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Movies Forum Index » Silent Movies Forum » Metroactive: Diva Doings
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| Bruce Calvert |
 Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:31 am |
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http://www.metroactive.com/metro/04.30.08/dvd-diva-0818.html
Diva Doings
A new book and DVD recall the passionate excess of the Italian diva of
silent films
By Michael S. Gant
AMERICAN SILENT-FILM fans are familiar with the vamp, personified most
famously by Theda Bara. A new book and DVD reveal a related female fury
known as the "diva," who reigned over Italian silent cinema in the years
before and during World War I. More complex than a simple man-eater or femme
fatale, the Italian diva perched perilously between the strict Catholic
morality of the past and the uncorseting urges of modernization. Divas
struggled to find love, passion and independence and yet were often
condemned to suffering (hence the "dolorosa") by the strictures of
traditional society. The diva films exalted the ecstasies and agonies of
their female leads, who were prone to magnificent, fatal gestures in the
name of love, even when the men in question weren't worthy of the sacrifice.
Since narrative was deemed less important than showy dramatic moments, these
films lend themselves especially well to the subtle editing techniques of
Dutch director Peter Delpeut, who specializes in "found footage" from the
silent era. In Diva Dolorosa (1999), Delpeut splices together representative
scenes from the work of heavy-lidded actresses like Pina Menichelli, Lyda
Borelli and Francesca Bertini to create a kind of "ur-diva" film. The fancy
balls in which wealthy suitors court these exotic peacocks give way to more
intimate reveries (often accompanied by the scattering of rose petals from
giant bouquets) and heated declarations of undying love and, finally, to
some bracing doses of morphine to "overcome the double insanity of love and
death." The lurid intertitles give a flavor of what is happening: "The venom
of love once more poured into her heart."
The clips Delpeut uses are often gloriously tinted in deep shades of blue,
green and ochre. In one over-the-top scene, a diva taunts her admirer for
his half-hearted commitment. "True passion is a flare; it reaches up to the
sky, but only for a brief moment," she says, before setting the guy's
dining-room table on fire as the screen floods with red smoke. Several long
sequences from Rapsodia Satanica (a typical no-holds-barred title) show
Borelli, whose character has bought immortality by jettisoning true love,
wrapped in flowing diaphanous veils. Tossing caution-and veils-to the wind,
she exits the castle that keeps her young and embraces the natural world ...
and death. As she heads into the sunlight, we can see faint lavender hues on
her gown. She moves through a grove of cypresses and finally vanishes into
the dark woods of death. In a fadeout, her sheer gauze floats by itself over
a light azure sea.
The acting can be wildly florid but never seems risible or histrionic.
Watching Diva Dolorasa fills you with the desire to experience more of the
riches of this bygone and unknown film era. (Delpeut did the same with rare
silent films from the rest of Europe in his feature Lyrical Nitrate, also
available on Zeitgeist.) Diva Dolorosa can be purchased separately or
bundled with Diva: Defiance and Passion in Early Italian Cinema (University
of Texas), a dense historical and critical study of the genre by film
teacher Angela Dalle Vacche. Setting the diva in the context of extreme
stresses in Italian society and art (especially the Futurist movement) and
noting the line from stage divas like Sarah Bernhardt and the first real
female movie star, Asta Nielsen, Vacche provides a great deal of
illuminating background material and extensive descriptions of individual
films (although she spins some academic webs that can lay traps for the
unwary-I'm still confused by what she means when she talks about
"verticality" in acting styles). The book contains many wonderful stills and
posters.
DIVA DOLOROSA by Peter Delpeut; one disc; Zeitgeist Films; $29.99
DIVA: Defiance AND PASSION IN EARLY ITALIAN CINEMA, by Angela Dalle Vacche;
University of Texas Press; $34.95 paperback with DVD
--
Bruce Calvert
--
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