Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Innocent/L'Innocente (1976)

1/21/2025

The Innocent/L'Innocente (1976) - A cinematic farewell from a true master

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An impeccably dressed couple by a fireplace are elegantly inserted into this classy poster for Luchino Visconti's The Innocent

In the Italian aristocracy of the 1890s, Tullio admits to his wife that he now loves his mistress more than he has ever loved anyone else in his life, - but where does this confession leave their marriage?

The Innocent is written by Suso Cecchi D'Amico (Panni Sporchi (1999)), Enrico Medioli (Tosca e Altre Due (2003)) and co-writer/director, Italian master filmmaker Luchino Visconti (Ossessione (1943)). It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1892 novel by Gabriele D'Annunzio (The Child of Pleasure/Il Piacere (1889)). The title is a literal translation of the original Italian one.

Delectable and uniquely Viscontian, The Innocent is a film you need a restored version of if you are a lover of cinema; because it is a visionary near masterpiece.

Giancarlo Giannini (Buon Lavoro (2018)) and Laura Antonelli (Rimini Rimini (1987)) are magnificent in the lead roles, and the film also spoils us with strikingly beautiful costumes and sets, along with subtly cinematic photography (cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis (Rigoletto (1987))), SPOILER which culminates in dramatic close-ups following the film's shocking conclusion: Giannini's shamelessly self-obsessed atheist finally reveals himself as a true monster.

The nature of love, infidelity and the creation of life, - but also the power games in a marriage, - these are central themes in this sensual, fantastic, fabulously scored (by Franco Mannino (The Ghost/Lo Spettro (1963))) farewell from the master.

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Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: In excess of 5.9 mil. $

= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.95 times its cost)

[The Innocent premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 125 minutes. Visconti did not get the stars he wanted initially; among others Alain Delon passed, reportedly due to being uncomfortable that the master's state was diminished following a stroke. Shooting took place around September 1975 in Italy, including in Rome. The release has an incomplete list of grosses at Box Office Mojo, which indicates that the film was met with small crowds, including in Italy, and that most of its gross came from France (5.5 mil. $), - the film is an Italian-French co-production. With a projected cost of 2 mil. $, the film would rank as a box office success. It won a David di Donatello award. Visconti passed away from a stroke prior to its release. Giannini returned in A Night Full of Rain/La fine del Mondo nel nostro Solito Letto in una Notte Piena di Pioggia (1978); Antonelli in Wifemistress/Mogliamante (1977). The Innocent is fresh at 79 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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1/21/2025

The Innocent/L'Innocente (1976) - A cinematic farewell from a true master

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