Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Le streghe (The Witches) is an anthology film consisting of five comic stories relating to witches all starring Silvana Mangano as it mixes horror and comedy. The anthology film features the work of five different filmmakers with a different cast as it plays into the world of witches who all disguises themselves as different kinds of women. The result is a witty though messy anthology film from producer Dino De Laurentiis.
The Witch Burned Alive
Directed by Luchino Visconti. Written by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi and Cesare Zavattini. Edited by Mario Serandrei. Music by Piero Piccioni. Starring Annie Girardot, Francisco Rabal, Massimo Girroti, Marilu Toto, Nora Ricci, and introducing Helmut Berger.
The film revolves around an actress who stops at the home of a friend in the Austrian mountains as a party is being held yet is pursued by men at the party with women being jealous of her. It is a short that plays into an actress taking a break from work to see a friend whom she realizes is in a crumbling marriage as she wants to spend time with her but there’s a party at the home as she gets drunk and things don’t go well. It is a film that has some humor and some dramatic tension though there are moments where things drag as Luchino Visconti doesn’t do much to make the sexual tension more prominent as it relates to its protagonist Gloria. Notably as Gloria’s beauty is also the source of tension among the women at the home with Gloria’s best friend Valeria (Annie Girardot) defending her while lamenting her own issues with her husband Paolo (Francisco Rabal). Girardot is the standout in the segment as it also include some fine supporting work from Nora Ricci as Gloria’s secretary and Helmut Berger in his debut film appearance as a hotel page who brings things to Valeria’s home.
Civic Spirit
Directed by Mauro Bolognini. Written by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, and Bernardino Zapponi. Edited by Nino Baragli. Music by Piero Piccioni. Starring Alberto Sordi.
The segment revolves around a man who is injured in an auto accident as a woman offers to take him to the hospital only to drive somewhere else to her own destination. It is one of the shorter segments of the film as it is more of a comedy in which Alberto Sordi plays this man who is severely injured and is losing a lot of blood with Mangano as this woman who is in a hurry as she is driving ferociously through Rome. Featuring some amazing editing by Nino Baragli, the film is a comical short that has Mangano being this woman that is more concerned about going to a building than helping this man as it a hilarious segment by Mauro Bolognini.
The Earth Seen from the Moon
Written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Edited by Nino Baragli. Music by Ennio Morricone. Starring Toto, Ninetto Davoli, Laura Betti, Luigi Leoni, and Mario Cipriani.
A man and his son both travel around the streets of Rome to find a woman for the man so he can create a new family as they chose this mysterious deaf-mute woman. It is a short that is comical but also stylish with Toto playing the father and Ninetto Davoli as his red-haired son wearing a New York City sports team sweater as Pasolini brings this sense of absurdity into the film. Notably as there’s a key scene at the Coliseum involving the mute woman known as Absurdity who takes part in a scheme of theirs. Featuring some great art direction and Baragli’s offbeat editing as well as Morricone’s wondrous music score that stands out from the rest of the music score in the film. This short is easily the best one in the film.
The Sicilian Belle
Directed by Franco Rossi. Written by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, and Bernardino Zapponi. Editor Giorgio Serralonga. Music by Piero Piccioni. Starring Pietro Tordi.
A woman has been humiliated by a man prompting her father (Piero Tordi) to find out who he is as he would massacre the entire family. It is the weakest short of the film series as it doesn’t really much of a story as it is a more dramatic story that has some dark humor but it doesn’t really give Mangano much to work with.
An Evening Like the Others
Directed by Vittorio De Sica. Written by Cesare Zavattini, Fabio Carpi, and Enzo Muzii. Editor Adriana Novelli. Music by Piero Piccioni. Starring Clint Eastwood, Valentino Macchi, and Pietro Torrisi.
The final short of the series revolves around a housewife imagining herself as a woman being swept off her feet by her husband yet the reality is that her husband is content and prefers to work and sleep though he wants to do things for her. Even as the fantasy has him becoming desperate for her attention as it plays into some comical moments but also lavish scenes of her wanting to be the center of attention towards all men with the husband unable to get her attention. It is a film that has a lot of humor though Clint Eastwood’s performance as Charlie is odd considering that isn’t known much for comedy as he’s a bit miscast though there is a brief moment of him playing a cowboy while his scenes set in reality as the husband has him playing it straight where he does manage to hold his own with Mangano.
