Conversation Piece

Made in 1974 after he had suffered a stroke, Italian director Luchino Visconti's penultimate film feels very much like a melancholy last word from an aging artist, with Burt Lancaster starring as a retired American academic in Italy who prefers his books and artworks to the company of people. Nonetheless, the outside world forces its way into his life when he reluctantly rents the upstairs apartment of his manor to a vulgar Italian marchesa, Bianca Brumonti (Silvana Mangano), for her rebellious lover, Konrad Huebel (Helmut Berger), a handsome young working-class man whose refined tastes are undercut by bad decisions and self-loathing. The couple are arrogant, thoughtless, and decadent, yet the carefully cocooned professor becomes fond of them and bonds with Konrad. As the title suggests, this is an intimate work, a kind of cinematic chamber piece taking place entirely in a lavish, old-world villa where Visconti's camera seems to float, hovering to observe the social decorum of body language and the fine art of conversation. While not among Visconti's greatest works, it is a beautiful, compassionate film from a director exploring his own mortality through his art. Available on both DVD and Blu-ray, with both Italian and English-dubbed soundtracks (the latter featuring Lancaster), extras include an interview with critic and screenwriter Alessandro Bencivenni and a booklet with a critical essay by Mark Rappaport. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)