''Sandra'' () is a 1965

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed and co-written by

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

, and starring Claudia Cardinale, Jean Sorel, and Michael Craig. A modern-day retelling of the Electra story, the film centers on the incestuous relationship between a young Italian woman (Cardinale) and her brother (Sorel), on her return to their ancestral home of Volterra. It premiered at the 26th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion.

Plot

Visconti's retelling of the Electra story starts with Sandra returning to her ancestral home in Italy. On the eve of an official ceremony commemorating the death of her Jewish father in a Nazi concentration camp, she revives a sexual involvement with her brother, which troubles her naive husband. The incestuous siblings determine to wreak revenge on their mother and stepfather, who supposedly denounced their father to the Nazis.

Cast

* Claudia Cardinale as Sandra Dawdson * Jean Sorel as Gianni Wald-Luzzati * Michael Craig as Andrew Dawdson * Renzo Ricci as Antonio Gilardini * Fred Williams as Pietro Formari * Amalia Troiani as Fosca - maid * Marie Bell as Sandra's mother * Vittorio Manfrino * Renato Moretti * Giovanni Rovini * Paola Piscini * Isacco Politi * Ferdinando Scarfiotti as party guest

Title

The Italian title, culled from the poem "Le ricordanze" by Giacomo Leopardi, could be translated as "Glimmering stars of the Great Bear", and has a strong resonance with the movie's plot: English translation:

Production

The movie was shot on location in Volterra, a Tuscan town fifty miles southwest of Florence. Casa Inghrami and the Palazzo Viti were both used as settings for the family mansion there. It was initially reported that the principal actors would voice their own parts in the English-language version of the film.TUSCAN-LANDSCAPE WITH FIGURES OF VISCONTI AND 'ELECTRA' By DONALD LaBADIE. New York Times 6 Dec 1964: X13. Ultimately though they were dubbed by others. This is the third of four films Claudia Cardinale made with Visconti, after ''

Rocco and His Brothers ''Rocco and His Brothers'' () is a 1960 drama film directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatori, Katina Paxinou, Roger Hanin, Paolo Stoppa, and Claudia Cardinale in one of her early roles. Set in 1 ...

'' (1960) and '' The Leopard'' (1963), followed by '' Conversation Piece'' (1974).

Awards

The film won the Golden Lion at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

References

External links

* 1965 drama films 1965 films Italian black-and-white films 1960s Italian-language films Films about Jews and Judaism Films directed by Luchino Visconti Golden Lion winners Films set in Tuscany Films about sibling incest Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico 1960s Italian films {{1960s-Italy-film-stub