The Rose Tattoo
With Anna Magnani, Burt Lancaster, Marisa Pavan.
US, 1955, 35mm, black & white, 117 min.
Winning an Oscar for her portrayal of a grief-stricken widow, Anna Magnani spirals off into a bitter, sorrowful rage within the overheated darkness of Tennesee Williams’ play. While painfully extinguishing relationships with her daughter, her small business and her Sicilian community, she madly, masochistically obsesses. Midway through the film however, Lancaster’s Alvaro Mangiacavallo bursts into her anguished existence – an odd reflection of her dead husband – and brings with him a dramatic shift in tone. Alvaro’s statuesque form and simmering sexuality – which seem nearly accidental in the hands of the exuberant child-like clown – lead to a comic, awkward seduction. His naïve entertainer is as exhausting a force of life as her tragic diva, and together they set theatrical fire to every corner of Williams’ actual Key West neighborhood.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
Sweet Smell of Success
Brute Force
The Rose Tattoo
The Crimson Pirate
Ulzana's Raid
Conversation Piece
From Here to Eternity
Twilight’s Last Gleaming
I Walk Alone
The Leopard
The Killers
Atlantic City
Criss Cross
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
The Train
Vera Cruz
The Swimmer
Run Silent Run Deep
A Child Is Waiting
Judgment at Nuremberg
