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Black Widow

Original title: Before It Had a Name
  • 2005
  • PG-13
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
3.3/10
709
YOUR RATING
Willem Dafoe and Giada Colagrande in Black Widow (2005)
Home Video Trailer from First Look
Play trailer0:46
2 Videos
5 Photos
Dark RomanceTragedyDramaRomance

A young Italian woman inherits from her deceased lover an enigmatic modern house in the New York country side, and goes to see it for the first time. When she arrives she meets the caretaker... Read allA young Italian woman inherits from her deceased lover an enigmatic modern house in the New York country side, and goes to see it for the first time. When she arrives she meets the caretaker of the house...A young Italian woman inherits from her deceased lover an enigmatic modern house in the New York country side, and goes to see it for the first time. When she arrives she meets the caretaker of the house...

  • Director
    • Giada Colagrande
  • Writers
    • Giada Colagrande
    • Willem Dafoe
  • Stars
    • Willem Dafoe
    • Giada Colagrande
    • Seymour Cassel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.3/10
    709
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Giada Colagrande
    • Writers
      • Giada Colagrande
      • Willem Dafoe
    • Stars
      • Willem Dafoe
      • Giada Colagrande
      • Seymour Cassel
    • 23User reviews
    • 6Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos2

    Before It Had A Name aka "The Black Widow"
    Trailer 0:46
    Before It Had A Name aka "The Black Widow"
    Before It Had a Name
    Trailer 0:45
    Before It Had a Name
    Before It Had a Name
    Trailer 0:45
    Before It Had a Name

    Photos4

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster

    Top cast8

    Edit
    Willem Dafoe
    Willem Dafoe
    • Leslie
    Giada Colagrande
    Giada Colagrande
    • Eleonora
    Seymour Cassel
    Seymour Cassel
    • Jeff
    Isaach De Bankolé
    Isaach De Bankolé
    • Waiter
    Emily Cass McDonnell
    Emily Cass McDonnell
    • Gail
    Claudio Botosso
    • Karl
    Bari Hyman
    Bari Hyman
    • Local Policewoman
    Spenser Leigh
    • Girl crossing street
    • Director
      • Giada Colagrande
    • Writers
      • Giada Colagrande
      • Willem Dafoe
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews23

    3.3709
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    Featured reviews

    2hockeymom2005

    Hmmmmmmmmmmm...........

    I am not an artistically inclined individual. I am a science minded woman and I felt that this movie was maybe one of those campy artsy type films on a budget. I watched part of it with my fiancé and my future step daughter. We tried very hard to find something in this film to keep our interest. My fiancé and his daughter voted it off and we moved on to Ocean's 13,but that is another story. Not to be deterred I awoke the next morning and gave the movie another shot. I began again watching this movie in earnest. I just don't get it,I thought I would get it.I thought the funniest part was the flushing of the ashes and the urn finding a spot by the fireplace being used as a vase for what appeared to be dead flowers. Interesting and still it had dead stuff inside. It was an odd and bizarre movie. Maybe this is what they were after,however I won't be tricked a second time!
    2crazydark

    Nothing unique about it

    Predictable, told a thousand times story with the usual drama in between, a couple of pretty raunchy sex scenes intermingled with some character paranoia, 70's style incidental violin horror music that is comical at times, i couldn't help chuckling to myself.

    I usually like Defoe, and it has to be said that the acting is not all that bad, the "plot" develops at a reasonable pace and does keep you guessing from time to time. Its just that it's all too predictable, i felt like i was watching a made for TV drama instead of a new movie. Maybe thats the style the directors wanted, but it has to be said that the review i read on here before i saw the movie could only have been written by someone involved in its production.

    Don't expect too much, and if i could wind the clock back i wouldn't have gone to see it at the cinema. I would wait for the bargain bins at your video shop, I'm sure it wont take long.
    1filmscholar35

    It's TRUE, this IS awful!

    I am a huge Willem Dafoe fan, and really sought out this film (I had to get a Region 5 Chinese DVD of it!). But, it is truly one of the worst that I've seen in quite a while.

    The acting (except for Dafoe) is horrible. Dafoe and Colagrande BOTH wrote and directed this ( though he isn't credited as a director), and they have NO discernible talents for writing or directing. (Stick to acting Willem; Giada get out of the business, PLEASE!)

    Absolutely nothing happens. Except a series of completely unconvincing, totally without believable motivation, acts by these two people (that just met) in this house. Colagrande's sleepy, I couldn't care less expression practically NEVER changes. And the sex scenes are downright lame. I actually cringed twice at one of them. Yuck! They're definitely not the least bit erotic, and yet are the only time the film isn't putting you to sleep. Then, it's busy repulsing you.

    Just awful.
    4ksf-2

    sooooo bad. all around.

    Such very low ratings on IMDB! Willem DaFoe is Leslie, caretaker on a farm in new york. and the italian woman Eleonora (Giada Colagrande) arrives on the scene to see what exactly she has inherited. Colagrande's acting is terrible..this was only her second role, and it's very over-done. and there's a loud clock ticking for the first half of the film.. it's out of place, and we don't know why it's ticking, so we don't really care. we see some dirty photos, but nothing is explained, and it's shown so briefly, that we aren't sure what's going on. bad directing. now we know why it's rated so low on IMDB. big giant yawn. is there a marx brothers movie on somewhere? skip this one! Written and directed by Giada Colagrande, this one is also known as Black Widow. Filmed in various locations in New York.
    1gooner_77

    awful

    I too like Dafoe as an actor but i wasted a few hours of my life actually watching this film, I still cant believe i managed to watch it in its entirety. Was there actually a point to the film?, and the ending, well, Im glad i never paid to see this awful pointless piece of pathetic excuse of a film!

    Im not sure without hunting the facts out but is Dafoe married or seeing the awful actress in this film in real life, if so was it an attempt to kick start her career?, if so im afraid it must have failed..

    I post this in the hope i can actually put someone off watching this film, even if 1 person takes heed of my comments and decides they would much rather watch paint drying i will feel i have made some good in the world, if only i had had the same advice...

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ben Van Hoei wrote: "With its narrow focus on two people in a passionate relationship and its abundant use of metaphors, the film certainly has more in common with the intimate auteur dramas of the old continent than with new American cinema . . . Whatever the reaction of American audiences will be, Black Widow (2005) is certainly amongst the most pleasing --- and decidedly auteur --- surprises of the Venice Days."
    • Connections
      Features This American Life (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Domani e un Altro Giorno (The Wonders you Perform)
      Written by Jerry Chesnut (as Jerry Chesnut)

      Performed by Ornella Vanoni

      Published by Sony/ATV Tree Publishing (BMI)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 2007 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Before It Had a Name
    • Filming locations
      • New Paltz, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Bidou Pictures
      • Canary Films
      • Emmett/Furla Oasis Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $450,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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    Willem Dafoe and Giada Colagrande in Black Widow (2005)
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