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Since the beginning, much of Italian cinema has been sustained by transforming literature into moving images. This tradition of literary adaptation continues today, challenging artistic form and practice by pressuring the boundaries that traditionally separate film from its sister arts. In the twentieth century, director Luchino Visconti is a keystone figure in Italy's evolving art of adaptation. From the tumultuous years of Fascism and postwar Neorealism, through the blockbuster decade of the 1960s, into the arthouse masterpieces of the 1970s, Visconti's adaptations marked a distinct pathway of the Italian cinematic imagination. Luchino Visconti and the Alchemy of Adaptation examines these films together with their literary antecedents. Moving past strict book-to-film comparisons, it ponders how literary texts encounter and interact with a history of cultural and cinematic forms, genres, and traditions. Matching the major critical concerns of the postwar period (realism, political filmmaking, cinematic modernism) with more recent notions of adaptation and intermediality, this book reviews how one of Italy's greatest directors mined literary ore for cinematic inspiration.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface

Introduction: Literary Sources, Cinematic Frameworks

Part I: Neorealist Interiors in Word and Image

1. La terra trema (The Earth Trembles, 1948): Inhabiting The House by the Medlar Tree, from Verga to Visconti

2. Ossessione (Obsession, 1941): In from the Outside: Literary Interiors in Neorealist Exteriors

3. Senso (1954) and Le notti bianche (White Nights, 1957): Voice and Body: Books through Stars of the Screen

Part II: The Super-Spectacle Adaptations

4. Rocco e i suoi fratelli (Rocco and His Brothers, 1960): Passion and Pugilism in Visconti's Boxing Film

5. Il Gattopardo (The Leopard, 1963) and Il lavoro (The Job, 1962): Wedding Bestseller with Blockbuster

6. La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) (The Damned, 1969): A Queer Macbeth in Nazi Uniform

Part III: The Late Works, Page to Screen

7. Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa (Sandra, 1965) and L'Innocente (The Intruder, 1976): D'Annunzio, Decadence, and Tragic Masculinity

8. Lo straniero (The Stranger, 1967): Crime and Punishment in a "Failed" Adaptation

9. Morte a Venezia (Death in Venice, 1971): Ode to the Elegant Art of Adaptation

Bibliography
Filmography
Index

Sujets

Film

My Last Duchess

History of film

Italy

Comparative literature

Visual culture

Película fotográfica

Informations

Publié par	State University of New York Press
Date de parution	01 septembre 2021
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781438484990
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Luchino Visconti and the Alchemy of Adaptation