As a film overall, it is a messy one with Pasolini’s segment being the best of the bunch while the segments by De Sica and Bolognini are strong with the latter being the shortest. Visconti’s segment is a bit dull in parts though it does feature some unique visuals with Rossi’s being the weakest as it wants to be funny but it never hits. All of the segments were shot by cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno whose photography does add a lot of vibrancy to the film with some low-key work for Visconti and De Sica’s segments to more wondrous colors in Pasolini’s segments. Art directors Mario Garbuglia and Piero Poletto, with set decorators Emilio D’Andria and Cesare Rovatti, do amazing work with the sets with the design of the gravestones for the Pasolini segment being the highlight of the film. Costume designer Piero Tosi does excellent work with the many dresses that Mangano wears in her different characters including the layers of gowns she would wear for De Sica’s segment.
Makeup artist Goffredo Rocchetti does nice work with some of the makeup with the look of green hair and heightened makeup in Pasolini’s segment being the standout. Special optical effects work by Joseph Nathanson is good for the scene in De Sica’s segment in a stadium as it plays into Mangano’s character as the object of desire. The sound work of Vittorio Trentino is terrific in playing up the locations as well as some sound effects in the film. Much of the film’s music by Piero Piccioni as it has its moment in its playful music along with some low-key pieces for the dramatic work yet it is Morricone’s score for the Pasolini segment that is the real standout of the music.
Le streghe is a stellar though flawed anthology film. While it features great performances from Silvana Mangano along with some nice technical work along with standout segments from Mauro Bolognini and Vittorio de Sica as well as a great short from Pier Paolo Pasolini. It is a film where there are things to watch though there are bits that don’t make it work. In the end, Le streghe is a good film from producer Dino De Laurentiis.
Vittorio De Sica Films: (Rose scarlatte) - (Maddalena, zero in condotta) - (Teresa Venerdi) - (Un garibaldino al convento) - (The Children Are Watching Us) - (La porta del cielo) - (Shoeshine) - (Heart and Soul (1948 film)) - Bicycle Thieves - Miracle in Milan – Umberto D - (It Happened in the Park) - (Terminal Station) - (The Gold of Naples) - (The Roof) - (Anna of Brooklyn) - Two Women - (The Last Judgment) - (Boccaccio ‘70) - (The Condemned of Altona) - (Il Boom) - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Marriage Italian Style - (Un monde nouveau) - (After the Fox) - (Woman Times Seven) - (A Place for Lovers) - (Sunflowers (1970 film)) – The Garden of the Finzi-Continis - (Lo chiameremo Andrea) - (A Brief Vacation) - (The Voyage)
Pier Paolo Pasolini Films: (Accattone) – (La Rabbia) - Mamma Roma - (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) - (Location Hunting in Palestine) – (Love Meetings) – (The Hawks and the Sparrows) – (Oedipus Rex) – Teorema - (Porcile) – (Medea (1969 film)) – (Appunti per un film sull’India) – (Notes Towards an African Orestes) – The Decameron - The Canterbury Story - Arabian Nights - Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom
Luchino Visconti Films: (Obsessione) – (Giorni di gloria) – (La Terra Firma) – (Bellissima) – (Appunti su un fatto di cronaca) – (We, the Women) – Senso – White Nights (1957 film) - Rocco and His Brothers - (Boccaccio ’70-Il lavoro) – The Leopard - Sandra – (The Stranger (1967 film)) – The Damned - Death in Venice - (Alla ricerca di Tadzio) – (Ludwig) – (Conversation Piece) – The Innocent (1976 film)
© thevoid99 2023
(25th Anniversary Prize Winner at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival)
Set in turn of the century Venice, the film revolves around an avant-garde composer whose ailing health forces him to go to the Italian city where he stays at a hotel where he is stunned by the beauty of a young boy. It is a film that explores a man coping with loss and disappointment as he is also dealing with this search for ideal beauty as he would find it in this young Polish boy while also dealing with what is happening with the city as the hotel staff and some of people in the posh areas of Venice refuse to tell him. The film’s screenplay by Luchino Visconti and Nicolas Badalucco is straightforward as it plays into the world of Gustav von Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde) who is trying to recover from his illness as he would look back at parts of his life from his family life and his own desire to find beauty and perfection through his music that often lead to arguments with his colleague Alfred (Mark Burns).
