The Damned
(La caduta degli dei (Götterdämmerung))
With Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulin, Helmut Griem.
Italy/West Germany, 1969, DCP, color, 156 min.
English and German with English subtitles.
Visconti leaves no taboo unbroken in painting the fall of a German industrialist family during National Socialism’s prewar power consolidation. Featuring a cast of international stars (Dirk Bogarde, Helmut Berger, Charlotte Rampling) and his first collaboration with legendary cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, The Damned sees Visconti playing with a stacked deck. With so many infamous scenes chained together, including an homage to Josef von Sternberg’s Blue Angel featuring Berger in drag as Marlene Dietrich, it is no surprise the film was originally given an X rating in the United States. After being released unfathomably ahead of its time in 1969, The Damned would burn a hole through arthouse cinematheques and inspire a host of 1970s filmmakers—including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who watched it thirty times.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
White Nights
The Leopard
The Innocent
The Innocent
Rocco and His Brothers
Senso
Obsession
The Damned
The Wanton Countess
Rocco and His Brothers
Bellissima
Ludwig
Conversation Piece
Death in Venice
Conversation Piece
Ludwig
