La portalettere
- Literature
Francesca Giannone
View details about the event: La portalettereLuchino Visconti (1943)
Overview
In conjunction with the exhibition NeoRealismo: The New Image in Italy, 1932-1960
Ossessione [Obsession]
(Italy, 1943, 140 min.)
In ITALIAN with ENGLISH subtitles
Directed by Luchino Visconti
Starring Clara Calamai, Massimo Girotti
Introduced by David Forgacs, NYU
Luchino Visconti’s first film, Ossessione (1943), shot on location in the Po Delta with stunning photography by Domenico Scala and Aldo Tonti, is widely considered a precursor of postwar neorealism. Drawing on American cinema and crime fiction (it was an unauthorized adaptation of James M. Cain’s The Postman Always Rings Twice) and the French cinema of the Popular Front (Visconti had worked as an assistant director on Jean Renoir’s A Day in the Country), it recounts the passionate and murderous love affair of Gino (Massimo Girotti) and Giovanna (Clara Calamai).
Co-sponsored by Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò; Center for Applied Liberal Arts, School of Professional Studies; and Grey Art Gallery.