While in Venice trying to recover from illness, Gustav sees the young Polish boy Tadzio (Bjorn Andresen) who is with his mother and sisters at the Venetian resort. Tadzio is really more of a presence and idea of what Gustav is trying to find in his idea of beauty while the script also suggests homoeroticism where Gustav often stares at Tadzio and would follow him whenever Tadzio is with his family.
Visconti’s direction is ravishing for the world that he creates where much of the film is shot on location in Venice as well as locations in Germany while much of the interior scenes of the hotel is shot at Cinecetta Studios in Rome. Visconti’s compositions capture so much attention to detail the world that Gustav is living in as there is this air of disconnect with all of the people living in the hotel resort with its open beaches and exquisite meals are unaware of what is happening in the city. Something Gustav would notice as Venice is having this season where the hotel manager (Romolo Valli) is claiming that it’s just rumors as Gustav doesn’t notice anything about what is happening in the newspapers as well. It adds to the atmosphere of the film where Gustav’s flashbacks are often seen as idyllic and dream-like in scenes with his wife (Marisa Berenson) but also filled with unease in scenes with Alfred including a chilling flashback of Gustav at his lowest. They’re presented largely in medium shots and close-ups to play into Gustav’s own sense of longing and despair as he is in Venice in this hotel where nothing feels real except for this young boy who represents this idealism of beauty.
Visconti’s wide shots really capture not just the scope of the beach as well as a room where the guests are waiting to be served in the dining room. It also has him creating some unique compositions and visuals that add to the atmospheric beauty that surrounds Gustav and Tadzio where the former watches the latter from afar who is playing a piano piece as it would have Gustav go into a flashback. It’s among these images that also include a band playing music to the people at the hotel with Gustav asking the singer about what is going on in the city. There are also some homoeroticism that occurs but it’s only in subtle bits in the way Gustav looks at Tadzio as there is a beautiful shot in the film’s final minutes as it play into Gustav’s own desires despite his ailing health. Especially in a brief moment where Gustav briefly meets Tadzio as he begs his mother to leave Venice because of what is happening as it plays into a man who is trying to hold on to this idea of beauty. Overall, Visconti crafts a somber yet intoxicating film about an ailing composer’s fascination over the beauty of a young boy.
Cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis does amazing work with the film’s cinematography with its sunny look of Venice in the daytime along with lush colors for a few of the flashback scenes as well as some unique lighting for the interior/exterior scenes at night. Editor Ruggero Mastroiannni does excellent work with the editing as it does have a bit of style in a few jump-cuts yet much of it is straightforward to play into the drama of Gustav’s obsession. Art director Ferdinando Scarfioti does brilliant work with the look of the hotel interiors with its spacious dining and waiting rooms as well as the room that Gustav stays in.
Costume designer Piero Tosi does incredible work with the costumes from the sailor-like clothes of Tadzio to the suits of Gustav including a white suit he would wear in the film’s final moments. The sound work of Giuseppe Muratori and Vittorio Trentino is superb for the atmosphere that is created including scenes in the dining hall and the way the city sounds in its quiet yet unsettling moments. The film’s music from Armando Gill as well as pieces from Ludwig Van Beethoven, Gustav Mahler, and Modest Mussorgsky is phenomenal as its usage of classical music with Mahler being the dominant force in the film while Gill provides some of the operatic pieces as it adds to the rapturous tone of the film.
