagged the lead role, while Hollywood heavy hitter Farley Granger came on as her jilted lover. Behind the scenes, Visconti lined up eventual directors Franco Zeffirelli and Francesco Rosi as his own assistants.
Still, “Senso” managed to make it to the big screen with some serious talent behind it: prolific Italian actress Alida Valli snagged the lead role, while Hollywood heavy hitter Farley Granger came on as her jilted lover. Behind the scenes, Visconti lined up eventual directors Franco Zeffirelli and Francesco Rosi as his own assistants.
- 10/9/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This July will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Saturday, July 1 Changing Faces
What does a face tell us even when it’s disguised or disfigured? And what does it conceal? Guest curator Imogen Sara Smith, a critic and author of the book In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City, assembles a series of films that revolve around enigmatic faces transformed by masks, scars, and surgery, including Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another (1966).
Tuesday, July 4 Tuesday’s Short + Feature: Premature* and Ten*
Come hitch a ride with Norwegian director Gunhild Enger and the late Iranian master...
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Saturday, July 1 Changing Faces
What does a face tell us even when it’s disguised or disfigured? And what does it conceal? Guest curator Imogen Sara Smith, a critic and author of the book In Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City, assembles a series of films that revolve around enigmatic faces transformed by masks, scars, and surgery, including Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960) and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face of Another (1966).
Tuesday, July 4 Tuesday’s Short + Feature: Premature* and Ten*
Come hitch a ride with Norwegian director Gunhild Enger and the late Iranian master...
- 6/26/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
- 4/20/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Senso (1954) Direction: Luchino Visconti Cast: Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Heinz Moog, Nina Morelli, Massimo Girotti, Christian Marquand, Sergio Fantoni Screenplay: Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Luchino Visconti; from Camillo Boito's novella Highly Recommended Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Senso Critical consensus regards Luchino Visconti's Senso as a radical departure, a sign of the director's shift in focus from the gritty world of downtrodden proles (such as in his neorealist classics Ossessione and La Terra Trema) to a rather more exciting historical fantasy involving the illicit romance between Countess Serpieri (Alida Valli) and Lieutenant Mahler (Farley Granger) during the Italian revolt against Austria — shot in radiant three-strip Technicolor to boot. A rather more defensible truism portrays Senso as a dry run for Visconti's later adaptation of Giuseppe di Lampedusa's The Leopard. There are obvious parallels between the two: male leads played by American actors (Granger in Senso, Burt Lancaster in The Leopard), brilliant color cinematography,...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Erdman
- Alt Film Guide
If there is particular area of writing that Criterion does better than just about 99% of other outlets, it’s the sort of remembrance piece.
In an utterly fantastic piece on a writer’s memories of the late Peter Brunette, which is a real must read for those who are interested in either that style of writing or film in general, the company also does something out of the ordinary.
According to the piece, the company has neo-announced the release of a 1954 adaptation of Camillo Boito’s novella, Senso. The film, directed by Luchino Visconti, starred Alida Valli and Farley Granger, and follows a Countess who betrays her country, to have an affair with a well to do Austrian Lieutenant. Not one to straight up announce films being released prior to their monthly e-mail, this is definitely a fantastic announcement.
Personally, while I’ve never seen the film, the more Visconti...
In an utterly fantastic piece on a writer’s memories of the late Peter Brunette, which is a real must read for those who are interested in either that style of writing or film in general, the company also does something out of the ordinary.
According to the piece, the company has neo-announced the release of a 1954 adaptation of Camillo Boito’s novella, Senso. The film, directed by Luchino Visconti, starred Alida Valli and Farley Granger, and follows a Countess who betrays her country, to have an affair with a well to do Austrian Lieutenant. Not one to straight up announce films being released prior to their monthly e-mail, this is definitely a fantastic announcement.
Personally, while I’ve never seen the film, the more Visconti...
- 6/26/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
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