Luchino Visconti

[Stefan Andersson]

A good Italian site on Visconti. Site is up for sale, so may not be available forever:
http://www.luchinovisconti.net/

[Stefan Andersson]

A lecture (no subs) on Visconti´s Proust film:
https://vimeo.com/242722039

[tellmewhy]

Has anyone ever heard of any filmed recordings of the theatrical or operatic productions Visconti directed? I've never read of any, but it's the sort of thing that could easily exist in some archive somewhere. It's sort of a fantasy of mine to see, given the ephemerality of theater and also the importance he places on performance in his films (especially in the glorious opening of Senso, but also the masquerades in Ludwig, or even the boxing in Rocco). The apparent artifice of those productions in his movies always seems to me to be some kind of reflection or refraction of the aestheticization he applies to the world.

An even wilder fantasy of mine is to imagine that he could have made a film with Maria Callas, who he directed at least twice at La Scala. Her role in Pasolini's Medea is so magnificent, in my opinion, that it makes me almost angry that we'll never get to see what Visconti did with her. I don't think I'll ever forgive him for not making a film with her!

[domino harvey]

Speaking of (almost a year later…), I just learned Visconti directed Romy Schneider and Alain Delon in a 1961 French stage adaptation of Tis a Pity She’s a Whore and now I can’t help but think how much better a film of that would have been than most of what he’d make from that point onwards

[Fred Holywell]

That production was actually filmed for French TV. IMDb claims Visconti directed it, though it's rarely if ever discussed in writings on his films. Except for some clips on the web, it seems to have mostly disappeared from view.

[domino harvey]

Interesting find. It's hard to believe any film, even a TV capture of a play or otherwise, starring the two and directed by Visconti wouldn't have received theatrical distribution somewhere in the world

[Fred Holywell]

The TV broadcast of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore may have coincided with the play's opening night at the Théâtre de Paris. Or it may have actually been a showing of the play's first performance there. I seem to remember reading something along those lines, but forget the specifics.

I do remember that Visconti directed the production to give Delon some stage experience. He hadn't any at that point, and Visconti thought it would do him well to get in front of a live audience. And, of course, all the publicity surrounding the Schneider-Delon romance couldn't hurt at the box office.

There have been two scenes on YouTube for the past 10 years, but nothing more unless I've missed it. One scene appears to have been shot in the theater, while the other has a studio look. No idea why it never got a wider distribution, or whether the entire film of the play still exits.

[kekid]

Yesterday I saw the Cult version of the L'innocente Blu Ray, and found it stunning. Colors are gorgeous. A great film to exit with.
I was heartbroken when after this I looked at the Criterion version of Death in Venice. I think it is an abomination, and should never have been released. The colors are so atrocious that it is impossible to continue to watch it. I understand that Visconti intended a different look for Death in Venice than for L'innocente, but we cannot explain the Criterion version as an authentic representation of the former. I had seen the film in a theater years ago, and it looked nothing like the Criterion version. I cannot understand how DVDBeaver gave it a positive review.

This film needs a proper 4K restoration with original colors. Perhaps it will never happen and we will be left with the current travesty.

[tenia]

There is a simple answer to the positive Beaver feedback to Death in Venice, which is that most people, including tech-oriented reviewers and even people directly working within the industry, are blind to this issue and have been unable so far to realise the matter.

I'm always happy to when someone working on restorations or video releases tells me they caught such an issue, whichever the concerned lab (Ritrovata, Eclair, now Hiventy too), but unfortunately, while it seems more and more active people are able to catch these and prevent another botched work (and I shiver when thinking how many movies are thought to be preserved but this is how they actually are "saved"), dozens, hundreds simply won't be.

I still can't understand how we've had the Magenta Push era, something widely recognized as endemic, structural and absolutely unfaithful, and not realise we've entered into exactly the same issues AGAIN (but within other color biases).
We (reviewers, labels, studios, labs, rightholders, festivals, foundations) seem to never learn.

[Toby Dammit]

I feel very frustrated that "Sandra" has not been released to date by any house in the USA or UK.
I've seen dozens of much darker Italian films (some poor quality giallos) out there. So, the invisibility of a film by Maestro Visconti is inexplicable.

[crimlaw]

Visconti’s “The Stranger” ‘67, is also MIA. Not sure whether Paramount still has the U.S. distribution rights.

[A Tempted Christ]

Visconti’s “The Stranger” ‘67, is also MIA. Not sure whether Paramount still has the U.S. distribution rights.

I was aware of a Japanese Blu-ray which, like most Japanese Blu-rays of obscure titles, was from a scan of a theatrical print but apparently it has also been released in Spain recently. I wonder what's the source of the Spanish disc.

[Matt]

Does anyone have anything to say about the Milestone Blu-ray of Rocco? Gary at DVDBeaver seems to lean slightly towards the Masters of Cinema release, and they're the same restoration. It would be nice to see a UHD of this result from Criterion and Milestone's partnership, but I don't know that a UHD is going to be an appreciable improvement for this film over a good Blu-ray.

[GaryC]

The BFI Southbank in London has a Visconti retrospective in January, details here. Includes 35mm showings of Senso, Death in Venice, Ludwig (full version), Conversation Piece and The Innocent, plus the UK premiere of the 4K restoration of White Nights.

