Luchino Visconti: Súmrak bohov

Director: Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi D'Amico • Screenplay: Nicola Badalucco, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti • Cinematography: Pasqualino De Santis, Armando Nannuzzi • Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Thulinová, Helmut Griem, Helmut Berger, Charlotte Rampling

In the film Twilight of the Gods, director Luchino Visconti once again addresses one of the central themes of his work: the moral decay of the upper social classes and decay families. On the eve of World War II, the von Essenbeck family of large-scale steel industrialists must face a new social situation. Their wealth and influence mean nothing without the right political orientation...

Visconti and opera

When the Fascist regime banned his debut Obsession (1943), Visconti turned to theater and opera. He directed at the famous La Scala in Milan, and it was the opera experience that fundamentally influenced his film style. His films often have an operatic dimension: great emotions, fateful conflicts, expressive music and an emphasis on visual monumentality. We see the opera directly in the films The Passion (1950) and Ľudovít Bavorský (1973) (with the character of Richard Wagner), but its spirit permeates his entire work – perhaps most prominently in the captivating Twilight of the Gods (1969).