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Caduta degli dei, La (1969)

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21 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
An Operatic Horror Fest, 7 February 2007

Author: M. J Arocena from New Zealand

The great Luchino Visconti concocts a stunning banquet of horrors with some of his favorite gourmet dishes: the corruption and decadence of the upper classes, incest, mamma's boys and monstrous/fascinating mothers. The setting this time is National Socialist Germany where the perversions find their perfect home. There is, however, a slight but disturbing enjoyment of the whole putrid thing. Visconti's extraordinary attention to detail requires more than a couple of viewings. Ingrid Thulin's hairstyles are a masterpiece on their own. After Ingman Bergman, Visconti gives her her most showy role. She's a pervert's mother if I ever saw one. Magnificent in her over the top understatement. Creepy Helmut Berger is perfect here. Even his real voice adds to the luridness of his character. In "Ludwig" he was dubbed by Giancarlo Giannini transforming his third rate talent into something,seemingly, transcendental. Dirk Bogarde, Charlotte Rampling, Umberto Orsini plus the gorgeous Renaud Verley and Florinda Bolkan contribute considerably to the rigid and humorless vision of one of the greatest aesthetes the movies have ever known.

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26 out of 33 people found the following comment useful :-
Horrific but captivating, 16 February 2006

Author: francois chevallier (francheval@noos.fr) from Paris, France

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This movie opens on a most impressive intro. Flames and smoke come up from a furnace, and as the titles jump on and off the screen, we hear a harrowing music theme by Maurice Jarre (the melody is close to Dr Zhivago's, but played with a frantic rhythm). The English/French title, "The Damned ", is far more appropriate than the Italian/German one which is "The Fall of the Gods". As the intro suggests, we are entering an inferno, and the characters we are going to see are the sort who will not hesitate sell out their soul to the devil in exchange of power and glory. "The Damned" is certainly a horrific movie, but as artfully made as can be.

Action takes place in the Ruhr industrial region of Germany, just after Hitler's rise to power. The aristocratic family von Essenbeck is the country's leading steelwork owner, a fictional equivalent of Krupps or Thyssens. Now, this movie is not trying to denounce the fact that big German industrials financed Hitler, but instead, it focuses on the internal struggle for power inside the family. Therefore,"The Damned" is not really a movie about nazism, even if it is often regarded as such. It a movie about power. Nazism is only used as an extreme context where the mechanisms of power are made more evident than anywhere else, because it is a system that openly legitimates the absolute domination of the strongest.

Baroness Sophie (Ingrid Thulin) is the daughter in law of an aging steel baron. Her husband is apparently dead during WW1, but he left her with a son, Martin (Helmut Berger) who is immediately presented as immature and perverse. Baroness Sophie has an official lover, Friedrich Bruckmann (Dirk Bogarde), and both are acquainted with an influent member of the nazi party called Aschenbach (Helmut Griem). Sophie is a modern incarnation of Lady Macbeth. Her schemes are to take control of the Essenbeck steelworks by any means, determined to crush anyone who might stand in her way.

Sophie doesn't care for anybody. Her lover Friedrich is anything but an angel, but he appears as a weaker character whom she adroitly manipulates. She has an obvious contempt for her son Martin, which gets obvious right away, as she is seen laughing behind a curtain while he is performing a transvestite number at his grandfather's birthday party...The only one who seems to have her esteem is Aschenbach the nazi, who is just as devoid of scruples as she is.

The steel lady gets both her father-in-law and one of her brothers-in-law murdered, while her other brother-in-law is forced to exile, and her timid nephew to silence. Her son Martin becomes therefore the legitimate heir of the steelworks, but she only intends to use him as a puppet as she plans an official marriage with her lover Friedrich, through which she hopes to take control of the family's fortune. The wedding will take place, but not the way she expected...

The only enemy she did't think about (and does she think about enemies!) is her own son, whom everybody regards as incapable and degenerate. Indeed, Martin, by the way a pedophile, is not interested in power or money. But the blemished love of the boy for his mother has reverted into an infernal hate. Hate is going to be Martin's driving force to become the much unexpected winner of the game, as he is really capable of ANYTHING, even beyond what his merciless mother ever would have imagined.

Ingrid Thulin's performance is stunning, probably her best one ever, and though Helmut Berger tends to overact, you couldn't find a better choice for the satanic role of Martin. The evil figures appear much more intense than the few innocent ones, among them a barely recognizable Charlotte Rampling in one of her early appearances. The baroque lavishness of the scenery makes a striking contrast with the ghastly minds of the characters (hard to speak of heroes) and their equally ghastly deeds. The film makes you wonder if the the already renowned Luchino Visconti deliberately intended to shock by all means, since all his other movies, before and after this one, were by far tamer.

