OSSESSIONE tonight on TCM
Joe Gillis
As part of the series MARTIN SCORSESE'S MY VOYAGE TO ITALY TCM is showing four
films by director Luchino Visconti, including the VERY rarely seen OSSESSIONE,
the first version of James M. Cain's classic novel THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS
TWICE. Warm up yer VCR!!
===========================================
Jun 21 08:00 PM Ossessione - (1942)
A restaurant owner's wife and her lover plot to kill her husband. Clara
Calamai, Massimo Girotti, Dhia Cristiani. D:Luchino Visconti. 112 m
Jun 21 10:30 PM La Terra Trema - (1947)
Poor Sicilian fishermen fight to escape exploitation by the wholesalers who
control the market. Luchino Visconti, Antonio Pietrangeli, Antonio Arcidiacono.
D:Luchino Visconti. 120 m
Jun 21 01:30 AM Senso - (1954)
As a war rages, an Italian countess leaves her husband for an Austrian officer.
Alida Valli, Farley Granger, Massimo Girotti. D:Luchino Visconti. C 117 m
Jun 21 03:30 AM Rocco And His Brothers - (1960)
When a widow's family moves to the big city, two of her sons become romantic
rivals, with deadly results. Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Giradot.
D:Luchino Visconti. BW LBX 176 m
====================================================
http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/NowPlaying/Monthly/0,3598,61|64|10876|1
0864,00.html
OSSESSIONE (1942)
FRIDAY, JUNE 21
8:00 pm (ET)/5:00 pm (PT)
Acknowledged as the first film of the Italian neo-realist movement,
Ossessione (Obsession) (1942) was also the remarkably assured
directorial debut of Luchino Visconti. Loosely based on James M. Cain's
1934 novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, with the setting moved from
California to Italy's Po Valley, Ossessione is a dark melodrama of
adultery, murder and betrayal. Gino, an unemployed mechanic, arrives at
a shabby inn owned by Giovanna and her much-older husband, Bragana. Gino
and Giovanna become lovers, setting in motion an inevitable series of
tragic events.
To understand the impact of Ossessione, one must understand the Italian
film industry at the time. The Fascist government had established a
Hollywood-like studio system, which turned out glossy, superficial,
escapist films known as "white telephone" pictures. Ossessione, with its
earthy characters, frank sensuality, and visual authenticity provided by
location photography, was a dramatic contrast. Even more extraordinary
were the contrasts in the director's own life. Count Don Luchino
Visconti di Modrone came from one of Italy's most aristocratic
families...and was a dedicated Marxist. Visconti had spent his youth
breeding horses, cultivating his interest in art and music, and mingling
with Parisian society. Designer Coco Chanel introduced him to French
director Jean Renoir, and at the age of 30, Visconti went to work for
Renoir as a costume designer and assistant director. It was Renoir who
suggested Cain's novel to Visconti for his first directing project.
Visconti sold some family jewels to finance the film.
Anna Magnani was slated to play Giovanna, but by the time production
began, Magnani was pregnant and had to withdraw from the film. Another
established star, Clara Calamai, got the role. Calamai was younger and
more glamorous than Magnani, but Visconti didn't want glamour. He wanted
realism, which meant no makeup, no permed hair, and drab, grimy clothes.
When Calamai saw the first rushes, she burst into tears and threatened
to quit. Visconti responded with scathing aristocratic imperiousness.
"Listen when I talk to you...or go back to your whorehouse!" he shouted.
He insisted that her co-star Massimo Girotti slap her harder, and forced
her to bathe in the icy river. Once, an actor was supposed to knock over
a glass so that it fell and shattered. Furious that the glass didn't
break in several takes, Viscount threw glass after glass at Calamai's
feet, and the splinters flew up dangerously close to her face. Still,
Calamai remained in awe of Visconti, whom she called "a medieval lord
with a whip."
Girotti also suffered under Visconti's direction. In one scene, he had
to drink a glass of wine. Visconti shot the scene so many times that
Girotti passed out, dead drunk. On the last day of filming, the actor
collapsed again, fainting from nerves and fatigue. Visconti later
admitted that his cruel behavior was calculated. "I'm interested in
extreme situations, those instants when abnormal tension reveals the
truth about human beings; I like to confront the characters and the
story harshly, aggressively."
While Ossessione was in production, Visconti allowed his family's
palazzo in Rome to be used as clandestine headquarters for the Communist
Resistance. Before the film's premiere, two of its screenwriters were
jailed as subversives. Even though the Fascist government was on the
verge of collapse, officials began to take a closer look at Visconti's
work. At the first screening, the audience gave Ossessione an ovation.
But Mussolini's son Vittorio, a film executive, stalked out, shouting
"that isn't Italy!" The Culture Minister called it "a film that stinks
of latrines." Even a heavily censored version, cut beyond recognition,
had a hard time getting bookings. And when it did, local officials
usually yanked it after a few screenings.
Ossessione was not shown in the U.S. for many years because of a dispute
with MGM over the rights to Cain's novel, and even now it's rarely seen
except at an occasional museum or film archive screening. Elusive as it
is, Ossessione remains an intriguing and historically important
milestone in Italian cinema. And those few who have managed to see it
attest to the fact that even after sixty years, it remains a powerful
experience.
