SALOMÈ
Italy, 1972
Director: Carmelo Bene. Screenplay: Carmelo Bene, from ‘Salomè’ by Oscar Wilde. Cinematographer: Mario Masini. Editor: Mauro Contini. Cast and characters: Carmelo Bene (Erode Antipa, Onorio), Lydia Mancinelli (Erodiade), Alfredo Vincenti (Erodiade), Donyale Luna (Salomè), Veruschka von Lehndorff (Myrrhina), Piero Vida (Narraboth), Franco Leo (jesus-vampire, Giovanni Davoli (Iokanaan). Production: Carmelo Bene, Paolo Venturi. Length: 73’.
Format: DCP. Source and under licence from: Polo Biblio-museale di Lecce – Archivio Carmelo Bene.
Original version. Subtitles: English
Salomè, daughter of Herodias, hears the prophet Jokanaan denounce the incest committed by her mother, who left her husband to live with her brother-in-law Herod. The latter, obsessed with his stepdaughter, is willing to give anything in return to Salomè as long as she dances with him. She accepts on one condition: that she be given the life of the prophet in exchange, which Herod is unwilling to do. Based on the work of Oscar Wilde, Carmelo Bene’s Salomè was first a theatrical performance (1964) and later a theatrical text for the radio.
“ Salomè is many other things. It is the impossibility of martyrdom in a present world, no longer barbaric, but exclusively stupid. A kind of multiracial Salambô, technologically advanced by at least thirty years. The colour bet. Of the light. Salomè no longer colours objects, she illuminates them. I anticipated the video clip technique by twenty years. “
(Carmelo Bene)
“Would a cinema like Carmelo Bene’s be possible today? I dare to answer categorically, even if perhaps it is not right: no. Why? Because the sense of freedom is missing … And the sense of irony, sarcasm, ridicule is totally missing … The main role in cinema is always the hero. Carmelo is the anti-hero. Carmelo frees us in his works. It makes us think and makes us laugh at ourselves … ” (Mario Masini)
Domenica 01 Maggio 2022, h. 11:00 am