Diva Dolorosa

Netherlands

1999

70 Min

Color

1.33:1

Dutch

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
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CAST Francesca Bertini, Lyda Borelli, Soava Gallone, Helena Makowska, Pina Menichelli

Filmmaker Peter Delpeut draws on a stunning collection of found footage from rare French and Italian films circa 1913 to 1920, including La Donna Nuda and Tigre Reale, to create this beautiful cinematic collage. Backed by a haunting score by Loek Dikker, this captivating experience offers a revealing glimpse into the worlds of silent movie divas such as Lyda Borelli and Pina Menichelli.

Director

Peter Delpeut

Peter Delpeut (b. 1956) made the film Felice… Felice…, which opened the 1998 International Film Festival Rotterdam and was chosen as best Dutch feature film. In the same year his first book was published, a novella of the same title. In 1999, to accompany the first screening of Diva Dolorosa, a compilation film about Italian film divas of 1913-20, he published the travel book Diva Dolorosa. Reis naar het einde van de eeuw (Diva Dolorosa. Journey to the End of the Century). He has made several internationally released documentaries, including In Loving Memory (2001) about the British tendency to commemorate people’s lives with public benches. Delpeut is also an avid cyclist; he believes there is no travel experience comparable to seeing the landscape from a bicycle. In 2003 he published a book on the subject: De grote bocht. Kleine filosofie van het fietsen (The Great Bend. A Brief Philosophy of Cycling). —nlpvf.nl

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Erik Gregersen

9Nov11

In the Italian "diva" films of the 1910s, grand actresses surrounded by the lushest decor had to choose between love and death or sometimes even chose both. Delpeut has taken every overipe decadent moment from these movies and put them all together. This is like having your brains bashed out with bottles of the most expensive and decadent perfumes.