The film’s marvelous cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Dominique Darel as an English tourist, Mascia Predit as the Russian tourist, Marco Tulli as the man who faints at the train station, Leslie French as a travel agent warning Gustav about what is going on in Venice, Nora Ricci as Tadzio’s governess, Franco Fabrizi as a barber in the film’s third act, Sergio Garfagnoli as a boy that Tadzio befriends, Luigi Battaglia as a peasant performer named Scapegrace who gives Gustav a slight clue of what is happening in Venice, Carole Andre as a young prostitute that Gustav meets in a flashback, and Romolo Valli in a superb performance as the hotel manager who tries to shield the truth about what is happening in Venice from Gustav. Marisa Berenson and Silvana Mangano are fantastic in their respective roles as Gustav’s wife and Tadzio’s mother with the former being an object of simplicity and joy in the former via flashbacks while the latter is someone that is unaware of what is going on in Venice.
Mark Burns is excellent as Gustav’s colleague Alfred as a man who is seen via flashbacks as someone questioning Gustav’s ambitions and aims while also vilifying him for his faults. Bjorn Andresen is incredible as Tadzio where despite his lack of dialogue where he is just this object of beauty. Andresen is still this astonishing presence where he provides an innocence but also someone who is aware of his beauty despite not really knowing who Gustav is. Finally, there’s Dirk Bogarde in a phenomenal performance as Gustav von Aschenbach as an avant-garde composer who is coping with ailing health as he is transfixed by Tadzio while dealing with what is happening in Venice as well as coping with his own past, failures, and loss where Bogarde maintains a restraint in the way he gazes at Tadzio as a way to deal with the fact that he is possibly dying and is hoping to connect personally with this young boy.
Death in Venice is a tremendous film from Luchino Visconti that features a sensational performance from Dirk Bogarde as well as an entrancing appearance from Bjorn Andresen. Along with its ensemble cast, gorgeous music soundtrack, its intoxicating look, and it study of obsession and longing. The film is a somber yet exhilarating film about a man’s fascination for a young boy and his search for beauty in a city that is unraveling from afar. In the end, Death in Venice is a spectacular film from Luchino Visconti.
Luchino Visconti Films: (Obsessione) – (Giorni di gloria) – (La Terra Firma) – (Bellissima) – (Appunti su un fatto di cronaca) – (We, the Women) – Senso – White Nights (1957 film) - Rocco and His Brothers - (Boccaccio ’70-Il lavoro) – The Leopard - Sandra – (The Stranger (1967 film)) – The Witches (1967 film)- The Witch Burned Alive – The Damned (1969 film) – (Alla ricerca di Tadzio) – (Ludwig) – (Conversation Piece) – The Innocent (1976 film)
© thevoid99 2021
Written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Teorema is the story of a wealthy family whose upper-class lifestyle is turned upside down when they invite a stranger into their home. The film is a study of a family from Milan who endure some serious revelations upon inviting this man into their home as they cope with their identities and their environment. Starring Terence Stamp, Laura Betti, Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, Anne Wiazemsky, and Ninetto Davoli. Teorema is a majestic and surreal film from Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Set in the bourgeoisie world of Milan, the film revolves around a wealthy family who invite a mysterious visitor to their home for a brief stay as his presence would turn their world upside down. It is a film with a simple premise as it play into a family who spent much of their lives living in the bourgeoisie society as they’re not fully aware of what the world around them. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s script doesn’t feature a conventional plot, despite featuring a straightforward narrative, nor does it feature a lot of dialogue in favor of characters reacting to this mysterious and unnamed visitor (Terence Stamp). The visitor’s presence would create a reaction to this family including its maid Emilia (Laura Betti) who is suffering from depression as her encounter with the visitor has her facing many things. The visitor’s time at this home is only for the film’s first half but his impact would play a major key role in the film’s second half as it relates to the family.
Pasolini’s direction is largely straightforward in its compositions yet it does contain an element of surrealism as it relates to the world of this bourgeoisie family as it is also shot on location in and around Milan. There are some wide and medium shots of the locations as well as the home of this family yet Pasolini also uses it to convey the sense of isolation this family lives in as it is clear that their lack of interaction outside of their environment has made them too comfortable. Here in this strange visitor, the bubble that this family is living in proves to full of faults and fallacies as the visitor is someone who would inspire each member of the family in some way. The usage of the close-ups and medium shots add an intimacy to what Pasolini is conveying in how each of the family members and the maid deal with this visitor.
