Sandra - Die Triebhafte

An uneven entry in the Visconti canon, "Sandra Of A Thousand Delights" comes directly after "The Leopard", and while I consider "The Leopard" a masterpiece, it was still a film where Visconti was developing as a director, not really reaching the masterly stylistic highs of "The Damned" or "Death In Venice", but with a majestically deep plot that made up for any directorial deficiencies.

Now, "Sandra Of A Thousand Delights" is still a point in Visconti's career where he's developing as a director. He's close but he's not quite there. Shot in black and white, and with an overly dark photography that emphasizes the desolate feel, even though this is a highly intense drama - perhaps too dramatic for it's own good, it doesn't have the necessary substance to back up the plot. In the end it's just a family drama and nothing more, even if it's a forceful one: Sandra reunites with her family on the eve of her father's memorial service but there's two dark secrets lurking in the shadows; her incestuous affair with her brother, and her adulterous mother's dereliction of her husband (Sandra's father) in a concentration camp.

After watching "Sandra...", for the first time in mi life I wanted to know who the director was. It was 1966 and me 15, so until that moment, I was only interested in who starred what but never fully understood the director's work enormous importance. Since then, Visconti not only became one of my favorite directors ever but a parameter when judging a film. Actually, I had seen The leopard years before, when I was to young to notice more than the beauty in Cardinale and the sumptuous sets. About "Sandra" I still remember vividly not only how beautiful and glamorous Cardinale looked but how handsome and elegant Sorel was; how mysterious the whole black and white atmosphere was and the intriguing plot... which I didn't fully understood because even if the action seemed to say something, the subtitles said something else!. I thought then my mother was right when she used to tell me: You are too young to understand this and that. Well, not without relief, I learn, years later, than the subtitles had been made in Spain, during the Franco's days, so its censorship had erased all incest traces. After that, a new copy was made to match subtitles and story (and thats, thankfully, what you can find, at least in Spanish!). But even after so many years, and in my adulthood, I find Sandra as magical as the first time and still is one of my favorite movies, as many Visconti's works like Rocco and his brothers, Death in Venice or The dammed, as well, of course, The Leopard.

I am sick to death of all the ridiculous titles this great film has been given. ' Of A Thousand Delights ' is absurd meaning nothing and ' Sandra ' is banal. To make it clear the title is a reference to a Leopardi poem eloquently quoted by Jean Sorel in the film. The poem expresses despair, and Jean Sorel says the words to his sister Sandra played by Claudia Cardinale. Why is he in despair ? He is in love and that love is forbidden by society. His suffering is appalling to watch, and given that Luchino Visconti was homosexual Sorel's beautiful face and body is filmed erotically, and the film could have been called ' Gianni,' given that Sorel as well as Cardinale are our main focus of attention. But of course that would not have brought the audience in. Other reviewers have given away a lot of the story so I will not follow that path. Cesar Franck's ' Prelude, Choral and Fugue ' for piano is delicately used; underlining the passions of hatred and love in the film and personally I believe Visconti never achieved such perfection of choice in any of his other films. The music is not manipulative as Mahler's Fifth Symphony in ' Death in Venice ' ( maudlin to the point of nausea ) or the dreadful score underlining ' The Damned '. In ' Vaghe Stelle Dell' Orsa ' everything is right, and the use of black and white photography unsurpassed. The nearest film that comes close to it is ' Rocco And His Brothers '. Now I will give an opinion that may seem heresy to some, but Jean Sorel was the finest and most physically beautiful actors he ever cast, and his beauty and talent far surpassed that of Alain Delon in either ' The Leopard ' or ' Rocco And His Brothers '. Delon was in my opinion cold and passionless, better suited to Jean-Pierre Melville's icy characters, but as in all human subjectivity, others will disagree. As for Claudia Cardinale her beauty and interior force explodes on the screen with a power rarely seen on film. She is definitely Electra to Sorel's Orestes. Finally Marie Bell, an extraordinarily fine actress as their tormented mother, exuding guilt and hatred in equal measure. This masterpiece ( arguably the best of Visconti's films ) is strangely underrated. It demands close attention, as it is so full of ambiguities and should be seen more than once. Visconti was a variable director, sadly resorting to ' Camp ' in later films and sometimes toppling into vulgarity. I feel his later judgement of choosing inferior actors and overloaded imagery overshadowed in the public mind the excellent work of his earlier films, of which ' Vaghe Stelle Dell' Orsa ' Is the high point.