But indeed, in 1969, all ingredients were there to make it a perfect bomb. Two episodes of nazism are spectacularly rendered : first the public burning of books on the streets, then the Night of the Long Knives, which is depicted in a very long and shocking scene. A beer drinking party turns into a homosexual orgy, and eventually ends in a bloodbath. But even worse is still to come...

It can be established that "the Damned" was the first screenwork to deal with nazism so openly, and as such, it abruptly broke a long-lasting taboo."This film has been a trend-setter in many ways, and opened the path to a series of others that hinted to nazism as darkly erotic and fascinating, a trend that some called "nazi sexploitation of the seventies". True, the influence of "the Damned" can be traced in many vile under-products, but also in leading works such as "Cabaret" or "The Night Porter". A reaction to that trend came with the ensuing wave of holocaust movies, which made a point in reminding that nazism was above all sheerly destructive.

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22 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Rigorous classicism., 1 April 2004

Author: FilmSnobby from San Diego

Pauline Kael famously called this movie "hysterical" (she was contrasting it to Bertolucci's *The Conformist*, which was supposed to be more "lyrical".) Well, a movie about decadent Nazis is bound to be a little hysterical -- what, were you expecting something tasteful? Hysteria is probably the best mode with which to treat the Third Reich. What's astounding is that director Luchino Visconti forced his sweaty, hysterical visuals into a rigid classical structure. The set-up is pure clockwork: one betrayal leading to another; one devastation opening up an even deeper abyss for another perpetrator.

Basically, Visconti is taking on *Macbeth*, here. Dirk Bogarde plays the Macbeth figure, an up-and-coming industrialist who's sleeping with an evil Grande Dame of Nazi finance, Sophie von Essenbeck (Ingrid Thulin, having an absolute ball), heiress to a munitions conglomerate. (The von Essenbecks are loosely based on the Krupps, but don't take this as any sort of literal historiography.) Thulin eggs on her lover Bogarde to commit a few politic murders and a frame-up or two so that he can take over the family business, with herself as the power behind the throne. But she doesn't count on the pathology of her grown son from a previous marriage, the hideous little monster Martin (Helmut Berger, acting terribly but it sort of fits in an Udo Kier-sort of way). Martin is your typical Nazi: a closet pedophile, a drug addict, a transvestite, a momma's-boy, a you-name-it. The scenes involving his seduction of a 9- or 10-year-old girl who lives in a shabby apartment complex are some of the most disturbing that you'll ever see in cinema . . . and along those lines, I seriously wonder about the state of mind of some of the commentators here who find this movie to be high camp, to be watched with drinking buddies. If you think molestation is funny, you'd better see a shrink, pal.

Anyway. The plot is so Byzantine that it finally defeats a brief summary. Let it suffice to say that Visconti manages to cram his complicated story neatly within the historical context of the period between the Reichstag Fire and the Night of the Long Knives, thereby maintaining a nutty observance of Classical Unities. All the while, he films the thing in Hammer-horror Pop color, with intense contrast between shadow and light. The first scene, by the way, is a shot of the blasting furnaces of the munitions factory -- a fitting intro to the horrendous vision of depravity which soon follows. Everyone's sweating in this movie: drops of perspiration trickle down temples, and beads of sweat glisten on upper lips throughout, as if the flames of Hell are licking up at the soles of their collective feet. *The Damned* is a feverish masterpiece. You'll never forget it. Highest recommendation.

(A tip for viewing of the DVD: I recommend that you watch the movie with the English subtitles ON. While everyone speaks English in the film, only Bogarde is clearly intelligible. Owing to the complicated plot, you'll need to know what's going on in order to fully appreciate Visconti's thematic design.)

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15 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Visconti rules!, 30 August 2004

Author: Hal-900 from WA, USA

The birth of Nazi Germany is seen through the eyes of a powerful noble family. This is a brave, bold movie, not always effective but so energetic that one cannot look away. Visconti's movie is a true original. He embraces the tasteless and bizarre, and makes no apologies for it. The movie plays like some sort of foreign language version of "Dallas TV", with characters trying to succeed via manipulation and conspiracy. Visconti creates many strange scenes which not always make sense, creating a messy storyline that seems to go in many directions. But the movie's almost frenetic structure is what helps the film achieve a compelling, unique vision. Watching this film was an invigorating experience for me, and while I really don't understand why the whole thing works so well (I cannot really put my finger on it), I can safely say that I found Visconti's technique too provocative to ignore. Similar to the later 1900 (1976), this is indeed a spectacle that should not be missed!

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17 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
A Ingrid Thulin Masterpiece, 11 February 2006

Author: legwarmers1980 from United States

Caduta degli dei, La is one of the most shocking movies in screen history. I truthfully don't believe this film could be made today, it's just too perverted.

Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin of Wild Strawberries fame is fantastic as a ruthless countess who will do anything, and I mean anything to achieve her desires for power. About 44 years old in 1969, Thulin presents a sexy and dangerous screen aura. She's blonde, lanky, and uses her stunning exotic looks and fit body to get what she wants.

