‘The Chestnut Man’: The Latest Danish Netflix Obsession Is Like Watching a Bestselling Mystery Novel
By now, we’re all familiar with the trope in movie and TV trailers where an eerie children’s choir cover of a popular song is used to signify ominous undercurrents. There’s a reason why so many projects have turned to songs that are simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar as a shortcut to significance. It’s ambiguous, it can be unsettling, and it’s (well it used to be) a signal that what was up around the corner was something that could break with expectations.
Over a decade into a post-“Creep” world, that tactic pops up not in the marketing materials for “The Chestnut Man,” but the Netflix show itself. Near the end of the first of the season’s six episodes, an assembled group of Danish schoolchildren sing a nursery rhyme about chestnuts, the same marker a murderer leaves at a crime scene as their de facto calling card.
Over a decade into a post-“Creep” world, that tactic pops up not in the marketing materials for “The Chestnut Man,” but the Netflix show itself. Near the end of the first of the season’s six episodes, an assembled group of Danish schoolchildren sing a nursery rhyme about chestnuts, the same marker a murderer leaves at a crime scene as their de facto calling card.
- 10/1/2021
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Philipp Kadelbach, director and co-creator of the series “We Children From Bahnhof Zoo,” says his initial impulse when approached to helm the series was to steer well clear of what he saw as a fool’s errand, given the iconic status in Germany and elsewhere of Uli Edel’s 1981 feature film “Christiane F.,” which – like the series – is based on the book “Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.”
“I said, ‘I’m not going to do this. I’m not crazy.’ Because it’s like a monument for so many people. And everybody would start attacking me because I’ve gone to tell this story again, and they really loved it,” he tells Variety.
However, having read Annette Hess’ scripts, he saw how she had approached the material in a different way. The film felt like it had a voyeuristic approach to the subject, he says. He resolved to...
“I said, ‘I’m not going to do this. I’m not crazy.’ Because it’s like a monument for so many people. And everybody would start attacking me because I’ve gone to tell this story again, and they really loved it,” he tells Variety.
However, having read Annette Hess’ scripts, he saw how she had approached the material in a different way. The film felt like it had a voyeuristic approach to the subject, he says. He resolved to...
- 4/9/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
30 Years of The Film Foundation
Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...
30 Years of The Film Foundation
Equally impressive as his towering career is Martin Scorsese’s dedication to restoring previously lost classics and championing underseen gems with The Film Foundation. Now celebrating 30 years, they’ve been given the spotlight on The Criterion Channel, featuring a wealth of highlights as well as a conversation between Scorsese and Ari Aster. The lineup of essentials includes The Broken Butterfly (1919), Trouble in Paradise (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), L’Atalante (1934), The Long Voyage Home (1940) The Chase (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), The River (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Bigamist (1953), Ugetsu (1953), Senso (1954), The Big Country (1958), Shadows (1959), The Cloud-Capped Star (1960), Primary (1960), The Connection (1961), Salvatore Giuliano (1962), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Once Upon a Time in the West...
- 11/20/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The New York Times put prestigious specialty home-video distributor The Criterion Collection under a microscope late last week, and the headline said it all: “How the Criterion Collection Crops Out African-American Directors.” The report looked at all 22 years and more than 1,000 titles in the Criterion’s revered selection of Blu-rays and DVDs of films, finding that only four African Americans are represented: Oscar Micheaux (“Body and Soul”); William Greaves; Charles Burnett (“To Sleep With Anger”); and Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing” and “Bamboozled”).
It’s a glaring omission for a company that prides itself on licensing and releasing what it describes as “important classic and contemporary films,” but also reflective of an industry-wide practice of shutting out Black filmmakers.
Despite America’s changing demographics, the industry’s most powerful leaders have been slow to respond to a demand for films that reflect cultural and racial shifts that have long been underway.
It’s a glaring omission for a company that prides itself on licensing and releasing what it describes as “important classic and contemporary films,” but also reflective of an industry-wide practice of shutting out Black filmmakers.
Despite America’s changing demographics, the industry’s most powerful leaders have been slow to respond to a demand for films that reflect cultural and racial shifts that have long been underway.
- 8/25/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
With readers turning to their home viewing options more than ever, this daily feature provides one new movie each day worth checking out on a major streaming platform.
Barely released in 1982 and all but unseen for over three decades, Kathleen Collins’ “Losing Ground” was a rare instance where the matter of a middle-aged black woman intellectual’s interior life is generously examined — and illustrated in rich symbolistic terms. It brings to life the dreams and disappointments of talented, educated black women who in the shadow of patriarchy. It’s a challenging and unpredictable movie that deserves the enthusiastic reception that met its rediscovery five years ago.
More from IndieWireMarvel's Future: How the Cinematic Universe Could Pivot to TV Storytelling in Today's Uncertain WorldHulu Shuts Down Twitter Trolls Complaining About 'Parasite' Subtitles
Philosophy professor Sara Rogers (Seret Scott) and her bohemian artist husband Victor (Bill Gunn) rent a summer...
Barely released in 1982 and all but unseen for over three decades, Kathleen Collins’ “Losing Ground” was a rare instance where the matter of a middle-aged black woman intellectual’s interior life is generously examined — and illustrated in rich symbolistic terms. It brings to life the dreams and disappointments of talented, educated black women who in the shadow of patriarchy. It’s a challenging and unpredictable movie that deserves the enthusiastic reception that met its rediscovery five years ago.
More from IndieWireMarvel's Future: How the Cinematic Universe Could Pivot to TV Storytelling in Today's Uncertain WorldHulu Shuts Down Twitter Trolls Complaining About 'Parasite' Subtitles
Philosophy professor Sara Rogers (Seret Scott) and her bohemian artist husband Victor (Bill Gunn) rent a summer...
- 4/9/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Piero Tosi, a famed costume designer who worked on films such as “The Leopard” and “Death in Venice,” died Saturday in Rome, the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation announced on Facebook. He was 92.
Over the course of his 50 year career, Tosi established himself as one of Hollywood’s greatest costume designers, earning five Oscar nominations for costume design and an honorary Oscar in 2013. He also garnered international acclaim for a number of popular films including, “The Damned,” “Ludwig,” “Death in Venice” and “The Leopard,” in which his elaborate, period-piece designs took center stage. Other film credits include “La Cage Aux Folles,” “The Night Porter,” “Toby Dammit” and the Oscar foreign language film-winner “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
After growing up in Florence Italy, Tosi landed his first job as a costume assistant on a stage production of “Le chandelier,” before meeting the legendary stage and film director Luchino Visconti. Soon after, Tosi went...