***User-reviewer bennyraldak ("Forbidden desire", bennyraldak from Netherlands, 4 September 2009) sees "Sandra" as being focused on Claudia Cardinale's character's demons. Ilpo Hirvonen ("The decay of an aristocratic family", Ilpo Hirvonen from Finland, 21 September 2010) has a good general summary.***

Luchino Visconti's Sandra (1965), is a puzzling but splendorous visual treat that depicts incest, homo-eroticism, madness and collaboration with the Nazis. Its fairly slow pacing and reluctance to make obvious useful information will challenge those who spend hours a day gazing down at their QWERTY devices. However, "Sandra" is very rich and satisfying; it is flawlessly served up by the great Visconti. (I like it more than "The Leopard.")

A modernized retelling of the Greek myth Electra, an attractive, upper-class, socialite couple (Claudia Cardinale in the eponymous role, Michael Craig as her husband Andrew) return to the mansion of Sandra's youth (which she was forced to flee), to attend a small ceremony honoring her father, who was murdered by the Nazis at a concentration camp. When she is reunited with her unstable brother, Gianni (Jean Sorel), the physical connection between them is made very obvious. Their closer-than-normal relationship is never a secret to the audience, but revealing it is a big concern to Andrew and other observers, such as Sandra's barrister stepfather Gilardini (Renzo Ricci). The perpetually nervous Gilardini and Sandra's clinically insane mother (Marie Bell) may also have collaborated with the Nazis by betraying Sandra's father, creating an unusual conflict of pairs.

Shot in high-contrast Black and White, Visconti's skill at shooting his photogenic cast in tight quarters is evident. Because the English translation of the film is somewhat talky, it helps to develop the skill of quickly reading the subtitles in order to enjoy Visconti's work. It is amazing how precise and detailed the imagery is. The scenes between the anguished brother and steely sister are frequently filled with erotic tension. Visconti's trademark homo-eroticism is also present, but to a smaller degree.

One of the more interesting characters is Sandra's "first love" who is now a physician. He seems to personify not just a mixture of Sandra's husband and her brother, but also the Nazi collaborator Gilardini. At least, that's my interpretation of the final image.

Visconti's depiction of a decaying aristocratic family has great depth, and fans of the great director will not be disappointed with it.

After a farewell party, Sandra Dawson (Claudia Cardinale) and her American husband Andrew Dawson (Michael Craig) travel to her hometown in the province of Volterra for a homage of the locals to her father, a prominent scientist that died in the concentration camp of Auschwitz. The couple is welcomed by the maid Fosca (Amalia Troiani), and Andrew becomes fascinated with the house. Sandra has issues with her stepfather Pietro Formari (Fred Williams) and her insane mother (Marie Bell) and misses her brother Gianni Wald-Luzzati (Jean Sorel), who is an aspirant writer. When Gianni appears in the house out of the blue, Andrew unravels a shadowy secret from the past of the siblings.

The unknown "Vaghe Stelle dell'Orsa..." is another great movie of this artist called Luchino Visconti. The plot about incestuous relationship and family issues in the hands of another director could have become a melodramatic soap-opera. But Visconti explores the sensuality and beauty of Claudia Cardinale to deliver an intriguing and quite erotic family drama without any redemption. The set decoration, as usual, is another piece of art, supported by a classy music score. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available