La luna (1979)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Franco Arcalli (story) &
Bernardo Bertolucci (story) ...

Release Date:

30 September 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

While touring in Italy, a recently-widowed American opera singer has an incestuous relationship with her 15-year-old son to help him overcome his heroin addiction.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Heroin | Diva | Verdi | Opera Singer

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Jill Clayburgh	...	Caterina Silveri
Matthew Barry	...	Joe Silveri
Veronica Lazar	...	Marina
Renato Salvatori	...	Communist
Fred Gwynne	...	Douglas Winter
Alida Valli	...	Giuseppe's Mother
Elisabetta Campeti	...	Arianna
Franco Citti	...	Man in Bar
Roberto Benigni	...	Upholsterer
Carlo Verdone	...	Director of Caracalla
Peter Eyre	...	Edward
Stéphane Barat	...	Mustafa
Pippo Campanini	...	Innkeeper
Rodolfo Lodi	...	Maestro Giancarlo Calo
Sara Di Nepi	...	Concetta (as Shara Di Nepi)

Also Known As:

Luna (USA)

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

Italy | USA

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | France:-16 | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Caracalla Thermals, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Fiction Cinematografica S.p.a.

Trivia:

Bernardo Bertolucci reportedly admitted that Carlo Verdone's character is an imitation of Franco Zeffirelli, who is also an appreciated opera director.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Buongiorno, notte (2003)

Soundtrack:

Night Fever

excellent film

I found La Luna to be a wonderful, haunting film. Bertolucci has an artists eye for locale but it is the charged drama between mother and son and the strong, committed performances of the two lead players that give the movie its power.Barry's performance was transcendent and, had I seen the film in 1979, I would have been sure he was on the cusp of a brilliant career. Was La Luna an albatross or did he become too self-conscious as he grew up? I gather the film bombed. The New York Times list of 1000 best films does not include it-an inexplicable oversight. Perhaps its graphic portrayal of a taboo subject made it a hot potato. Or perhaps it was that some of the scenes are a high-wire act: the scene where Joe licks the dirt off his mothers face is at once touching and erotic but in a different frame of mind one could find it ludicrous and might well have been greeted with hoots at a theater showing. No matter. I'm glad I found it.