Over the course of his 50 year career, Tosi established himself as one of Hollywood’s greatest costume designers, earning five Oscar nominations for costume design and an honorary Oscar in 2013. He also garnered international acclaim for a number of popular films including, “The Damned,” “Ludwig,” “Death in Venice” and “The Leopard,” in which his elaborate, period-piece designs took center stage. Other film credits include “La Cage Aux Folles,” “The Night Porter,” “Toby Dammit” and the Oscar foreign language film-winner “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
After growing up in Florence Italy, Tosi landed his first job as a costume assistant on a stage production of “Le chandelier,” before meeting the legendary stage and film director Luchino Visconti. Soon after, Tosi went...
- 8/10/2019
- by Nate Nickolai
- Variety Film + TV
Franco Zeffirelli, the stylish and sometimes controversial theater, opera and film director, has died. He was 96.
Zeffirelli, who was Oscar-nominated for his 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” died at his home in Rome at noon on Saturday, his son Luciano told the Associated Press. “He had suffered for a while, but he left in a peaceful way,” Luciano said.
While Zeffirelli was fond of making films with literary antecedents such as “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet,” “Taming of the Shrew” and “Jane Eyre,” his legacy as director of extravagant opera and theater productions is probably more consistent and long-lasting.
He directed, co-wrote and co-produced the 1966 production of “Taming of the Shrew,” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, one of the twice-married celebrated pair’s most successful co-starring assignments. Spirited and amusing, it paved the way for a youthful and sexy “Romeo and Juliet,” which was a major box office success in the U.
Zeffirelli, who was Oscar-nominated for his 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet,” died at his home in Rome at noon on Saturday, his son Luciano told the Associated Press. “He had suffered for a while, but he left in a peaceful way,” Luciano said.
While Zeffirelli was fond of making films with literary antecedents such as “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hamlet,” “Taming of the Shrew” and “Jane Eyre,” his legacy as director of extravagant opera and theater productions is probably more consistent and long-lasting.
He directed, co-wrote and co-produced the 1966 production of “Taming of the Shrew,” starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, one of the twice-married celebrated pair’s most successful co-starring assignments. Spirited and amusing, it paved the way for a youthful and sexy “Romeo and Juliet,” which was a major box office success in the U.
- 6/15/2019
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
In just two weeks, a cinematic haven will launch. After the demise of FilmStruck left cinephiles in a dark depression, The Criterion Channel has stepped up to the plate to launch their own separate service coming to the U.S. and Canada on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS, and Android and Android TV devices. Now, after giving us a taste of what is to come with their Movies of the Week, they’ve unveiled the staggeringly great lineup for their first month.
Along with the Criterion Collection and Janus Films’ library of 1,000 feature films, 350 shorts, and 3,500 supplementary features–including trailers, introductions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, video essays, commentary tracks, and rare archival footage–the service will also house films from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate, IFC Films, Kino Lorber, Cohen Media, Milestone Film and Video, Oscilloscope, Cinema Guild, Strand Releasing, Shout Factory, Film Movement,...
Along with the Criterion Collection and Janus Films’ library of 1,000 feature films, 350 shorts, and 3,500 supplementary features–including trailers, introductions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, video essays, commentary tracks, and rare archival footage–the service will also house films from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate, IFC Films, Kino Lorber, Cohen Media, Milestone Film and Video, Oscilloscope, Cinema Guild, Strand Releasing, Shout Factory, Film Movement,...
- 3/25/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
One of international cinema’s undisputed greats in costume design, Piero Tosi’s work first faced the awards season spotlight 64 years ago with only his third film, Luchino Visconti’s masterwork “Senso,” which competed for the Golden Lion in Venice in 1954.
Nominated for five Oscars for costume design and recipient of an honorary Oscar in 2013, Tosi’s impact on the art of film is immeasurable. Visconti’s films such as “The Damned,” “Ludwig,” “Death in Venice” and the incomparable “The Leopard” garnered international acclaim as stunning period visual masterpieces and were all spectacular showcases for Tosi’s celebrated designs. Other triumphs included “La Cage Aux Folles,” “The Night Porter,” Federico Fellini’s “Toby Dammit” and Oscar foreign language film-winner “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
Also noted as mentor and teacher for generations of costume designers, Tosi’s work in this field is on view in “Piero Tosi. Exercises on Beauty. The...
Nominated for five Oscars for costume design and recipient of an honorary Oscar in 2013, Tosi’s impact on the art of film is immeasurable. Visconti’s films such as “The Damned,” “Ludwig,” “Death in Venice” and the incomparable “The Leopard” garnered international acclaim as stunning period visual masterpieces and were all spectacular showcases for Tosi’s celebrated designs. Other triumphs included “La Cage Aux Folles,” “The Night Porter,” Federico Fellini’s “Toby Dammit” and Oscar foreign language film-winner “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.”
Also noted as mentor and teacher for generations of costume designers, Tosi’s work in this field is on view in “Piero Tosi. Exercises on Beauty. The...
- 12/17/2018
- by Andrea Sorrentino
- Variety Film + TV
By Todd Garbarini
The great Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti’s film The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) will be the subject of a 55th anniversary screening at three Los Angeles theatres. The 187-minute film, which stars Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Terrence Hill, and Paola Stoppa, will be screened on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 at 7:00 pm. This is the Italian language version with English subtitles.
From the press release:
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
The Leopard (1963)
55th Anniversary Screenings at Three Laemmle Locations
Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 Pm
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present 55th anniversary screenings of acclaimed director Luchino Visconti’s sumptuous masterpiece, The Leopard ('Il Gattopardo'). The film will close out the year for the popular Anniversary Classics Abroad program of showcasing vintage foreign-language cinema.
The Leopard is based on the historical novel by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, an...
The great Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti’s film The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) will be the subject of a 55th anniversary screening at three Los Angeles theatres. The 187-minute film, which stars Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale, Terrence Hill, and Paola Stoppa, will be screened on Wednesday, December 5th, 2018 at 7:00 pm. This is the Italian language version with English subtitles.
From the press release:
Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.
The Leopard (1963)
55th Anniversary Screenings at Three Laemmle Locations
Wednesday, December 5 at 7:00 Pm
Laemmle Theatres and the Anniversary Classics Series present 55th anniversary screenings of acclaimed director Luchino Visconti’s sumptuous masterpiece, The Leopard ('Il Gattopardo'). The film will close out the year for the popular Anniversary Classics Abroad program of showcasing vintage foreign-language cinema.
The Leopard is based on the historical novel by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, an...
- 12/1/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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
Luchino Visconti’s national epic looks and plays better than ever. A Southern family relocates to Milan, and each of the sons reacts differently to life in the big city. It’s one of Italy’s most emotional film experiences.
