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Death in Venice
: :Luchino Visconti's adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel is the very definition of sumptuous: the costumes and sets, the special geography of Venice, and the breathtaking cinematography combine to form a heady experience. At the center of this gorgeousness is Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde in a meticulous performance), a controlled intellectual who unexpectedly finds himself obsessed by the vision of a 14-year-old boy while on a convalescent vacation in 1911. Visconti has turned Aschenbach into a composer, which accounts for the lush excerpts from Mahler on the soundtrack (Bogarde is meant to look like ...
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A Very Private Affair
: :Louis Malle's fourth film as a feature director was this 1962 work starring Brigitte Bardot in a thinly veiled reflection of her own life. Bardot stars as a famous movie actress who withdraws from the world's scrutiny at the peak of her success. Marcello Mastroianni plays a theater director who steps in to protect her; he's also the former lover of her mother. Somewhat unconvincing and anchorless as a drama, the film finds Malle--at that time--searching for an artistic trajectory following his splashy first works (Frantic, The Lovers) and a lightweight if enjoyable ...
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The Libertine
: :Louis Malle's fourth film as a feature director was this 1962 work starring Brigitte Bardot in a thinly veiled reflection of her own life. Bardot stars as a famous movie actress who withdraws from the world's scrutiny at the peak of her success. Marcello Mastroianni plays a theater director who steps in to protect her; he's also the former lover of her mother. Somewhat unconvincing and anchorless as a drama, the film finds Malle--at that time--searching for an artistic trajectory following his splashy first works (Frantic, The Lovers) and a lightweight if enjoyable ...
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The Damned
: :This brooding, operatic movie about Nazism makes Cabaret look like wholesome family fare. The family in The Damned is a symbol of German society circa 1934. The Krupp-like steel magnate Baron von Essenbeck represents the spineless establishment. The Nazis kill the baron, then frame one heir apparent, a socialist (married to the stunning Charlotte Rampling). A bearish, boorish Essenbeck representing the SA, the Nazis' early goon squad, takes the reins. But Hitler murdered the SA in the 1934 'Night of the Long Knives,' providing The Damned with its bravura action scene, a Nazi ...
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The Damned
: :This brooding, operatic movie about Nazism makes Cabaret look like wholesome family fare. The family in The Damned is a symbol of German society circa 1934. The Krupp-like steel magnate Baron von Essenbeck represents the spineless establishment. The Nazis kill the baron, then frame one heir apparent, a socialist (married to the stunning Charlotte Rampling). A bearish, boorish Essenbeck representing the SA, the Nazis' early goon squad, takes the reins. But Hitler murdered the SA in the 1934 'Night of the Long Knives,' providing The Damned with its bravura action scene, a Nazi ...
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Death in Venice
: :Luchino Visconti's adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel is the very definition of sumptuous: the costumes and sets, the special geography of Venice, and the breathtaking cinematography combine to form a heady experience. At the center of this gorgeousness is Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde in a meticulous performance), a controlled intellectual who unexpectedly finds himself obsessed by the vision of a 14-year-old boy while on a convalescent vacation in 1911. Visconti has turned Aschenbach into a composer, which accounts for the lush excerpts from Mahler on the soundtrack (Bogarde is meant to look like ...
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Death in Venice
: :Luchino Visconti's adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel is the very definition of sumptuous: the costumes and sets, the special geography of Venice, and the breathtaking cinematography combine to form a heady experience. At the center of this gorgeousness is Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde in a meticulous performance), a controlled intellectual who unexpectedly finds himself obsessed by the vision of a 14-year-old boy while on a convalescent vacation in 1911. Visconti has turned Aschenbach into a composer, which accounts for the lush excerpts from Mahler on the soundtrack (Bogarde is meant to look like ...
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Bellissima
: :Luchino Visconti's adaptation of the Thomas Mann novel is the very definition of sumptuous: the costumes and sets, the special geography of Venice, and the breathtaking cinematography combine to form a heady experience. At the center of this gorgeousness is Aschenbach (Dirk Bogarde in a meticulous performance), a controlled intellectual who unexpectedly finds himself obsessed by the vision of a 14-year-old boy while on a convalescent vacation in 1911. Visconti has turned Aschenbach into a composer, which accounts for the lush excerpts from Mahler on the soundtrack (Bogarde is meant to look like ...
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