The innocence
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The innocence |
| Original title | L'innocente |
| Country of production | Italy |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1976 |
| length | 125 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Luchino Visconti |
| script |
Suso Cecchi D'Amico Luchino Visconti |
| production | Giovanni Bertolucci for Rusconi Film |
| music | Franco Mannino |
| camera | Pasqualino De Santis |
| cut | Ruggero Mastroianni |
| occupation | |
| |
Innocence is a 1976 Italian movie . For his last feature film, director Luchino Visconti used the novel The Sacrifice (also: The Innocent, in the original L'innocente) by Gabriele D'Annunzio . He succeeded in creating a finely drawn portrait of the Belle Epoque in opulent, decorative pictures .
action
The Roman Count Tullio Hermil uncompromisingly orientates his life according to his preferences. Ignoring the love of his wife, the beautiful Giuliana, he becomes the lover of the widowed Countess Teresa Raffo. At the latest at a festive reception at a princess, where Tullio and Teresa disappear together and Giuliania is left alone, the liaison becomes obvious to society. iuliania tries to win back the love of her husband, but he claims that he only has feelings for her as for a loved sister. When Tullio leaves for a few days to pursue his affair, Giuliania meets the young writer Filippo d'Arborio, a friend of Tullio's brother Frederico. A short but violent affair breaks out between Filippo and Giuliana, which initially goes unnoticed.
Tullio becomes suspicious of his wife's affair when he catches her playing minor lies and she passionately praises the literary works of d'Arborio. Jealousy flares up in him and he returns to Giuliana with genuine affection. However, she is now expecting a child from d'Arborio. Tullio does not want to dismiss them, as the two had long ago made an agreement that extramarital affairs were allowed, which, however, only he had used for a long time. At the same time, however, he tries to persuade her to have an abortion , which can be publicly described as a miscarriage. Giuliana refuses to have an abortion because of her Catholic religion, which her passionate atheist husband cannot understand. Meanwhile, d'Arborio dies of a tropical disease, which incites jealousy and fear in Tullio that his wife might still secretly love a dead person.
After a difficult birth, the child is finally born. Count Tullio's mother is happy about the long-awaited heir to the property, but she is surprised that the parents hardly spend any time with the newborn. Tullio and Giuliana conjure each other's hatred of the child, whose presence reminds them of their past missteps and thus destroys the happiness of their marriage. Tullio is dismayed when he notices that his wife secretly rushes to the child at night and feels love for them. When the entire family attends the Christmas service, Count Hermil remains alone in the house and deliberately exposes the child to the winter cold. The newborn dies that same evening, whereupon Giuliana finally turns away from her husband and explains that with her apparently cold behavior she only ever wanted to protect the child from Tullio and now she still loves d'Arborio.
From now on Tullio wants to live beyond the categories of good and bad as if he had not committed murder. He confides in Teresa and continues his affair with her, but cannot comfort himself with feelings of guilt and the aversion of his wife. In contrast to the novel, he shoots himself at the end. Teresa discovers the body of Tullio and disappears unnoticed from his estate at dawn.
Reviews
“The infinitely perfectly calculated coldness of the staging makes an emotional introduction to the film almost impossible for the viewer. Unlike in "The Leopard", "The Damned" or, most recently, "Violence and Passion", the figures remain pale schemes: insects on the dissection table of a scientist who operates with the most delicate instruments. "
“With this ending, which deviates from the original, Visconti distances himself from the libertine main character, in whom he sees a forerunner of fascism. Staged with subtle sensualism: the artistic decor arrangements and the intense close-ups are captivating. "
literature
- Gabriele D'Annunzio : The victim. Roman (original title: L'innocente) . German by Virgilio Iafrate, with an afterword by Adeline R. Tintner, unabridged paperback edition, Ullstein, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-548-24671-0 .
Web links
- The innocence in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Christoph Blumenberg : Love colder than death . In: Die Zeit , No. 11/1977