Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageConversation Piece (1974)
Director: Luchino Visconti
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A parable about the approach of death, this centres around a slightly Prospero-like professor (Lancaster incarnating a role similar to the one he played in The Leopard) who finds his carefully nurtured, opulent solitude upset by the eruption into his life of a wealthy woman (Mangano) and her chaotic jet-set entourage. Berger, for whom the film on one level seems a valedictory love-song, plays an angel of death figure, to whom a certain mystery attaches. If the dolce vita-style intrusion is given distinctly Jacqueline Susann-like overtones by the rather dissociated dialogue in the English language version, Conversation Piece nevertheless comes across as a visually rich and resonant mystery, far more fluid and sympathetic than Death in Venice.Author: VG
Cast & crew
Director: Luchino Visconti
Producer: Giovanni Bertolucci
Cast: Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, Claudia Marsani, Silvana Mangano, Elvira Cortese, Stefano Patrizi full cast
Duration: 121 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
A Farewell To Tartan Films
To mourn the loss of the great Tartan Films, Time Out remembers a few of the best films to emerge from their impressive canon
Jason Bateman: interview
Jason Bateman – star of ‘Hancock’, alongside Will Smith – talks to Time Out about his comic influences and how to pretend to throw a car
Ten Great Head Shots In The Movies
Lots of people get shot in the head in the new film 'Wanted'. Read our guide to some other great head shots on film
Set visit: 'The Damned United'
Dave Calhoun gets his training kit on as he visits the set of a new film about football legend Brian Clough’s torrid spell at Leeds United in the mid-1970s
What do you think?
Post your review now