Rocco and His Brothers
Blu-ray
Milestone Cinematheque
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 177 m. / Rocco e i suoi fratelli / Street Date July 10, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Alessandra Panaro, Spiros Focás, Max Cartier, Claudia Cardinale, Nino Castelnuovo, Enzo Fiermonte, Suzy Delair, Paolo Stoppa.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editor: Mario Serandrei
Production Designer: Mario Garbuglia
Original Music: Nino Rota
Written by Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Enrico Medioli
Produced by Giuseppe Bordogni, Goffredo Lombardo
Directed by Luchino Visconti
By 1960 Roberto Rossellini was almost finished with big screen feature work, but Italy’s other neorealist pioneer Luchino Visconti was just getting started on a series of masterpieces.
Rocco and His Brothers
Blu-ray
Milestone Cinematheque
1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 177 m. / Rocco e i suoi fratelli / Street Date July 10, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, Katina Paxinou, Alessandra Panaro, Spiros Focás, Max Cartier, Claudia Cardinale, Nino Castelnuovo, Enzo Fiermonte, Suzy Delair, Paolo Stoppa.
Cinematography: Giuseppe Rotunno
Film Editor: Mario Serandrei
Production Designer: Mario Garbuglia
Original Music: Nino Rota
Written by Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Enrico Medioli
Produced by Giuseppe Bordogni, Goffredo Lombardo
Directed by Luchino Visconti
By 1960 Roberto Rossellini was almost finished with big screen feature work, but Italy’s other neorealist pioneer Luchino Visconti was just getting started on a series of masterpieces.
- 6/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: French poster for Ossessione (1943). Artist: Boris Grinsson.To commemorate the complete retrospective of the films of Luchino Visconti starting today at New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center, I decided to choose my favorite poster for each film in Visconti’s titanic body of work (including the three portmanteau films to which he contributed episodes). For many of his films the range of posters are an embarrassment of riches ranging from tempestuous Italian romanticism and beautifully executed French realism to stark German stylization and wry Polish surrealism. Although I think that Italian romanticism certainly suits Visconti best of all in terms of really representing his work—Averardo Ciriello’s stirring portrait of storm-lashed fishermen for La terra trema being a case in point—it is the more gnomic Polish films that I seem to have gravitated to most. There are eight Polish posters here and what is remarkable is...
- 6/8/2018
- MUBI
Making all of us not in New York jealous yet again, the Film Society of Lincoln Center has partnered with Istituto Luce Cinecittà to present a complete retrospective of Luchino Visconti’s feature films. Most of the Italian master’s work, from “The Leopard” and “Rocco to His brothers” to “Senso” and “Death in Venice,” will be screening on new restorations and imported prints; the series will conclude with a weeklong run of “Ludwig,” playing here on a new 35mm print. Avail yourself of a trailer for the series below.
Visconti’s films are a sensory delight, and “The Leopard” — based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s majestic novel of the same name — is especially acclaimed. His 1963 adaptation, which runs just shy of three hours, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Flsc’s look back at Visconti’s career doesn’t stop there,...
Visconti’s films are a sensory delight, and “The Leopard” — based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s majestic novel of the same name — is especially acclaimed. His 1963 adaptation, which runs just shy of three hours, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection. Flsc’s look back at Visconti’s career doesn’t stop there,...
- 5/31/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
It’s a given that their Main Slate — the fresh, the recently buzzed-about, the mysterious, the anticipated — will be the New York Film Festival’s primary point of attraction for both media coverage and ticket sales. But while a rather fine lineup is, to these eyes, deserving of such treatment, the festival’s latest Revivals section — i.e. “important works from renowned filmmakers that have been digitally remastered, restored, and preserved with the assistance of generous partners,” per their press release — is in a whole other class, one titanic name after another granted a representation that these particular works have so long lacked.
The list speaks for itself, even (or especially) if you’re more likely to recognize a director than title. Included therein are films by Andrei Tarkovsky (The Sacrifice), Hou Hsiao-hsien (Daughter of the Nile, a personal favorite), Pedro Costa (Casa de Lava; trailer here), Jean-Luc Godard (the rarely seen,...
The list speaks for itself, even (or especially) if you’re more likely to recognize a director than title. Included therein are films by Andrei Tarkovsky (The Sacrifice), Hou Hsiao-hsien (Daughter of the Nile, a personal favorite), Pedro Costa (Casa de Lava; trailer here), Jean-Luc Godard (the rarely seen,...
- 8/21/2017
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
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
This time on the podcast, Scott is joined by David Blakeslee and Trevor Berrett to discuss Luchino Visconti’s Senso.
About the film:
This lush, Technicolor tragic romance from Luchino Visconti stars Alida Valli as a nineteenth-century Italian countess who, during the Austrian occupation of her country, puts her marriage and political principles on the line by engaging in a torrid affair with a dashing Austrian lieutenant, played by Farley Granger. Gilded with ornate costumes and sets and a rich classical soundtrack, and featuring fearless performances, this operatic melodrama is an extraordinary evocation of reckless emotions and deranged lust, from one of the cinema’s great sensualists.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Buy The Film On Amazon:
Watch Criterion’s Three Reasons Video:
Episode Links:
Senso (1954) – The Criterion Collection Senso and Sensibility – The Criterion Collection Senso (1954) – IMDb Senso – Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia Roger Ebert’s Great...
About the film:
This lush, Technicolor tragic romance from Luchino Visconti stars Alida Valli as a nineteenth-century Italian countess who, during the Austrian occupation of her country, puts her marriage and political principles on the line by engaging in a torrid affair with a dashing Austrian lieutenant, played by Farley Granger. Gilded with ornate costumes and sets and a rich classical soundtrack, and featuring fearless performances, this operatic melodrama is an extraordinary evocation of reckless emotions and deranged lust, from one of the cinema’s great sensualists.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Buy The Film On Amazon:
Watch Criterion’s Three Reasons Video:
Episode Links:
Senso (1954) – The Criterion Collection Senso and Sensibility – The Criterion Collection Senso (1954) – IMDb Senso – Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia Roger Ebert’s Great...
- 7/14/2015
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Honorary Oscars 2014: Hayao Miyazaki, Jean-Claude Carrière, and Maureen O’Hara; Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award goes to Harry Belafonte One good thing about the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Governors Awards — an expedient way to remove the time-consuming presentation of the (nearly) annual Honorary Oscar from the TV ratings-obsessed, increasingly youth-oriented Oscar show — is that each year up to four individuals can be named Honorary Oscar recipients, thus giving a better chance for the Academy to honor film industry veterans while they’re still on Planet Earth. (See at the bottom of this post a partial list of those who have gone to the Great Beyond, without having ever received a single Oscar statuette.) In 2014, the Academy’s Board of Governors has selected a formidable trio of honorees: Japanese artist and filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, 73; French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, 82; and Irish-born Hollywood actress Maureen O’Hara,...
- 8/29/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
DVD Release Date: Dec. 11, 2012
Price: DVD $49.98
Studio: Entertainment One
Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider star in Visconti's 1972 epic Ludwig.
Luchino Visconti: Four Films is a five-disc collection that spotlights a quartet of the great Italian filmmaker’s works that span nearly three decades.