Director: Luchino Visconti
Producer: Libero Solaroli
Screenplay: Mario Alicata, Antonio Pietrangeli, Gianni Puccini, Guiseppe
De Santis & Luchino Visconti, based on the novel The Postman Always
Rings Twice, by James M. Cain
Editor: Mario Serandrei
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti & Domenico Scala
Art Direction: Gino Franzi
Costumes: Maria De Matteis
Music: Giuseppe Rosati
Principal Cast: Clara Calamai (Giovanna), Massimo Girotti (Gino), Juan
de Landa (Bragana), Elio Marcuzzo (Spagnolo), Dhia Cristiani (Anita).
BW-112m.
By Margarita Landazuri
=================================================
"I don't mind lying, but I hate inaccuracy." -- Samuel Butler
Dave Garrett
@aol.comedy says...
> As part of the series MARTIN SCORSESE'S MY VOYAGE TO ITALY TCM is showing four
> films by director Luchino Visconti, including the VERY rarely seen OSSESSIONE,
> the first version of James M. Cain's classic novel THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS
> TWICE. Warm up yer VCR!!
My VCR was warm and I'm hot. Under the collar, that is, because I got
burned again by the wrong running time listed in the TCM guide. I
should've known better when they programmed OSSESSIONE in a 2.5 hour
timeslot and listed a running time of 112 minutes, but I was distracted
by other things today and didn't pay enough attention to this evening's
schedule. Sure enough, the T-120 that was humming away in my VCR ran out
while the film was still going strong, because it turned out to be the
140-minute, uncut version.
LA TERRA TREMA is on right now, and I'm betting that the same thing
happens with it - it's in a 3-hour timeslot with a listed running time
of 120 minutes, but the uncut version is 160 minutes according to
Maltin.
Dave
Tom Sutpen
>My VCR was warm and I'm hot. Under the collar, that is, because I got
>burned again by the wrong running time listed in the TCM guide. I
>should've known better when they programmed OSSESSIONE in a 2.5 hour
>timeslot and listed a running time of 112 minutes, but I was distracted
>by other things today and didn't pay enough attention to this evening's
>schedule. Sure enough, the T-120 that was humming away in my VCR ran out
>while the film was still going strong, because it turned out to be the
>140-minute, uncut version.
>
>LA TERRA TREMA is on right now, and I'm betting that the same thing
>happens with it - it's in a 3-hour timeslot with a listed running time
>of 120 minutes, but the uncut version is 160 minutes according to
>Maltin.
*****
The same thing happened. TCM ran the un-cut "La Terra Trema". All 160
mins. of it. I'm really not sure how those programming guides are put together,
but they have to go to a better system than the one they've got. For a couple
of years they used to list "Gentleman Jim", for instance, as 142 mins. This is
probably because, when their computers asked for the running time, some
extra-credit intern/data-entry genius typed in '1:42' instead of 102. The same
occurred last night with "Ossessione". It was listed at 112 mins and it ran for
about 132 (1:12).
Luckily . . . and if I appear to be gloating, I truly apologize . . . I
had two VCRs running, just in case; one with a T-120 rolling and the other with
a T-160. Did the same with "La Terra Trema". So I got 'em both . . . at long
last.
Tom Sutpen
"Cinema is Truth, 24 times a second" -- Jean-Luc Godard
"Movies lie 24 times a second" -- Brian DePalma
"Kill Ugly Cinema!" -- Tom Sutpen
Joe Gillis
Does anything happen in La Terra Trema before the opening credits? Due to
circumstances beyond my control I started taping LTT in the middle of the
credits...
Tom Cervo
>burned again by the wrong running time listed in the TCM guide. I
>should've known better when they programmed OSSESSIONE in a 2.5 hour
>timeslot and listed a running time of 112 minutes, but I was distracted
>by other things today and didn't pay enough attention to this evening's
>schedule. Sure enough, the T-120 that was humming away in my VCR ran out
>while the film was still going strong, because it turned out to be the
>140-minute, uncut version.
I understand the irritation, but think of what you're saying--complaining that
the UNCUT version was shown. Kind of like expressing disappointment that
instead of RO doing the intro, they used that Scorsese guy.
I always double check the time in the local TV mags for something like this,
and tape accordingly--you can always add a short if it tapes too long.
Dave Garrett
tomc...@aol.com says...
Yeah, I know - I'm irritated with myself for not double-checking, not
with TCM for running the uncut version. I did manage to get all of LA
TERRA TREMA, and I'm considerably less peeved about missing OSSESSIONE
after discovering that both it and LA TERRA TREMA are being released on
DVD in several weeks.
Dave
Tom Cervo
>with TCM for running the uncut version. I did manage to get all of LA
>TERRA TREMA, and I'm considerably less peeved about missing OSSESSIONE
>after discovering that both it and LA TERRA TREMA are being released on
>DVD in several weeks.
Once TCM gets a foreign movie, it'll probably show up again.
This month's TCM moment was surely the back-to-back Anna Christie's--one in
English, one in German.