by Red Cell
Rapsodia Satanica is a classic 1915 Italian silent film staring Lyda Borelli. It was the last film directed by Nino Oxilia and is considered one of early Italian film’s greatest works. Pianist Harold Budd and Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins provide the soundtrack for the short video taken from the film below.
“Typical of extravagant D’Annunzian aestheticism at its height, Rapsodia Satanica was one of the summits of what was later called the “tail coat film.” Diametrically opposed to the “cinema of reality” practiced by Serena, Martoglio and others, “tail coat films” set their melodramatic stories in the salons and villas of the upper middle class and the aristocracy, deploying narrative structures contrived to showcase their actors and especially its actresses. This had the effect of accentuating their physical presence and turning them into stars – probably the first stars in movie history. The success of the “dive” contributed to the development of motion picture grammar in its special use of the close-up.”
WATCH THE BUDD / GUTHRIE VIDEO BELOW.
http://theendofbeing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Rapsodia-Satanica-1915.flvWATCH THE ENTIRE FILM BELOW!
Breathtakingly beautiful .