Diva Dolorosa (1999) - full transcript
In this mesmerizing collage of silent Italian melodrama, found-footage filmmaker Peter Delpeut affectionately captures the spirit of the World War I-era opera-cum-cinema diva. With Dutch, English and Italian intertitles with English subtitles.
At the end ofthe 19th century,
many artists were guided
by the ideals of Black Romanticism.
In the process, beauty
always coincided with grief.
Pleasure did not exist without pain.
Illness and sensuality
were paradoxical partners...
and love had made
a firm pact with death.
This desire to reconcile
the seemingly irreconcilable...
was characteristic of the decadent
outlook on life in the fin desi?cle,
Between 1913 and 1920,
a number offilms were produced in Italy...
that were strongly influenced by the
Black-Romantic ideals ofthe fin de si?cle,
In many cases, the leading part
was played by popular movie stars...
like Lyda Borelli, Pina Menichelli
and Francesca Bertini.
They were the first divas
ofthe silver screen.
In a matchless style,
the Italian film divas...
reshaped the concept
of the sexually liberated woman...
that had been so popular in the decadent
arts of the previous century.
But her ode to unconditional passion
could not go unpunished...
before the eyes
ofthe cinema audience.
A calvary ofloss, guilt and self-torment
was her inevitable fate in these stories.
She played the dolorous diva,
the diva dolorosa,
The Film Museum presents
in coproduction
with VPRO television
in collaboration with
the Cineteca Bologna
PROLOGUE
"Be beautiful! and be sad!..."
ACT ONE
THE SEVEN VEILS OF LOVE
"My whole soul is burning for you!"
"Oh! Your love is not made of fire..."
"True passion is a flare...
It reaches up to the sky,
but only for a brief moment!"
"Make my heart burn..."
"Yes! Consume my soul
in a thousand flames!"
If you don't want to grant me
the taste of your lips...
I will place my head as a sacrifice
at your feet this very night.
"Your brother loves me...
Why shouldn't he
lay down his life for that...?"
"You or your brother, only one of you
will touch the rose of my mouth."
"It will be me! I will love you!"
"I'm not worthy of you coming to me.
Kill me, trample me under your feet."
"No. Let me deliver you from evil!
In the graveyard of the soul
love will bloom."
ACT TWO
STORMS OF THE SOUL
Let me dream in your arms
of renewed bliss.
"Only in death can we truly
belong to one another."
The morphine may ease your pain,
but too many drops will be fatal.
And the venom of love
once more poured into her heart...
"Oh, be silent! Let us be happy
in this final moment."
Overcome by the double insanity
of love and death...
ACT THREE
NIGHT WITHOUT END
"Take her to Ophelia's room."
You who find this letter...
you should know that
my hapless wanderings live on in you.
We have known passion,
that flower of evil...
and people will hate us for it.
To the mirror
I have committed my last image.
If you are recognized,
it will break. O.
And slowly the veil of death
passes over the pale face...
And she allowed the wind...
to sing the rhapsody of death
in her seven veils.
many artists were guided
by the ideals of Black Romanticism.
In the process, beauty
always coincided with grief.
Pleasure did not exist without pain.
Illness and sensuality
were paradoxical partners...
and love had made
a firm pact with death.
This desire to reconcile
the seemingly irreconcilable...
was characteristic of the decadent
outlook on life in the fin desi?cle,
Between 1913 and 1920,
a number offilms were produced in Italy...
that were strongly influenced by the
Black-Romantic ideals ofthe fin de si?cle,
In many cases, the leading part
was played by popular movie stars...
like Lyda Borelli, Pina Menichelli
and Francesca Bertini.
They were the first divas
ofthe silver screen.
In a matchless style,
the Italian film divas...
reshaped the concept
of the sexually liberated woman...
that had been so popular in the decadent
arts of the previous century.
But her ode to unconditional passion
could not go unpunished...
before the eyes
ofthe cinema audience.
A calvary ofloss, guilt and self-torment
was her inevitable fate in these stories.
She played the dolorous diva,
the diva dolorosa,
The Film Museum presents
in coproduction
with VPRO television
in collaboration with
the Cineteca Bologna
PROLOGUE
"Be beautiful! and be sad!..."
ACT ONE
THE SEVEN VEILS OF LOVE
"My whole soul is burning for you!"
"Oh! Your love is not made of fire..."
"True passion is a flare...
It reaches up to the sky,
but only for a brief moment!"
"Make my heart burn..."
"Yes! Consume my soul
in a thousand flames!"
If you don't want to grant me
the taste of your lips...
I will place my head as a sacrifice
at your feet this very night.
"Your brother loves me...
Why shouldn't he
lay down his life for that...?"
"You or your brother, only one of you
will touch the rose of my mouth."
"It will be me! I will love you!"
"I'm not worthy of you coming to me.
Kill me, trample me under your feet."
"No. Let me deliver you from evil!
In the graveyard of the soul
love will bloom."
ACT TWO
STORMS OF THE SOUL
Let me dream in your arms
of renewed bliss.
"Only in death can we truly
belong to one another."
The morphine may ease your pain,
but too many drops will be fatal.
And the venom of love
once more poured into her heart...
"Oh, be silent! Let us be happy
in this final moment."
Overcome by the double insanity
of love and death...
ACT THREE
NIGHT WITHOUT END
"Take her to Ophelia's room."
You who find this letter...
you should know that
my hapless wanderings live on in you.
We have known passion,
that flower of evil...
and people will hate us for it.
To the mirror
I have committed my last image.
If you are recognized,
it will break. O.
And slowly the veil of death
passes over the pale face...
And she allowed the wind...
to sing the rhapsody of death
in her seven veils.