Visconti: Two Visions of Decay

The final film by Luchino Visconti (La terra trema, The Leopard) caps our double feature on the maestro. A welcomed return to the resplendent period dramas that re-made Visconti’s name after his early Neo-Realism, it is a sublime ode to the moral constraints and immoral excess of the upper class.

This week we’re featuring a double bill of classics by Italian Neo-Realist turned operatic sensualist Luchino Visconti. He followed up his majestic The Leopard with this darkly lush re-invention of the Electra myth bracingly brought into the shadow of the 20th century. Starring Claudia Cardinale.