settima

ArmandoNannuzzi

La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) [The Damned] (Luchino Visconti, 1969)

May

18

Visit Your Relatives Day

La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung) (1969)

Martin Von Essenbeck (Helmut Berger) entertains the family. DPs: Pasqualino De Santis & Armando Nannuzzi.

A family gathering on Visit Your Relatives Day (USA)

“You must realize that today in Germany anything can happen, even the improbable, and it's just the beginning, Frederick. Personal morals are dead. We are an elite society where everything is permissible. These are Hitler's words. My dear Frederick, even you should give them some thought.”

– Aschenbach

The wealthy Von Essenbecks gather for a family dinner party. There is entertainment.

Ludwig (Luchino Visconti, 1973)

Mar

25

Elton John – 1947

Ludwig (1973)

Elisabeth “Sissi” of Austria (Romy Schneider) and King Ludwig II of Bavaria (Helmut Berger) in his beloved Venus Grotto below Schloss Linderhoff. Ludwig wanted blue light in reference to the Grotta Azzurra in #Capri, and had electricity installed in the grotto, which was the first usage of electricity in Austria. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A flamboyant character for Elton John’s birthday (1947).

“I want to remain an enigma forever. To others, and also to myself.”

– Ludwig II

Io la conoscevo bene [I Knew Her Well] (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965)

Mar

5

Crispus Attucks – 1770

Io la conoscevo bene (1965)

Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) seen through her apartment window. Rome is reflected in her face. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

A wasteful act: Crispus Attucks, (arguably) the first American victim in the American Revolution, dies on March 5th, 1770.

“She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money.”

– The Writer

An ambitious but aimless girl – she wants to be loved, and to be a model, a proto-Edie – mills about her day.

 

Sublimely shot, we see Adriana through glass panes, in reflections, in an off-focal plane, in other people's words.

Io la conoscevo bene [I Knew Her Well] (Antonio Pietrangeli, 1965)

Apr

2

cocktails

Io la conoscevo bene (1965)

A lone Roberto (Enrico Maria Salerno) at a lively cocktail party in Rome's hypermodern EUR district. DP: Armando Nannuzzi.

“Trouble is, she likes everything. She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money.”

– the writer