Conversation Piece (DVD)

Directed by : Luchino Visconti

Cast : Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano

Available Date : 05/01/2013

Release Year : 1974

Running Time : 122

UPC : 816018010319

Country : Italy

Language: Italian and English w/English subtitles

Genre : Drama, World Cinema

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$22.49 (DVD)

MSRP: $29.98

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Description

Luchino Visconti's award-winning classic examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her companions - her lover, her daughter and the daugther's boyfriend - he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his palazzo. Before long his quiet routine is turned upside down and the introverted professor becomes entangled in his tenants' machinations. In the midst of this chaos each of the new neighbors' lives - including that of the professor himself - takes an unexpected but inevitable turn.

Visconti's penultimate film, Conversation Piece marks the culmination of his career as a master of Italian cinema.

Product Extras :

Original trailer
Interview with film critic and screenwriter Alessandro Bencivenni
English original language
Fully illustrated booklet by Mark Reynolds
New digitally restored

Publish Date : 0000-00-00

UV Canada Link : https://unobstructedview.com/conversation-piece-kin010319-web.html

Cast

Luchino Visconti - Director

Burt Lancaster - Actor
Helmut Berger - Actor
Silvana Mangano - Actor

Reviews

“A haunting film. Beautiful to look at and to listen to."

– James Price, Sight & Sound

“One of Visconti's most personal works."

– Jordan Cronk, Slant Magazine

“Visconti’s penultimate film will remain a testament to his talent. And rightly so, as it touches on all of the themes that the director held dear."

– Alain Sanzio and Paul-Louis Thirard, Luchino Visconti Cinéaste

"Though filmed with his usual immaculate eye for decor and composition, the first half of Conversation Piece (Gruppo di famiglia in un interno) is unusually spry and funny for a Visconti film. Lancaster's flustered reactions and Berger's profane telephone threats make for great trash viewing, and the story really kicks into gear one hour in with a kinky plot twist."

– Mondo Digital

"Remarkable. A thoughtful, ruminative film that demonstrates the best qualities of a late-in-life filmmaker – certainty, curiosity, urgency, and honesty." – Scott Nye, CriterionCast

“With the unmissable atmosphere of a Visconti movie, elaborate, ostentatious settings, drama, and his usual ensemble cast, the director brings out concern for humanity from his particular and privileged point of view… a must see for Visconti's enthusiasts.” – José Mayorgas, Queer Guru

“Visconti’s late-career chamber drama delivers a disarmingly incisive analysis of hedonistic elites… In the wake of fascism and the reactionary crackdown on midcentury student movements, a different set of rituals dominate high society. The ballroom gowns are traded in for Fendi fur coats and polite garden party flirtations supplanted by head-turning polyamorous affairs… Yet, the arrival of this latest restoration comes at a historically unparalleled era of inequality, where the debauchery and cruelty of a privileged few is streamed across cyberspace 24/7.” – Mick Gaw, Screen Slate

Awards

Best Film David di Donatello Awards
Official Selection New York Film Festival

Press

For press and publicity inquiries, please email press@kinolorber.com. A selection of press materials for this title may be available for download here.