Luchino Visconti: Decadence & Decay
A pioneer of the Italian neorealism movement and a maestro of luxurious historical drama, Visconti was an artist of unique and often maddening paradox.
‘To put your eyes on beauty is to put your eyes on death.’
– Luchino Visconti
Visconti was a Marxist and old-money aristocrat, and a bisexual and nostalgic subversive who once challenged his leading man to a duel. He was a contradiction in terms both personally and cinematically, and a singular product of a crumbling historical epoch. From his earliest neorealist dramas that dealt with the inequity of Italian society to opulent period pieces, Visconti had an eye for the darkness of dynastic power struggles and the volatility of men obsessed by the past. His work revelled in wry humour and bold sensuality. Beyond the precision of his baroque historical detail and costuming, Visconti was also a filmmaker of psychological acuity, capturing the perversity, despair and cruelty of individuals striving to make or remake meaning in a changing world. Don’t let the painterly elegance fool you – Visconti’s cinema is one of queer desire, hysteria and transgression.
Christina Newland, season curator
In partnership with
Releases
Rocco and His Brothers
Alain Delon stars in this beautiful family epic of love, pugilism, and tested loyalty.
Events
Visconti and his Cinema: Decadence & Decay Season Launch
A season introduction event exploring the themes emerging in the work of Luchino Visconti.
25 & Under: Introduction to Luchino Visconti
A crash course introduction, aimed at 16 to 25-year-olds, to the work and worlds of Luchino Visconti.
Senso + intro by season curator and film critic Christina Newland
A hysterical but sublimely beautiful melodrama of lust and obsession in 19th-century Italy.
The Leopard + intro by Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive, Film London and British Film Commission
Visconti’s wistful and lavish classic details the demise of a noble but fading Italian aristocracy.
Conversation Piece + intro by film critic Phuong Le
Perverse aristocratic tenants wreak havoc on the life of a retired professor in this late entry from Luchino Visconti.
Season programme
Ossessione
A boldly sexual and subversive film noir set in the rural heart of Mussolini’s Italy.
Bellissima
Anna Magnani is outstanding as a pushy mother in this pungent anti-showbiz satire.
Senso
A hysterical but sublimely beautiful melodrama of lust and obsession in 19th-century Italy.
UK Premiere of 4K Restoration: White Nights
A minor-key story of love and loss, starring Marcello Mastroianni.
The Leopard
Visconti’s wistful and lavish classic details the demise of a noble but fading Italian aristocracy.
The Damned
A caustic and richly detailed portrait of a German family’s moral degradation during the rule of the Third Reich.
Death in Venice
An articulate and visually ravishing adaptation of Thomas Mann’s novel of queer lust and mortality.
Ludwig
Luchino Visconti’s baroque biopic of the eccentric Bavarian royal features a standout performance by Helmut Berger.
Conversation Piece
Perverse aristocratic tenants wreak havoc on the life of a retired professor in this late entry from Luchino Visconti.
The Innocent
Luchino Visconti’s final film, a chilly critique of masculinity, details a cruel and disastrous extramarital affair.
Seniors
Seniors’ Paid Matinee: Rocco and His Brothers
Alain Delon stars in this beautiful family epic of love, pugilism, and tested loyalty.
Course
Course: City Lit at the BFI: Luchino Visconti – Noble Realist
Join fellow film lovers and explore the magnificent realism and literary adaptations of Luchino Visconti.
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