La caduta degli dei (1969)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Nicola Badalucco (story) and
Enrico Medioli (story) ...

Release Date:

18 December 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

The dramatic collapse of a wealthy, industrialist/Junker family during the reign of the Third Reich.

Plot Keywords:

Baron | German | Nazi | Germany | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dirk Bogarde	...	Frederick Bruckmann
Ingrid Thulin	...	Sophie Von Essenbeck
Helmut Griem	...	Aschenbach
Helmut Berger	...	Martin Von Essenbeck
Renaud Verley	...	Gunther Von Essenbeck
Umberto Orsini	...	Herbert Thallman
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Konstantin Von Essenbeck (as René Koldehoff)
Albrecht Schoenhals	...	Joachim Von Essenbeck (as Albrecht Schönhals)
Florinda Bolkan	...	Olga
Nora Ricci	...	Governess
Charlotte Rampling	...	Elisabeth Thallman
Irina Wanka	...	Lisa
Karin Mittendorf	...	Thilde Thallman
Valentina Ricci	...	Erika Thalman
Wolfgang Hillinger	...	Janek

Also Known As:

Die Verdammten (West Germany)
Luchino Visconti's The Damned (USA) (poster title)
The Damned (Götterdämmerung)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, nudity and aberrant sexuality. (edited version)

Runtime:

156 min

Country:

Italy | West Germany

Language:

Italian | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Spain:18 | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (cut version) (1979) | USA:X (original rating) | West Germany:16 | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Attersee, Upper Austria, Austria

Company:

Ital-Noleggio Cinematografico

Trivia:

Footage shot during the "Night of the Long Knives" sequence but never shown previously in the United States is restored in the 2004 DVD release. It is in subtitled German and expands the running time to 156 minutes.

Goofs:

Continuity: The film opens on the night of the Reichstag Fire (27 February 1933). However, later that night (or early the next morning) the police inspector investigating the murder of Joachim, in dictating a report to a secretary, gives the date as 18 February 1933.

Quotes:

Aschenbach: But he who wants to become master of all, even himself, who deludes himself into thinking he is able to make his own decisions to thinking himself. That, no. You don't have these pretensions - right, Martin?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Money Programme (#3.3)" (1972)

Soundtrack:

Nachts ging das Telefon

A Ingrid Thulin Masterpiece

Caduta degli dei, La is one of the most shocking movies in screen history. I truthfully don't believe this film could be made today, it's just too perverted.

Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin of Wild Strawberries fame is fantastic as a ruthless countess who will do anything, and I mean anything to achieve her desires for power. About 44 years old in 1969, Thulin presents a sexy and dangerous screen aura. She's blonde, lanky, and uses her stunning exotic looks and fit body to get what she wants.

This film is very demented, but it's symbolic of the fall of normality in Germany as the Nazi Party gains power. Scenes of gay orgies, nude men, gay cross dressers, and child molestation leave a bitter taste in your mouth. However, Ingrid Thulin's scene in which her sexually mixed-up son strips before her and then tears off her top is even further over the top. Thulin plays the part to perfection and as she lays half-naked in bed both crying tears of agony and moans in excitement, it's an outstanding symbolic scene of the damnation that over-took Germany.

Ingrid Thulin's greatest and most controversial scene role.