La Luna

Movie Details:

Also known asLuna
Country Italy, United States
Language English
GenresDrama
Release dateSeptember 30, 1979
Running time2hr 22min
Age ratingR
StarringJill Clayburgh
Matthew Barry
Veronica Lazar
Renato Salvatori
Tomas Milian
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Story byFranco Arcalli
Giuseppe Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenplay byGiuseppe Bertolucci
Clare Peploe
Bernardo Bertolucci
Produced byGiovanni Bertolucci
Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro
Edited by Gabriella Cristiani
Music byEnnio Morricone
Giuseppe Verdi
Production Company20th Century-Fox
Fiction Cinematografica
Distributor 20th Century-Fox
Budget$5 million

Cast & Characters:

  • Jill Clayburgh as Caterina Silveri
  • Matthew Barry as Joe Silveri
  • Tomas Milian as Giuseppe
  • Fred Gwynne as Douglas Winter
  • Veronica Lazar as Marina
  • Renato Salvatori as Communist
  • Alida Valli as Giuseppe’s mother
  • Elisabetta Campeti as Arianna
  • Franco Citti as Barfly
  • Roberto Benigni as Upholsterer
  • Carlo Verdone as ‘Caracalla’ Director
  • Peter Eyre as Edward
  • Mustapha Barat as Mustafa
  • Rodolfo Lodi as Giancarlo Calo
  • Sara Di Nepi as Concetta
  • Laura Betti as Ludovica (uncredited)

Storyline:

Recently widowed American opera diva Caterina takes her teenage son Joe with her on a long concert tour in Italy. Absorbed in her hectic work in various Verdi operas around Rome, Caterina is shocked to discover that her troubled, lonely son has become a heroin addict. Her desperate attempts to wean the youth off the drug result in an incestuous relationship, but also in a possibility to reunite Joe, and maybe herself, with his real father, whose existence she has kept secret from him.

About Movie:

La Luna (released in the United States as Luna) is a 1979 drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay co-written with his brother Giuseppe and wife Clare Peploe. The film concerns the troubled life of a teenage boy and his relationship with his parents, including an incestuous relationship with his opera singer mother. It stars Jill Clayburgh, Matthew Barry, Tomas Milian, Fred Gwynne, Veronica Lazăr, and Alida Valli.

An Italian-American co-production, La Luna was released by 20th Century-Fox on August 29, 1979. It received mixed reviews from critics, though Jill Clayburgh’s performance was widely praised, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

The film is dedicated to Bertolucci’s oft-collaborator Franco Arcalli, who died of cancer during pre-production.

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