Luchino Visconti‘s lush, aristocratic worlds have seen a major revival at repertory movie houses over the past year. From the black-and-white “White Nights” with Marcello Mastroianni to the psychosexual queer drama “Conversation Piece” with Burt Lancaster, the Italian grandmaster’s vivid melodramas capture souls adrift, possessive, and tragic. While Visconti is probably best known for epics like “The Leopard” and “Rocco and His Brothers,” in his later career up until his death in 1976, the Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker turned his lens on more intimate dramas and marital discord.
A new restoration of Visconti’s final film, “L’Innocente,” premiered in Cannes Classics and at the New York Film Festival. Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, and Jennifer O’Neill, the film was lovingly restored by Film Movement Classics to preserve the film’s 50th anniversary. Below, IndieWire debuts the exclusive trailer for the new release. A theatrical rollout begins December 11.
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Set in Rome at the turn of the 20th century, the film centers on “a wealthy and self-absorbed nobleman Tullio Hermil (Giancarlo Giannini) [who] carries on an affair with a sophisticated yet possessive widow, Countess Teresa Raffo (Jennifer O’Neill), while treating his devoted wife, Giuliana (Laura Antonelli), with cold condescension. Wounded by his years of neglect, Giuliana takes a lover of her own with young novelist, Filippo (Marc Porel). When she becomes pregnant with Filippo’s child, Tullio’s wounded pride cannot be contained, setting off a chain of events leading to ultimate tragedy.”
The film loosely adapts Gabriele D’Annunzio’s 1892 novel. At the time of production, Visconti had suffered a major stroke a few years prior that didn’t necessarily impact his ability to work, but it made him a liability in terms of securing casting. For “L’Innocente,” Visconti had wanted his “The Leopard” and “Rocco and His Brothers” star, the French actor Alain Delon, in the lead. He also wanted Delon’s ex and repeat Visconti star Romy Schneider in the film, too, as well as Charlotte Rampling (“The Damned”) at one point. Visconti died in March 1976, just two months ahead of the film’s Cannes premiere. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum called the film “a withering autocritique of masculine vanity and self-delusion.”
Cinelab Service in Italy created a new 4K digital transfer on an Arriscan film scanner, working from the original camera negative.