[Stefan Andersson]

Good Italian-language Visconti site:
https://alla-ricerca-di-luchino-visconti.com/cinema/

[Stefan Andersson]

Conversation Piece in 4K, a Kino Lorber release:
https://filmforum.org/film/conversation-piece

Maybe Kino can put both English dubs on a new UHD/blu release.

"Two English dubs were created for the film. Actors Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Helmut Berger dubbed themselves on both tracks. Co-stars Claudia Marsani and Stefano Patrizi dubbed themselves on one track but were dubbed by American actors with Mid-Atlantic accents on the other track. The former track appeared on some VHS releases including the American edition while the latter track has appeared on all DVD and Blu-ray editions so far."
https://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/ ... ?fid=23906

[ChunkyLover]

Conversation Piece in 4K, a Kino Lorber release:
https://filmforum.org/film/conversation-piece

Maybe Kino can put both English dubs on a new UHD/blu release.

"Two English dubs were created for the film. Actors Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Helmut Berger dubbed themselves on both tracks. Co-stars Claudia Marsani and Stefano Patrizi dubbed themselves on one track but were dubbed by American actors with Mid-Atlantic accents on the other track. The former track appeared on some VHS releases including the American edition while the latter track has appeared on all DVD and Blu-ray editions so far."
https://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/ ... ?fid=23906

I had done some comparisons with the two English tracks a while back (the Gaumont BD is first followed by the Eureka BD on both examples):
https://vocaroo.com/1a3HYjopy8Qi
https://vocaroo.com/13nlAF5tOLTL

I have doubts that it's Silvana Mangano on the "American" track that was on the Eureka BD. I prefer the track on the Gaumont BD because I'm more inclined to believe it's the Italian cast members dubbing themselves.

[Lowry_Sam]

Conversation Piece in 4K, a Kino Lorber release:

So Criterion lost interest in Visconti after Death In Venice? or did Kino buy Raro?
I guess I got lucky, I almost picked up Eureka's blu on Ebay to use up a $10 off $50 coupon (expired yesterday),
but decided to treat myself to Don't Bother To Knock instead.

[beamish14]

Conversation Piece in 4K, a Kino Lorber release:

So Criterion lost interest in Visconti after Death In Venice? or did Kino buy Raro?
I guess I got lucky, I almost picked up Eureka's blu on Ebay to use up a $10 off $50 coupon (expired yesterday),
but decided to treat myself to Don't Bother To Knock instead.

Given how badly Criterion screwed up the color timing on Death in Venice, it’s a bit of a relief that another label has this one (although I think I’m in the minority here in that I really enjoy it)

[dwk]

Conversation Piece in 4K, a Kino Lorber release:

So Criterion lost interest in Visconti after Death In Venice? or did Kino buy Raro?
I guess I got lucky, I almost picked up Eureka's blu on Ebay to use up a $10 off $50 coupon (expired yesterday),
but decided to treat myself to Don't Bother To Knock instead.

Kino is Raro's US producer/distributor.

[A Tempted Christ]

So Criterion lost interest in Visconti after Death In Venice? or did Kino buy Raro?

Not at all. They released The Damned in 2021 which was a bold choice considering the movie has never been received well, not even by the members of this forum. I'm sure we'll get a UHD of Le Notti Bianche down the road, but besides that, are there even that many Viscontis left for Criterion to release?
Ossessione and La Terra Trema lack proper restorations; Bellissima's 4K restoration turned out to be such a mess that I'd rather they don't even bother with it, and The Leopard won't get a 4K bump thanks to Disney.
I personally think it's strange that they never released Sandra on disc, but the restoration for that one has existed since 2013, so there must be some other reason besides Criterion losing interest in the last 6 or 7 years.

Given how badly Criterion screwed up the color timing on Death in Venice, it’s a bit of a relief that another label has this one (although I think I’m in the minority here in that I really enjoy it)

I'm not sure how Criterion is to blame when the restoration was completed by Ritrovata. Also, not really a cause for celebration when the other label is Kino.

[Stefan Andersson]

Trailer for the Raro/Lorber 4K of Conversation Piece:
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=37741

[Toby Dammit]

So Criterion lost interest in Visconti after Death In Venice? or did Kino buy Raro?

Not at all. They released The Damned in 2021 which was a bold choice considering the movie has never been received well, not even by the members of this forum. I'm sure we'll get a UHD of Le Notti Bianche down the road, but besides that, are there even that many Viscontis left for Criterion to release?
Ossessione and La Terra Trema lack proper restorations; Bellissima's 4K restoration turned out to be such a mess that I'd rather they don't even bother with it, and The Leopard won't get a 4K bump thanks to Disney.
I personally think it's strange that they never released Sandra on disc, but the restoration for that one has existed since 2013, so there must be some other reason besides Criterion losing interest in the last 6 or 7 years.

Given how badly Criterion screwed up the color timing on Death in Venice, it’s a bit of a relief that another label has this one (although I think I’m in the minority here in that I really enjoy it)

I'm not sure how Criterion is to blame when the restoration was completed by Ritrovata. Also, not really a cause for celebration when the other label is Kino.

Hello! Can you explain what you mean by saying that the rights to "The Leopard" belong to Disney?

[domino harvey]

It’s a Fox license

[Matt]

Hello! Can you explain what you mean by saying that the rights to "The Leopard" belong to Disney?

To expand on what domino said, when The Leopard was made, 20th Century Fox bought the international distribution rights, including for the United States. Fox has owned those rights ever since, but then Fox was bought by Disney in 2019, so now it’s Disney that owns the international distribution rights to the film.