Through an impressive and highly acclaimed canon, Luchino Visconti (Senso, Conversation Piece) contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking, earned him the title of “Father of Neorealism” in the process.
The collection’s four films include the following:
La Terra Trema (1948): This a haunting film uses the early neorealism format developed by Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to trace the doom and disintegration of one Sicilian fishing family. Winner of the International Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the movie was a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it ran theatrically in 1965,
Bellissima (1951): Anna Magnani...
Price: DVD $49.98
Studio: Entertainment One
Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider star in Visconti's 1972 epic Ludwig.
Luchino Visconti: Four Films is a five-disc collection that spotlights a quartet of the great Italian filmmaker’s works that span nearly three decades.
Through an impressive and highly acclaimed canon, Luchino Visconti (Senso, Conversation Piece) contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking, earned him the title of “Father of Neorealism” in the process.
The collection’s four films include the following:
La Terra Trema (1948): This a haunting film uses the early neorealism format developed by Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to trace the doom and disintegration of one Sicilian fishing family. Winner of the International Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the movie was a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it ran theatrically in 1965,
Bellissima (1951): Anna Magnani...
- 11/30/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
14th Mumbai Film Festival (Mff) announced its complete lineup today in a press conference. Mff will be held from October 18th to 25th at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Ncpa) and Inox, Nariman Point, Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines as the main festival venues and Cinemax, Andheri and Cinemax Sion as the satellite venues. Click here to watch trailers and highlights from the festival.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
Here is the complete list of films to be screened during the festival (October 18-25)
International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors
1. From Tuesday To Tuesday (De Martes A Martes)
Dir.: Gustavo Fernandez Triviño (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 111′)
2. The Last Elvis (El Último Elvis)
Dir.: Armando Bo (Argentina / 2012 / Col. / 91′)
3. The Sapphires
Dir.: Wayne Blair (Australia / 2012 / Col. / 103′)
4. The Wall (Die Wand)
Dir.: Julian Pölsler (Austria-Germany / 2012 / Col. / 108′)
5. Teddy Bear (10 timer til Paradis)
Dir.: Mads Matthiesen (Denmark / 2012 / Col. / 93′)
6. Augustine
Dir.: Alice Winccour (France / 2012 / Col.
- 9/24/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Blu-ray Release Date: April 10, 2011
Price: Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Raro Video
Burt Lancaster stars in Luchino Visconti's 1974 drama Conversation Piece.
Italian DVD label Raro Video releases the 1974 drama Conversation Piece, Luchino Visconti’s (Senso) penultimate film, one month after issuing the film on DVD in early March, 2012.
Entitled Gruppo di famiglia in un interno in its native Italian, the movie examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa Silvana Mangano, Dune) and her companions – her lover (Helmut Berger, The Romantic Englishwoman), her daughter (Claudia Marsani, The Hired Gun), and jer daughter’s boyfriend (Stefano Patrizi, Lion of the Desert) – he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his home. Before long, the introverted professor’s routine is turned upside down and...
Price: Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Raro Video
Burt Lancaster stars in Luchino Visconti's 1974 drama Conversation Piece.
Italian DVD label Raro Video releases the 1974 drama Conversation Piece, Luchino Visconti’s (Senso) penultimate film, one month after issuing the film on DVD in early March, 2012.
Entitled Gruppo di famiglia in un interno in its native Italian, the movie examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa Silvana Mangano, Dune) and her companions – her lover (Helmut Berger, The Romantic Englishwoman), her daughter (Claudia Marsani, The Hired Gun), and jer daughter’s boyfriend (Stefano Patrizi, Lion of the Desert) – he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his home. Before long, the introverted professor’s routine is turned upside down and...
- 3/23/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Getty Images George Clooney arrives at the 84th Annual Academy Awards.
The 84th annual Academy Awards with host Billy Crystal are being held tonight and Speakeasy is live-blogging the show. We have reporters in the audience, in the press room and at the parties getting the latest on all the events of the night. Stars on hand for the show include George Clooney, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Penelope Ann Miller and Christopher Plummer. Top films in contention include “The Help,...
The 84th annual Academy Awards with host Billy Crystal are being held tonight and Speakeasy is live-blogging the show. We have reporters in the audience, in the press room and at the parties getting the latest on all the events of the night. Stars on hand for the show include George Clooney, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Penelope Ann Miller and Christopher Plummer. Top films in contention include “The Help,...
- 2/26/2012
- by WSJ Staff
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Anna Magnani in (what looks like) Luchino Visconti's Bellissima At the end of Giuseppe Tornatore's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner Cinema Paradiso, small-town projectionist Philippe Noiret has died and the Nuovo Cinema Paradiso has become a pile of rubble. The bratty Italian boy Salvatore Cascio has grown into the classy Frenchman Jacques Perrin (like Noiret, dubbed in Italian), a filmmaker who sits to watch a mysterious reel of film the deceased projectionist had left him. It turns out the reel contains clips from films censored by the prudish local parish priest, whose family values found kisses, embraces, and bare breasts and legs a danger to society. Now, who's doing all that kissing, embracing, and breast/leg-displaying in that film reel? (Please scroll down for the Cinema Paradiso clip.) Here are the ones I recognize: Silvana Mangano and Vittorio Gassman in Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice (1949); Mangano...
- 2/14/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Olive Films
Bernardo Bertolucci’s (The Last Emperor) monumental 1977 film 1900 is both an epic history of 20th century Italy and an intimate portrait of two friends, both born on Jan. 1, 1900.
Set in Bertolucci’s ancestral region of Emilia in Northern Italy, 1900 zeroes in on same-day birthday boys Olmo Dalcò (Gerard Depardieu, Potiche), the son a socialist peasant farmer and Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro, Stone), the son of the fascist landowner. The two youths grow into men (and ultimately old men!) and pass through the upheavals of the modern world, their personal conflicts becoming an allegory of the political turmoil of their ever-changing country.
1900‘s international cast includes Burt Lancaster (Sweet Smell of Success), Donald Sutherland (The Eagle), Sterling Hayden (The Killing), Dominique Sanda (Damnation Alley), Alida Valli (Senso) and Stefania Sandrelli (The Conformist). It’s superlative production credits include cinematography...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Olive Films
Bernardo Bertolucci’s (The Last Emperor) monumental 1977 film 1900 is both an epic history of 20th century Italy and an intimate portrait of two friends, both born on Jan. 1, 1900.
Set in Bertolucci’s ancestral region of Emilia in Northern Italy, 1900 zeroes in on same-day birthday boys Olmo Dalcò (Gerard Depardieu, Potiche), the son a socialist peasant farmer and Alfredo Berlinghieri (Robert De Niro, Stone), the son of the fascist landowner. The two youths grow into men (and ultimately old men!) and pass through the upheavals of the modern world, their personal conflicts becoming an allegory of the political turmoil of their ever-changing country.
