Luna (1979) La luna (original title)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Franco Arcalli (story) &
Bernardo Bertolucci (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

30 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

While touring in Italy, a recently-widowed American opera singer has an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old son to help him overcome his heroin addiction.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Heroin | Diva | Verdi | Opera Singer

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Jill Clayburgh	...	Caterina Silveri
Matthew Barry	...	Joe Silveri
Veronica Lazar	...	Marina
Renato Salvatori	...	Communist
Fred Gwynne	...	Douglas Winter
Alida Valli	...	Giuseppe's Mother
Elisabetta Campeti	...	Arianna
Franco Citti	...	Man in Bar
Roberto Benigni	...	Upholsterer
Carlo Verdone	...	Director of Caracalla
Peter Eyre	...	Edward
Mustapha Barat	...	Mustafa (as Stéphane Barat)
Pippo Campanini	...	Innkeeper
Rodolfo Lodi	...	Maestro Giancarlo Calo
Sara Di Nepi	...	Concetta (as Shara Di Nepi)
Jole Silvani	...	Wardrobe Mistress (as Iole Silvani)
Francesco Mei	...	Barman
Ronaldo Bonacchi	...	Barmen
Mimmo Poli	...	Piano Mover
Massimiliano Filoni	...	Piano Mover
Alessio	...	Caracalla Conductor
Tomas Milian	...	Giuseppe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Julian Adamoli	...	Julian (uncredited)
Laura Betti	...	Ludovica (uncredited)
Iole Cecchini	...	Opera Hairdresser (uncredited)
Liana Del Balzo	...	Maestro's Sister (uncredited)
Franco Magrini	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Nicola Nicoloso	...	Tenor in 'Il travatore' (uncredited)
Fabrizio Polverini	...	Driver (uncredited)
Enzo Siciliano	...	Orchestra Conductor in Rome (uncredited)
Mario Tocci	...	Conte di Luna in 'Il Travatore' (uncredited)

Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci

Writing credits
Franco Arcalli		(story) &
Bernardo Bertolucci		(story) &
Giuseppe Bertolucci		(story)
Giuseppe Bertolucci		(writer) &
Clare Peploe		(writer) &
Bernardo Bertolucci		(writer)

Produced by
Giovanni Bertolucci	....	producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Vittorio Storaro

Film Editing by
Gabriella Cristiani

Art Direction by
Maria Paola Maino
Gianni Silvestri

Costume Design by
Lina Nerli Taviani		(as Lina Taviani)

Makeup Department
Giuseppe Banchelli	....	makeup artist
Iole Cecchini	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Mario Di Biase	....	production manager
Augusto Marabelli	....	unit manager
Alessandro Mattei	....	unit manager
Pietro Sassaroli	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gabriele Polverosi	....	assistant director
Jirges Ristum	....	assistant director
Giuseppe Bertolucci	....	assistant director (uncredited?)

Art Department
Beatrice Caracciolo	....	assistant art director
Tiziana Cassoni	....	assistant art director
Ferdinando Giovannoni	....	set designer
Luigi Marchione	....	assistant art director (as Luigi Silvio Marchione)

Sound Department
Fausto Ancillai	....	dubbing mixer
Michael Billingsley	....	sound editor
Mario Dallimonti	....	sound recordist
Alessandro Peticca	....	assistant sound editor (as Sandro Peticca)
Corrado Volpicelli	....	boom operator
Maurice Schell	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Piero Bargellini	....	special effects consultant

Camera and Electrical Department
Enrico Umetelli	....	camera operator
Mustapha Barat	....	camera trainee (uncredited)
Brian Hamill	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Alberico Novelli	....	electrician (uncredited)

Other crew
Walter Alford	....	unit publicist: USA
Lilletta Bertolucci	....	unit publicist: Italy
Solly V. Bianco	....	production administrator
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	continuity (as Suzanne Durremberger)
Idalah Luria	....	dialogue coach
George Malko	....	english dialogues (uncredited)

Thanks
Franco Arcalli	....	film dedicated to

Production Companies

• Fiction Cinematografica S.p.a.
• 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (co-production)

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dolmen Home Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2006) (Germany) (DVD)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Belgium) (DVD)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)
• Video Search of Miami (2009) (USA) (DVD) (English-track)

Other Companies

• Annamode 68  wardrobe supplier
• Cine Audio Effects  Sound
• Cinecittà  sound recording
• Helietta Caracciolo  jewelry
• Pino Lancetti  Clayburgh's costumes
• Saro Lo Turco  opera set designer
• Scenopam  opera sets
• Technovision  lenses

Also Known As:

"La luna" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | France:-16 | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Portugal:M/18 | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Fiction Cinematografica S.p.a.

Trivia:

Dedicated to Franco Arcalli.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Biography: Fred Gwynne: More Than a Munster" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Night Fever

A beautiful complex film

I found this a stunning and emotionally complex film. If you enjoy films mainly concerning characterisation in which the emotional complexities of human beings are not served up in easily chewable chunks, then you will probably enjoy this film. Even given the above, you might still be disconcerted by the rapid plot changes and narrative swings. Two points are valid here: Bertolucci directed this during the time when he was heavily into psychoanalysis ; and secondly, someone quite lucidly stated that Bertolucci's Spider's Stratagem was a movie with a linear narrative shown in a non-linear manner while La Luna was a movie with a non-linear narrative shown in a linear manner. Viewed in this manner, one can enjoy the film with its many beautifully crafted scenes.

I love how the film presents the craziness of life with its contradictions, multiple meanings and emotional messiness. The irrational and problematic behavior of the characters may make the film harder to follow but seems to me a truer view of life than the explicit logical road map given to audiences in most films.

The film does date itself clearly in the 1970s, so you have to accept some scary clothing moments such as Jill Clayburgh walking out of a building into a bright Rome day wearing sunglasses so big only a comedian would wear them these days. But on the whole this does not distract from the overall effect.

Finally, opera lovers will enjoy the set piece opera scenes which are very ingeniously shot and beautifully staged.