SANDRA: A return to Visconti's operatic melodrama from 1965, VAGHE
STELLE D'ORSA (its from a poem) or OF A THOUSAND DELIGHTS or
simply SANDRA - which I have written about here before [Visconti,
Cardinale, Sorel, Craig labels].
It is a small film in the Visconti canon, overshadowed by
those big operatic productions like THE LEOPARD, THE DAMNED, DEATH
IN VENICE or LUDWIG.
I first saw it when I was 19 in 1965 and then it became unobtainable for a long time. It was great to catch up with it again last year, and it was as powerful as I remembered. The stunning black and white photography by Armando Nannuzzi show Claudia Cardinale at her zenith, along with Jean Sorel as her brother and English actor Michael Craig as her husband.
I first saw it when I was 19 in 1965 and then it became unobtainable for a long time. It was great to catch up with it again last year, and it was as powerful as I remembered. The stunning black and white photography by Armando Nannuzzi show Claudia Cardinale at her zenith, along with Jean Sorel as her brother and English actor Michael Craig as her husband.
Sandra and her husband return to the family home, one of
those sprawling Italian mansions, in the Etruscan city of Volterra, where
family secrets are slowly uncovered, as Sandra has to confront her brother who
wants to resume their once-incestous relationship (Claudia and Sorel are both stunningly attractive and powerful here), her mentally ill monther and
the crumbling estate and the secret about their father and the war ... Visconti
builds it to a powerful climax,and the images still resonate.
I've never seen this but I have always wanted to. No intention of paying over £20 for it on Amazon, though!
ReplyDeleteYou can watch it for free on YouTube (with English subtitles):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8aLHPtY7YM
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