1900‘s international cast includes Burt Lancaster (Sweet Smell of Success), Donald Sutherland (The Eagle), Sterling Hayden (The Killing), Dominique Sanda (Damnation Alley), Alida Valli (Senso) and Stefania Sandrelli (The Conformist). It’s superlative production credits include cinematography...
- 2/14/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 24, 2012
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Criterion
Marcello Mastroianni urges disgruntled textile workers to unite in 1963's The Organizer.
Directed by Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), the 1963 Italian period film The Organizer stars the great Marcello Mastroianni (Marriage Italian Style).
Set in turn-of-the-20th-century Turin, the movie looks at how an accident in a textile factory incites workers to stage a walkout. But it’s not until they receive unexpected aid from a traveling professor (Mastroianni) that they find a voice, unite and stand up for themselves.
A carefully crafted historical film stunningly shot by master cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno (Senso), The Organizer is filled with a surprising amount of humor and is ultimately an effective ode to the power of the people.
Criterion’s new high-definition digital restoration of the drama movie features an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition.
The Blu-ray and DVD...
Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Criterion
Marcello Mastroianni urges disgruntled textile workers to unite in 1963's The Organizer.
Directed by Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), the 1963 Italian period film The Organizer stars the great Marcello Mastroianni (Marriage Italian Style).
Set in turn-of-the-20th-century Turin, the movie looks at how an accident in a textile factory incites workers to stage a walkout. But it’s not until they receive unexpected aid from a traveling professor (Mastroianni) that they find a voice, unite and stand up for themselves.
A carefully crafted historical film stunningly shot by master cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno (Senso), The Organizer is filled with a surprising amount of humor and is ultimately an effective ode to the power of the people.
Criterion’s new high-definition digital restoration of the drama movie features an uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition.
The Blu-ray and DVD...
- 1/23/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
"TCM Remembers 2011" is out. Remembered by Turner Classic Movies are many of those in the film world who left us this past year. As always, this latest "TCM Remembers" entry is a classy, immensely moving compilation. The haunting background song is "Before You Go," by Ok Sweetheart.
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
Among those featured in "TCM Remembers 2011" are Farley Granger, the star of Luchino Visconti's Senso and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers on a Train; Oscar-nominated Australian actress Diane Cilento (Tom Jones, Hombre), formerly married to Sean Connery; and two-time Oscar nominee Peter Falk (Murder, Inc., Pocketful of Miracles, The Great Race), best remembered as television's Columbo. Or, for those into arthouse fare, for playing an angel in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire.
Also, Jane Russell, whose cleavage and sensuous lips in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw left the puritans of the Production Code Association apoplectic; another Australian performer, Googie Withers, among...
- 12/14/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Release Date: Oct. 11, 2011
Price: Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino
Anita Ekberg is all smiles in Boccaccio '70
Four legendary Italian filmmakers direct some of Europe’s biggest stars in the landmark 1962 anthology comedy-drama film Boccaccio’70.
Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), Federico Fellini (The Clowns) Luchino Visconti (Senso) and Vittorio De Sica (Shoeshine) direct Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider and many others through a quartet of titillating stories filled with unabashed eros. Modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, the four are comic moral tales about the hypocrisies surrounding sex in 1960s Italy.
Monicelli’s “Renzo e Luciana” (cut out of the original American release) is a tale of young love and office politics in the big city. Fellini’s notorious “Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio” features Ekberg as a busty model in a milk advertisement whose image begins to haunt an aging prude. Visconti’s “Il Lavoro” stars Romy Schneider as...
Price: Blu-ray $34.95
Studio: Kino
Anita Ekberg is all smiles in Boccaccio '70
Four legendary Italian filmmakers direct some of Europe’s biggest stars in the landmark 1962 anthology comedy-drama film Boccaccio’70.
Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), Federico Fellini (The Clowns) Luchino Visconti (Senso) and Vittorio De Sica (Shoeshine) direct Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider and many others through a quartet of titillating stories filled with unabashed eros. Modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, the four are comic moral tales about the hypocrisies surrounding sex in 1960s Italy.
Monicelli’s “Renzo e Luciana” (cut out of the original American release) is a tale of young love and office politics in the big city. Fellini’s notorious “Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio” features Ekberg as a busty model in a milk advertisement whose image begins to haunt an aging prude. Visconti’s “Il Lavoro” stars Romy Schneider as...
- 10/1/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
We are half-way through 2011. This Tuesday marks the release of the last three June titles that Criterion is releasing: Zazie Dans Le Metro, Black Moon, and People On Sunday. We thought that we’d take some time out of our busy lives to reflect upon the past six months of releases (34 releases, not including the Eclipse sets) from the Criterion Collection, and share our thoughts on our favorite releases.
Top Ten lists are usually formed around the end of the year, but it’s a nice exercise to keep those titles that were released in the first half, so we don’t fall prey to our short attention spans and heap praise on those titles that were released closer to the winter.
When I proposed this assignment to the group, I just asked for their “X” favorite titles of 2011 so far, with very little direction given as to how many to choose,...
Top Ten lists are usually formed around the end of the year, but it’s a nice exercise to keep those titles that were released in the first half, so we don’t fall prey to our short attention spans and heap praise on those titles that were released closer to the winter.
When I proposed this assignment to the group, I just asked for their “X” favorite titles of 2011 so far, with very little direction given as to how many to choose,...
- 6/27/2011
- 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
We look back at Farley Granger's movie career, from the two masterpieces he made with Alfred Hitchcock to Luchino Visconti's operatic melodrama Senso
Spotted doing a cockney accent in a play while still at high school, Farley Granger was signed to a seven-year deal by MGM in 1943 and soon put to work alongside Anne Baxter and Dana Andrews in The North Star, a pro-Soviet war film about the sufferings of a Ukrainian village under the Nazi yoke.
With a script by blacklistee Lillian Hellman, The North Star – later reissued under the title Armored Attack! – was cited by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as a prime example of Hollywood communist propaganda.
After one more film – The Purple Heart (1944) – and a spell in the navy where he discovered his bisexuality, Granger found himself cast in what would become his breakthrough film, They Live by Night. Shot in 1947, Nicholas Ray...
Spotted doing a cockney accent in a play while still at high school, Farley Granger was signed to a seven-year deal by MGM in 1943 and soon put to work alongside Anne Baxter and Dana Andrews in The North Star, a pro-Soviet war film about the sufferings of a Ukrainian village under the Nazi yoke.
With a script by blacklistee Lillian Hellman, The North Star – later reissued under the title Armored Attack! – was cited by the House Committee on Un-American Activities as a prime example of Hollywood communist propaganda.
After one more film – The Purple Heart (1944) – and a spell in the navy where he discovered his bisexuality, Granger found himself cast in what would become his breakthrough film, They Live by Night. Shot in 1947, Nicholas Ray...