While much of the film’s first half is straightforward, there are elements that are surreal that would include recurring images of gray and dusty landscapes. The second half of the film is where Pasolini brings in a lot of these surreal moments as they’re more about these revelations of this family and their own individual needs and wants. Pasolini also play into the idea of spirituality as well as some of the harsh realism of the modern world since the family patriarch Paolo (Massimo Girotti) runs a factory as he is already troubled by some of the growing tension between factory workers and those in charge. By the film’s third act where Paolo and his film start to unravel in different ways, it all play into these ideas of existentialism as well as identity. Notably as it features Paolo and the recurring images of the gray landscape that he’s been thinking about as well as the lack of depth in the bubble he had lived in for many years with his family. Overall, Pasolini crafts an entrancing and eerie film about a mysterious visitor’s time at the home of a Milanese bourgeoisie family and its aftermath.
Cinematographer Giuseppe Ruzzolini does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography to capture the lush colors of the locations within the family home that is a direct contrast to the more realistic look of the locations in and outside of Milan with the opening shots of the film presented in a sepia-like filter. Editor Nino Baragli does amazing work with the editing with its stylish usage of jump-cuts for the recurring images of gray landscape that appear every now and then as well as rhythmic cuts to play into the drama. Art director Luciano Puccini does excellent work with the look of the family home with its stylish rooms that play into the personality of the characters.
Costume designers Roberto Capucci and Marcella De Marchis do fantastic work with the costumes with Capucci creating lavish and stylish clothes for the family matriarch to wear with De Marchis creating clothes for the other characters that are posh but casual. The sound work of Bernardino Fronzetti is superb for its atmosphere of the locations at the home where it’s tranquil in comparison to the noisier world of industrial-driven Milan. The film’s music by Ennio Morricone is tremendous for its mixture of lush orchestral music mixed in with elements of jazz that is driven by horns as well as a bit of rock n roll while its soundtrack features a classical piece from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The film’s incredible cast feature some notable small roles from Ninetto Davoli as the postman Angelino, Adele Cambria as a maid also named Emilia, Alfonso Gatto as a doctor, Susanna Pasolini as an old peasant, and Laura Betti as the family maid in Emilia whose encounter with the visitor has her dealing with ideas of spirituality. Andres Jose Cruz Soublette is superb as the young man Pietro who rooms with the visitor as he would later cope with his identity as well as the world he lives in. Anne Wiazemsky is fantastic as the family daughter Odetta who is a young woman of innocence as someone who cares for her father as her meeting with the visitor has her thinking about men in a sexual way as it becomes an emotional revelation for her.
Massimo Girotti is excellent as the family patriarch Paolo as a man who owns and runs a factory who becomes ill as he also copes with the world of industrialization and social turmoil as well as dreams of a land where his encounters with the visitor forces him to see things differently. Silvana Mangano is amazing as Lucia as the family matriarch whose encounter with the visitor awakens her own sexual desires as she deals with the trappings of her own surroundings where she would go into an existential journey of her own. Finally, there’s Terence Stamp in a sensational performance as the visitor as this mysterious young man who is a guest at this home where he doesn’t do much other than just read books, play with a dog, and other casual activities as he is also someone that doesn’t reveal exactly who he is as Stamp just plays it straight in an understated yet ravishing performance.
Teorema is a spectacular film from Pier Paolo Pasolini. Featuring a great cast, lush visuals, a riveting music score by Ennio Morricone, and a study of identity and lifestyle. The film is a provocative and rapturous film that explores the life of a bourgeoisie family as their world goes upside down following a strange visit from a mysterious young man as it play into the many faults of the upper-class and their disconnection with the rest of the world. In the end, Teorema is a phenomenal film from Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Pier Paolo Pasolini Films: (Accattone) – (La Rabbia) - Mamma Roma - (Location Hunting in Palestine) – (The Gospel According to Matthew) – (Love Meetings) – (The Hawks and the Sparrows) – The Witches (1967 film)- The Earth Seen from the Moon - (Oedipus Rex) – (Porcile) – (Medea (1969 film)) – (Appunti per un film sull’India) – (Notes Towards an African Orestes) – The Decameron - The Canterbury Tales - Arabian Nights - Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
© thevoid99 2020