This film is very demented, but it's symbolic of the fall of normality in Germany as the Nazi Party gains power. Scenes of gay orgies, nude men, gay cross dressers, and child molestation leave a bitter taste in your mouth. However, Ingrid Thulin's scene in which her sexually mixed-up son strips before her and then tears off her top is even further over the top. Thulin plays the part to perfection and as she lays half-naked in bed both crying tears of agony and moans in excitement, it's an outstanding symbolic scene of the damnation that over-took Germany.

Ingrid Thulin's greatest and most controversial scene role.

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Visconti masterpiece, 28 July 2004
Author: kevin-jones from London England

This really is Luchino Visconti's magnum opus - The Damned is an utterly engrossing work of art that grabs you from the start and doesn't relinquish its grip until the final frames. The accents from the international cast takes a little getting used to - the soundtrack is in English (some sync sound, some dubbed) and Dirk Bogarde's refined English accent doesn't really suit the part of a German industrialist at first but once you get used to these incongruities the cast seems perfect! The cinematography is beautiful, capturing the decaying elegance perfectly. The score by Maurice Jarre adds to the atmosphere nicely even if it is a little reminiscent of Dr Zhivago. The film's themes are quite challenging and sometimes uncomfortable to watch but it's always compelling and absorbing even at 2 hours 35 minutes.

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9 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A Twisted Masterpiece..., 9 September 2003

Author: Honus1 from Palm Springs, CA

Visconti outdid himself on this one! In 'The Damned' we take a long look into the dark world of a perverted German family during Hitler's rise to power. Little bit of everything in this one; treachery, murder, incest, molestation... nothing pretty here, but a fantastic story. Well told and nicely photographed, The Damned is not for the squeamish, but very much worth a look.

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13 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Incest, Rape,Gay Orgies, Suicide, Murder, Drug Abuse......it's Great!, 10 February 2006

Author: kikiloveslegwarmers from United States

Just saw this movie on DVD and was totally blown away by one of the most demented, yet outstanding films on the raise of the Nazi party in pre-WWII Germany.

Some of the highlights (or should I say low) of this film include: family murders, sexual abuse of an 11 year old girl (who hangs herself), a gay orgy of stormtroopers (many cross-dressing), drug abuse, a gang rape, and a son stripping and bedding his own mother!

The first part of the film is slightly boring and you have to play close attention to the plot and characters because there are a number to choose from. By the time the film ends, 6 members of the main cast will have been murdered or commit suicide.

The acting is outstanding, the little 11 year old kissing her molester is greatly disturbing, as is the scene of the nude mother moaning and groaning as her son "does her up". This movie is not for the faint of heart.

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4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Masterpiece, 6 August 2006

Author: llareggub from Australia

Most of the previous reviews noted the link in this sumptuous piece of high camp with Hamlet, but only one noted the secondary English title was a direct reference to Wagner's Twilight of the Gods. Presenting the rise of Nazism as a camp Wagnerian Soap Opera was what Visconti was after, I think. He succeeds brilliantly. Yes, it is distasteful in it's perversions, but Nazism was pretty distasteful in it's reality, and perverted too. I am not gay, but the Night of the Long Knives is one of the most memorable bits of cinematography I have seen. Thulin and Rampling are superb, Bogarde believable (in an utterly unbelievable role), and Berger chews the carpet in a way that gives overacting a good name. Not to be missed.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Adornment, 13 February 2007
Author: lionelduffy from Ireland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Visconti's epic allegory of a wealthy murdered German patriarch, his family and their uneasy relationship with the Third Reich is wonderfully well-intentioned, magnificently overblown and almost a masterpiece. Where Kurasawa adapts Shakespearean themes and transposes their themes as far-reaching and relevant to different worlds, Visconti takes elements of Macbeth and Hamlet bludgeoning them into his tale of a dynasty seemingly aware of drastically uncertain times and powerless to do anything but react in outlandishly vicious and self-protective defence. The storyline embracing full-blown homosexual orgy, incest, transvestism, and paedophelia as portrayal of Nazi depravity is never subtle but always magnetic. A piece so verbose is of course massively flawed. The dialogue, although delivered in English is at times illegible and the discrepancy between actors enjoying themselves (a resurgent Ingrid Thulin, an ecstatically hammy Dietrich-impersonating Helmut Berger) and actors sweating and morose in their discomfort (a visibly hard-working Dirk Bogarte) is noticeable. Visconti's zoom lenght shots to portray (very obvious) evil have long been rendered obsolete by television and simply add to the general sense of chaos.In truth however it remarkably adds to the joyous uncertainty of events and as the movie sinks almost overwhelmed to its conclusion, it ultimately survives for its hypnotic splendour.

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