- 3/30/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood veteran Farley Granger has died at the age of 85. The actor, best known for his collaborations with legendary moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock, passed away on Monday, March 28 in New York. His death has been attributed to natural causes, according to E! Online.
Granger started his career in a theater in his native California, where he was discovered by Hollywood heavyweight Samuel Goldwyn and handed a studio contract, which led to roles in "The North Star" (1943) and "The Purple Heart" (1944). He stepped away from Hollywood when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy but later returned to the movie business after serving in Hawaii and he went on to win a role in Hitchcock's classic 1948 thriller "Rope", with James Stewart.
Granger later re-teamed with the director for arguably his most famous film role in 1951's "Strangers on a Train". He went on to make films including "Senso", "The Naked Street" and...
Granger started his career in a theater in his native California, where he was discovered by Hollywood heavyweight Samuel Goldwyn and handed a studio contract, which led to roles in "The North Star" (1943) and "The Purple Heart" (1944). He stepped away from Hollywood when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy but later returned to the movie business after serving in Hawaii and he went on to win a role in Hitchcock's classic 1948 thriller "Rope", with James Stewart.
Granger later re-teamed with the director for arguably his most famous film role in 1951's "Strangers on a Train". He went on to make films including "Senso", "The Naked Street" and...
- 3/30/2011
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The Los Angeles Times reports that Farley Granger passed away Sunday of natural causes at his home in Manhattan. The star of many films, including the classic film noir "They Live By Night," was 85 years old.
Today Granger is probably best remembered as the star of two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers: 1948's "Rope" and 1951's "Strangers on a Train." Hitchcock himself wasn't the biggest fan of Granger's work, at least in his own movies. In their book-length interview he told director Francois Truffaut he "wasn't too pleased with Farley Granger; he's a good actor, but I would have liked to see William Holden in the part because he's stronger." Truffaut rightfully came to Granger's aid, pointing out that part of the reason "Strangers on a Train" works is that Granger downplayed the part of Guy in order to make his opposite number in the film, Robert Walker as the psychotic killer Bruno,...
Today Granger is probably best remembered as the star of two of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers: 1948's "Rope" and 1951's "Strangers on a Train." Hitchcock himself wasn't the biggest fan of Granger's work, at least in his own movies. In their book-length interview he told director Francois Truffaut he "wasn't too pleased with Farley Granger; he's a good actor, but I would have liked to see William Holden in the part because he's stronger." Truffaut rightfully came to Granger's aid, pointing out that part of the reason "Strangers on a Train" works is that Granger downplayed the part of Guy in order to make his opposite number in the film, Robert Walker as the psychotic killer Bruno,...
- 3/30/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Actor who rose to fame in Hitchcock's Rope and Strangers On a Train, but refused to conform to Hollywood pressures
Early on in his career, the actor Farley Granger, who has died aged 85, worked with several of the world's greatest directors, including Alfred Hitchcock on Rope (1948) and Strangers On a Train (1951), Nicholas Ray on They Live By Night (1949) and Luchino Visconti on Senso (1953). Yet Granger failed to sustain the momentum of those years, meandering into television, some stage work and often indifferent European and American movies.
The reasons were complicated, owing much to his sexuality and an unwillingness to conform to Hollywood pressures, notably from his contract studio, MGM, and Samuel Goldwyn. Granger refused to play the publicity or marrying game common among gay and bisexual stars and turned down roles he considered unsuitable, earning a reputation – in his own words – for being "a naughty boy".
He was also the victim of bad luck,...
Early on in his career, the actor Farley Granger, who has died aged 85, worked with several of the world's greatest directors, including Alfred Hitchcock on Rope (1948) and Strangers On a Train (1951), Nicholas Ray on They Live By Night (1949) and Luchino Visconti on Senso (1953). Yet Granger failed to sustain the momentum of those years, meandering into television, some stage work and often indifferent European and American movies.
The reasons were complicated, owing much to his sexuality and an unwillingness to conform to Hollywood pressures, notably from his contract studio, MGM, and Samuel Goldwyn. Granger refused to play the publicity or marrying game common among gay and bisexual stars and turned down roles he considered unsuitable, earning a reputation – in his own words – for being "a naughty boy".
He was also the victim of bad luck,...
- 3/29/2011
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Strangers on a Train actor Farley Granger has died in New York City at age 85, it has been confirmed. The star died at his Manhattan home of natural causes on Sunday, a spokesperson for the New York medical examiner's office told The AP. Over the course of his seven-decade career, Granger worked with some of the most acclaimed directors in world cinema including Alfred Hitchcock on the thriller Rope and Luchino Visconti on 1954's Senso. The San Jose, CA native suffered a difficult childhood after his family lost their home following the 1929 stock market crash and later turned to acting to escape relative poverty. (more)...
- 3/29/2011
- by By Justin Harp
- Digital Spy
"Farley Granger, best known for the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers Rope (1948) and Strangers on a Train (1951), and for Luchino Visconti's period romantic drama Senso (1954), has died," reports Andre Soares at the Alt Film Guide. "Granger's big break came when the independent producer [Samuel Goldwyn] cast him in Nicholas Ray's film noir They Live by Night (1949), in which the 24-year-old played a rebellious young man opposite minor leading lady Cathy O'Donnell."
Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter: "In 2007, Granger published a memoir, Include Me Out, in which he told of being bisexual, documenting affairs with Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner and Patricia Neal as well as playwright Arthur Laurents and a two-night fling with Leonard Bernstein. Since the 1960s, he lived with his longtime partner Robert Calhoun, a soap opera producer, who died three years ago."
Bilge Ebiri has "been reading James Kaplan's pretty great biography Sinatra: The Voice, and there is,...
Duane Byrge in the Hollywood Reporter: "In 2007, Granger published a memoir, Include Me Out, in which he told of being bisexual, documenting affairs with Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner and Patricia Neal as well as playwright Arthur Laurents and a two-night fling with Leonard Bernstein. Since the 1960s, he lived with his longtime partner Robert Calhoun, a soap opera producer, who died three years ago."
Bilge Ebiri has "been reading James Kaplan's pretty great biography Sinatra: The Voice, and there is,...
- 3/29/2011
- MUBI
Another film legend and link to Hollywood’s great past has left us - Farley Granger has died, aged 85.
He passed away on Sunday of natural causes at his home in Manhattan.
My indelible memories of Granger are from his two works with one of my favourite directors, proving to be an early casting success story in Alfred Hitchcock’s career. Hitch used him twice, both times as seemingly well-to-do young men who through that little devil on his shoulder, giving into seduction and through tapping into that darker side we all we have within us, became not completely as wholesome as his boyish good looks and well-mannered demeanor would suggest.