Luchino Visconti and the Alchemy of Adaptation

Brendan Hennessey
Cover: Luchino Visconti, Roma, 1968. Photo Ugo Mulas © Ugo Mulas Heirs. All rights reserved.
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2021 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Hennessey, Brendan, 1977– author.
Title: Luchino Visconti and the alchemy of adaptation / Brendan Hennessey.
Description: Albany : State University of New York, [2021] | Series: SUNY series, horizons of cinema | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021016731 (print) | LCCN 2021016732 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438484976 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438484990 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Visconti, Luchino, 1906–1976—Criticism and interpretation. | Film adaptations—History and criticism.
Classification: LCC PN1998.3.V57 H46 2021 (print) | LCC PN1998.3.V57 (ebook) | DDC 791.4302/33092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016731
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016732
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Susan
One is far more an author making a film, even if it is a film derived from literature.
—Luchino Visconti
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: Literary Sources, Cinematic Frameworks
Part I: Neorealist Interiors in Word and Image
1 La terra trema ( The Earth Trembles , 1948): Inhabiting The House by the Medlar Tree , from Verga to Visconti
2 Ossessione ( Obsession , 1941): In from the Outside: Literary Interiors in Neorealist Exteriors
3 Senso (1954) and Le notti bianche ( White Nights , 1957): Voice and Body: Books through Stars of the Screen
Part II: The Super-Spectacle Adaptations
4 Rocco e i suoi fratelli ( Rocco and His Brothers , 1960): Passion and Pugilism in Visconti’s Boxing Film
5 Il Gattopardo ( The Leopard , 1963) and Il lavoro ( The Job , 1962): Wedding Bestseller with Blockbuster
6 La caduta degli dei ( Götterdämmerung ) ( The Damned , 1969): A Queer Macbeth in Nazi Uniform
Part III: The Late Works, Page to Screen
7 Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa ( Sandra , 1965) and L’Innocente ( The Intruder , 1976): D’Annunzio, Decadence, and Tragic Masculinity
8 Lo straniero ( The Stranger , 1967): Crime and Punishment in a “Failed” Adaptation
9 Morte a Venezia ( Death in Venice , 1971): Ode to the Elegant Art of Adaptation
Bibliography
Filmography
Index
Illustrations I.1 Luchino Visconti’s hand turning the pages of the novel being adapted in his final film, L’innocente (Luchino Visconti, 1976) . I.2 Poster for the French film Le dernier tournant ( The Last Turning , Pierre Chenal, 1939) . I.3 Poster for The Earth Trembles (Luchino Visconti, 1948) . 1.1 Mara and Lucia gaze out from the window of the family home in The Earth Trembles (Luchino Visconti, 1948) . 1.2 Inhabitants of Primavalle look out their window in Appunti su un fatto di cronaca ( Notes on a News Item , 1953) . 1.3 The Valastros in the courtyard . 1.4 The deathbed of Maria Goretti, Il cielo sulla palude ( Heaven over the Marshes , Augusto Genina, 1949) . 1.5 Mara at the house by the medlar tree, The Earth Trembles (Luchino Visconti, 1948) . 1.6 Shot of Ntoni’s feet looking up at his neighbor in the window . 1.7 The Valastro home from the viewpoint of their neighbor’s window . 2.1 Opening credits, Obsession (Luchino Visconti, 1942) . 2.2 Giovanna walks along the desolate beach . 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 Various perspectives on the swinging girl in Partie de campagne ( A Day in the Country , Jean Renoir, 1946) . 2.6, 2.7, 2.8 Gino (shoulder), Giovanna, Gino’s face ( Obsession ) . 2.9 Giovanna in the kitchen among a pile of plates . 3.1 Alida Valli in Senso (Luchino Visconti, 1954) . 3.2 Anna Magnani, the concerned screen mother in Bellissima (Luchino Visconti, 1951) . 3.3 Valli and Nazzari in Oltre l’amore ( Beyond Love , Carmine Gallone, 1940) . 3.4 Livia and Franz in Venice, Senso . 3.5 Mario and Natalia on the bridge ( White Nights , Luchino Visconti, 1957) . 3.6 A night at the opera ( White Nights ) . 4.1 Boxing in Rocco and His Brothers (Luchino Visconti, 1960) . 4.2 Tiberio Mitri: Il campione e la miss ( The Champion and the Miss , Angelo Longoni, 2011) . 4.3 The prostitute and the boxer: Nadia and Simone . 4.4 Scenes in the boxing gym . 4.5 Luca touches the poster promoting Rocco’s match . 5.1 Cover of Feltrinelli’s Italian-language version of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard featuring Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale from the film The Leopard (Luchino Visconti, 1963) . 5.2 Angelica, the face of postunification Italy . 5.3 Pupe regarding herself in the mirror from The Job (Luchino Visconti, 1962) . 5.4 Tancredi and the Battle of Palermo . 5.5 Angelica and Tancredi leave the ball in a carriage . 5.6 The wagon train to Donnafugata . 6.1 Sophie dead on the couch in The Damned (Luchino Visconti, 1969) . 6.2 Spanish film poster of The Damned depicting the scene in which Martin performs Dietrich . 6.3 Martin’s performance in drag at the beginning of The Damned . 6.4 Sophie cradling her son, Martin . 6.5 Soldiers in the lake . 6.6 Drunken soldiers singing their hymn . 7.1, 7.2 Cardinale on the bed, Giannini looking jealous in Sandra (Luchino Visconti, 1967) . 7.3 Tullio with the child in The Intruder (Luchino Visconti, 1975) . 7.4 Frontal view of Arborio . 7.5 The tree on the family plot from book to film . 7.6 Emmanuele’s shrouded bust . 7.7 Sandra descending the spiral staircase into the Roman cistern . 8.1 Meursault behind bars in The Stranger (Luchino Visconti, 1967) . 8.2 Meursault and Marie swimming . 8.3 Commissioner Mario Berlinguer in the courtroom . 8.4 Meursault regards Marie, who visits him in prison . 9.1 Aschenbach and his image in the water, Death in Venice (Luchino Visconti, 1971) . 9.2 Aschenbach leering at Tadzio . 9.3 Tadzio smiles at Aschenbach . 9.4 The prostitute Esmerelda from Mann’s Doctor Faustus . 9.5 Aschenbach’s final viewpoint of Tadzio on the beach with a camera in the foreground .
Acknowledgments
This volume would not have been possible without encouragement and support from a number of colleagues, friends, and institutions. I have received substantial assistance from various libraries and archives in the United States and Italy. Among others, thanks to Caryl Ward at Bartle Library at Binghamton University, Giovanna Bosman at the Fondazione Istituto Gramsci, the staff at the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, and the people at Harvard University’s Widener Library. I owe a debt of gratitude to the wonderful staff in the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress, where much of this book was written. Special thanks to Lucia Re for her early guidance through the many thorny questions Visconti introduces. The intellectual engagement at Binghamton University has been particularly important and I recognize Mario Moroni, Rachel Samiani, Alexandra Lee, Maria Cook, Ana Ros, and my dear friend Dana Stewart for all of their help and inspiration. An earlier version of chapter 6 originally appeared in The Italianist . The manuscript benefited from comments by Christopher Wagstaff and Charles L. Leavitt IV, Pamela Erins’s thoughtful editing, and assistance with images from Sean Donnelly. Thanks to Murray Pomerance, Laura Poole, and the entire team at SUNY Press for transforming my manuscript into a book. The entire project profited immensely from my conversations with Zyg and Maggie Baranski, James Kriesel, and Laurence Hooper. I also extend my gratitude to Barry Steelman at Cinema 93 for sharing his immense knowledge and eclectic film collection.
None of this would be possible without the support of my parents and the entire Hennessey clan. Finally, I thank my wife, son, and daughter for tolerating my absences and enduring countless screenings of beautiful Italian films.
Preface
Alongside such figures as John Huston, Stanley Kubrick, and Jean-Luc Godard, Luchino Visconti’s legacy will be forever rooted in the cinematic transformation of literature. “Of the great Italian filmmakers,” Lino Micciché once noted, “none had as special, intense, or enduring a relationship with literature” (Micciché 2002, 85). This omnipresence of adaptation reflects Italian cinema, a national film tradition that is perhaps “the most bound to the structures, models and history of universal literature of all time” (Brunetta 2008, 28). Still, more than forty years since his death and despite a voluminous bibliography dedicated to his life and work, few studies examine more than a select number of adaptations. The absence of a unifying monograph is revealing. It is embedded in the contradictions of the artist himself and in the thorny question of adaptation that his films disclosed. Twelve of the Visconti’s eighteen fiction films were based on books. Nine made explicit reference to the novels or short stories they were based on: Ossessione , 1942 ( The Postman Always Rings Tw