Visconti

The Film Comment Podcast

For many New York moviegoers, the past few weeks at the Film Society of Lincoln Center have virtually belonged to Luchino Visconti. The retrospective has included established landmarks such as Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, Death in Venice, and Ossessione, but it’s also fostered rediscovery of Ludwig, The Stranger, The Damned, and more. The record audiences suggest that Visconti’s richly drawn canvases, larger-than-life characers, and sweeping historical dramas still have a special pull on the big screen. And decay never looked so good. In this episode of the podcast, I talked about Visconti’s work (and its resonance with glam rock?) with regular FC contributor Nick Pinkerton, and Florence Almozini, associate director of programming at the Film Society and co-programmer of the retrospective.