He is of course more sympathetic in Strangers on a Train as Guy Haines, a guy who unknowingly to him after making a throw-a-way comment to Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train about wishing his adulterous wife was dead,...
He passed away on Sunday of natural causes at his home in Manhattan.
My indelible memories of Granger are from his two works with one of my favourite directors, proving to be an early casting success story in Alfred Hitchcock’s career. Hitch used him twice, both times as seemingly well-to-do young men who through that little devil on his shoulder, giving into seduction and through tapping into that darker side we all we have within us, became not completely as wholesome as his boyish good looks and well-mannered demeanor would suggest.
He is of course more sympathetic in Strangers on a Train as Guy Haines, a guy who unknowingly to him after making a throw-a-way comment to Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train about wishing his adulterous wife was dead,...
- 3/29/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Best known for lead roles in two of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous films, Strangers On A Train (1951) and Rope (1948), Mr. Granger had a long career that included starring roles in several Film Noirs including the classic They Live By Night (1948). Mr. Granger spent time in Europe where he starred in Lucio Visconti’s Senso (1954 – which screened at this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival). Granger appeared in the sleazy Giallos So Sweet So Dead (1972 – Aka: The Slasher Is A Sex Maniac) and Amuck (1972) and, back in the states, the 80′s slasher standard The Prowler (1980). Farley Granger was 85.
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Farley Granger, who played the likable tennis pro who was thrust into a murder exchange in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train in 1951, died Sunday of natural causes in New York. He was 85.
Two years earlier in 1948, Granger had won acclaim for another Hitchcock murder thriller,...
From The Hollywood Reporter:
Farley Granger, who played the likable tennis pro who was thrust into a murder exchange in Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train in 1951, died Sunday of natural causes in New York. He was 85.
Two years earlier in 1948, Granger had won acclaim for another Hitchcock murder thriller,...
- 3/29/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Hollywood veteran Farley Granger has died at the age of 85.
The actor, best known for his collaborations with legendary moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock, passed away on Monday in New York. His death has been attributed to natural causes, according to E! Online.
Granger started his career in a theatre in his native California, where he was discovered by Hollywood heavyweight Samuel Goldwyn and handed a studio contract, which led to roles in The North Star (1943) and The Purple Heart (1944).
He stepped away from Hollywood when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy but later returned to the movie business after serving in Hawaii and he went on to win a role in Hitchcock's classic 1948 thriller Rope, with James Stewart.
Granger later re-teamed with the director for arguably his most famous film role in 1951's Strangers on a Train. He went on to make films including Senso, The Naked Street and The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, and appeared on TV shows and in theatre.
He opened up about his Hollywood career and his personal life in his 2008 memoir Include Me Out: My Life From Goldwyn to Broadway, revealing his relationships with men and women, including Ava Gardner, Shelly Winters, composer Leonard Bernstein and famed playwright Arthur Laurents, who wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's Rope.
Granger's longterm partner, soap opera producer Robert Calhoun, died in 2008.
The actor, best known for his collaborations with legendary moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock, passed away on Monday in New York. His death has been attributed to natural causes, according to E! Online.
Granger started his career in a theatre in his native California, where he was discovered by Hollywood heavyweight Samuel Goldwyn and handed a studio contract, which led to roles in The North Star (1943) and The Purple Heart (1944).
He stepped away from Hollywood when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy but later returned to the movie business after serving in Hawaii and he went on to win a role in Hitchcock's classic 1948 thriller Rope, with James Stewart.
Granger later re-teamed with the director for arguably his most famous film role in 1951's Strangers on a Train. He went on to make films including Senso, The Naked Street and The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, and appeared on TV shows and in theatre.
He opened up about his Hollywood career and his personal life in his 2008 memoir Include Me Out: My Life From Goldwyn to Broadway, revealing his relationships with men and women, including Ava Gardner, Shelly Winters, composer Leonard Bernstein and famed playwright Arthur Laurents, who wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's Rope.
Granger's longterm partner, soap opera producer Robert Calhoun, died in 2008.
- 3/29/2011
- WENN
Actor Farley Granger has died aged 85. Granger was known for bringing a surprising vulnerability to performances that could have otherwise been dismissed as bland handsome leading man roles.
Granger is best known for his work on two of Alfred Hitchcock's acclaimed thrillers - 1948's "Rope" and 1951's "Strangers on a Train". He also worked on at least three dozen features including Lewis Milestone's 1944 war film "The Purple Heart", Nicholas Ray's 1949 film noir "They Live by Night" and Luchino Visconti's 1954 period romantic drama "Senso".
The actor came out about his bisexuality in a 2007 memoir and revealed his affairs with the likes of Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner and Patricia Neal as well as playwright Arthur Laurents and musician Leonard Bernstein. He lived with his longtime partner Robert Calhoun since the 1960's through to Calhoun's death three years ago.
Granger is best known for his work on two of Alfred Hitchcock's acclaimed thrillers - 1948's "Rope" and 1951's "Strangers on a Train". He also worked on at least three dozen features including Lewis Milestone's 1944 war film "The Purple Heart", Nicholas Ray's 1949 film noir "They Live by Night" and Luchino Visconti's 1954 period romantic drama "Senso".
The actor came out about his bisexuality in a 2007 memoir and revealed his affairs with the likes of Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner and Patricia Neal as well as playwright Arthur Laurents and musician Leonard Bernstein. He lived with his longtime partner Robert Calhoun since the 1960's through to Calhoun's death three years ago.
- 3/29/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Alida Valli, Farley Granger in Luchino Visconti's Senso Farley Granger Dies: Rope, Senso, Strangers On A Train A lengthy big-screen hiatus followed, as Farley Granger's on-camera appearances became restricted to television work. He eventually returned to features in the late '60s, almost invariably in European productions. During that time, he was featured in several Euro-Westerns and horror/gialli (mix of violence and sex) productions. Among the Westerns were My Name Is Trinity (1970) and The Man Called Noon (1973); Granger's gialli and horror flicks included Something Is Crawling in the Dark (1971), Amuck (1972), The Red Headed Corpse (1972), and So Sweet, So Dead (1972). According to the IMDb, Granger's last feature-film role was in P. J. Posner's dramatic comedy The Next Big Thing in 2001. In addition to his film and TV work, Granger also appeared on Broadway in The Glass Menagerie, The Seagull, The Crucible, and Deathtrap. In 1966, he won [...]...
- 3/29/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Farley Granger in Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (top); Farley Granger, Robert Walker in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (bottom) Farley Granger, best known for the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers Rope (1948) and Strangers on a Train (1951), and for Luchino Visconti's period romantic drama Senso (1954), has died. Variety reports that Granger, who was 85, died of "natural causes" in New York City. One of the best-looking men to have a career in movies, Granger (born in San Jose, Calif., on July 1, 1925) was a Samuel Goldwyn discovery of the 1940s. Granger's big break came when the independent producer cast him in Nicholas Ray's film noir They Live by Night (1949), in which the 24-year-old played a rebellious young man opposite minor leading lady Cathy O'Donnell, best remembered for Goldwyn's own The Best Years of Our Lives. Granger developed a following, but he was never to become a major screen star. His work [...]...
- 3/29/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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
An operatic fusion of romance and history, Luchino Visconti’s 1954 drama Senso was the first Italian film shot in three-strip Technicolor, and the images’ texture—vibrantly colorful, yet soft and almost smudgy—complements the movie’s delirious passions. It isn’t enough to call its story about an Italian countess and an Austrian lieutenant in 19th-century Venice a star-crossed love affair, because that misses its scope. Senso is about love’s power to degrade, compromise, and humiliate those who submit themselves to it, no matter how strong their connections to family, country, or principle. Visconti doesn’t do enough ...
- 3/9/2011
- avclub.com
Reviewer: Jeffrey M Anderson
Rating (out of 5): *****
The essayist Phillip Lopate came up with a perfect phrase for Luchino Visconti's style: operatic realism. Like his contemporaries Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, Visconti experimented with a realistic style, though it can be argued that he made only one genuine "Italian Neo-Realist" film, La Terra Trema (1948). Visconti was interested in adding personal flourishes to his films in addition to the realism and the social commentary, and his films eventually grew bigger and showier through the decades, while focusing on more personal themes.
It can be argued that 1954's Senso (1954) is the culmination of Visconti's work, the perfect collision of style, themes and look --and perhaps his greatest film.
...
Rating (out of 5): *****
The essayist Phillip Lopate came up with a perfect phrase for Luchino Visconti's style: operatic realism. Like his contemporaries Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica, Visconti experimented with a realistic style, though it can be argued that he made only one genuine "Italian Neo-Realist" film, La Terra Trema (1948). Visconti was interested in adding personal flourishes to his films in addition to the realism and the social commentary, and his films eventually grew bigger and showier through the decades, while focusing on more personal themes.
It can be argued that 1954's Senso (1954) is the culmination of Visconti's work, the perfect collision of style, themes and look --and perhaps his greatest film.
...
- 3/4/2011
- by underdog
- GreenCine
Director: Luchino Visconti Writers: Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Carlo Alianello, Tennessee Williams, Giorgio Bassani, Paul Bowles, Giorgio Prosperi Cinematographers: G.R. Aldo and Robert Krasker Starring: Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Heinz Moog, Rina Morelli Studio/Runtime: Criterion/123 mins. Arguably the first movie that could be called Italian Neo-realist was Luchino Visconti’s Ossesione, which he then followed up with two more features in the same tradition. But as the war that fostered the movement faded into the past Visconti radically shifted his style with Senso. Where neo-realism focused on the poor, here he brought his spotlight to aristrocrats. Where neo-realism...
- 3/1/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
DVD Playhouse—March 2011
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
By
Allen Gardner
127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.
Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...
- 3/1/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Despite the fact that virtually none of the week’s releases are related in any way to the Academy Awards, whose annual ceremony takes place next Sunday, February 27, there are a lot of new DVDs and Blu-rays being released this week that are well worth consumers’ attention. As per usual, there are several new releases coming to home video for the first time, a few perennial favorites finding their way onto high-definition formats, and a few rediscoveries of obscure or...
- 2/22/2011
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
"Senso (1954) has long been the least seen of Luchino Visconti's masterworks, mainly because the original three-strip Technicolor negative has shrunk, making it impossible to render Visconti's painterly hues with any measure of accuracy," writes Dave Kehr in the New York Times. "But now, the miracle of digital restoration, as financed by the Film Foundation and performed by the Cineteca di Bologna, has brought this great, cold, morbid film back to life for a new high-definition transfer released in the United States by the Criterion Collection."...
- 2/22/2011
- MUBI
Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
Drive Angry – Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner
Hall Pass – Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate
Shelter – Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn (limited)
Movie of the Week
Hall Pass
The Stars: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate
The Plot: A married man (Wilson) is granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife.
The Buzz: I’m happy to see, after a four-year hiatus, the Farrelly Brothers are back (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Shallow Hal) — it’s also nice to see Owen Wilson back to his regular Hollywood hard-working self. I didn’t think the red-band trailer for Hall Pass was as funny as the green-band, but I am still holding out hope that the Farrelly’s and Mr. Wilson are as good a match-up in reality as they are on paper. The supporting cast looks solid, with Jason Sudeikis,...
Drive Angry – Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner
Hall Pass – Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate
Shelter – Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn (limited)
Movie of the Week
Hall Pass
The Stars: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate
The Plot: A married man (Wilson) is granted the opportunity to have an affair by his wife.
The Buzz: I’m happy to see, after a four-year hiatus, the Farrelly Brothers are back (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Shallow Hal) — it’s also nice to see Owen Wilson back to his regular Hollywood hard-working self. I didn’t think the red-band trailer for Hall Pass was as funny as the green-band, but I am still holding out hope that the Farrelly’s and Mr. Wilson are as good a match-up in reality as they are on paper. The supporting cast looks solid, with Jason Sudeikis,...
- 2/22/2011
- by Aaron Ruffcorn
- The Scorecard Review
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"Black Lightning" (2009)
Directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and Aleksandr Voytinskiy
Released by Universal Studios
"Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov produced this Russian action flick about a man and his flying car, using the same effects team that worked on all of his previous films including "Night Watch." A Russian trailer is here since where we're going, we don't need to understand words.
"7th Hunt" (2010)
Directed by Jon Cohen
Released by Vanguard Cinema
A motley group of young adults are abducted and forced to fend for their survival at an abandoned military training center in the middle of nowhere in Jon Cohen's thriller.
"Alien Vs. Ninja" (2010)
Directed by Seiji Chiba
Released by Funimation
A selection of last year's New York Asian Film Festival, Seiji Chiba's crazy genre mashup may just be "the best and wittiest movie ever to air at 2am on the SyFy Channel" in the future,...
"Black Lightning" (2009)
Directed by Dmitriy Kiselev and Aleksandr Voytinskiy
Released by Universal Studios
"Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov produced this Russian action flick about a man and his flying car, using the same effects team that worked on all of his previous films including "Night Watch." A Russian trailer is here since where we're going, we don't need to understand words.
"7th Hunt" (2010)
Directed by Jon Cohen
Released by Vanguard Cinema
A motley group of young adults are abducted and forced to fend for their survival at an abandoned military training center in the middle of nowhere in Jon Cohen's thriller.
"Alien Vs. Ninja" (2010)
Directed by Seiji Chiba
Released by Funimation
A selection of last year's New York Asian Film Festival, Seiji Chiba's crazy genre mashup may just be "the best and wittiest movie ever to air at 2am on the SyFy Channel" in the future,...
- 2/21/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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