This post contains spoilers for "Midsommar."
The arrival at Hårga village in Ari Aster's "Midsommar" seems harmonious at first — perhaps, a bit too harmonious, with everyone donning stark white and plastered smiles till the illusion of sanctity shatters. This happens halfway through the film after the first feast ends, where the oldest members of the commune wilfully jump off a cliff, completing the Ättestupa ritual in excessively violent ways. When the male elder is still alive after his jump, his legs bent and cracked due to the impact, the villagers mock his pain and smash his head in over and over with a massive mallet. The visceral shock of the scene is intensified by the anxiety of what might happen after, as it is clear that the Ättestupa is just the beginning of a fever dream designed to torment and disorient.
How was this visually shocking scene accomplished? The...
The arrival at Hårga village in Ari Aster's "Midsommar" seems harmonious at first — perhaps, a bit too harmonious, with everyone donning stark white and plastered smiles till the illusion of sanctity shatters. This happens halfway through the film after the first feast ends, where the oldest members of the commune wilfully jump off a cliff, completing the Ättestupa ritual in excessively violent ways. When the male elder is still alive after his jump, his legs bent and cracked due to the impact, the villagers mock his pain and smash his head in over and over with a massive mallet. The visceral shock of the scene is intensified by the anxiety of what might happen after, as it is clear that the Ättestupa is just the beginning of a fever dream designed to torment and disorient.
How was this visually shocking scene accomplished? The...
- 5/11/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
Initially inspired by an all too common misreading of the classic novel Lolita in her younger years, filmmaker Victoria Singh-Thompson – last featured on Directors Notes with her caught between cultures coming-of-age drama Don’t Forget To Go Home – wanted to depict the complex layers of trauma and how it affects the way we see the world. The resulting film 14 in February is a fragmented and haunting look at the world through the eyes of a young hard-of-hearing schoolgirl who isn’t yet able to process the experiences she has undergone and dissociates from her memories. The immersive and quietly shocking short is as visually still as it is emotionally frantic, with a focused lens pulling us into its young protagonist’s point of view, accented with purposeful jarring sounds which as a package, disturb and succeed in creating the unease that Singh-Thompson wanted. Making a welcome return to Dn’s pages,...
- 2/13/2024
- by Sarah Smith
- Directors Notes
"You mean we now have two murders to solve?" Topic has unveiled a new US trailer for a Swedish crime series titled Agatha Christie's Hjerson, available to watch starting in December. This already premiered in Sweden last year, but is only making its way to US streaming services this fall. Agatha Christie's Hjerson is the first ever adaptation based on the fictional detective of Christie's fictional writer Ariadne Oliver; a playful, meta contemporary whodunnit from the producers of Midsommar and Before We Die. It follows the former criminal investigator Sven Hjerson who has previously involved in solving some of Sweden's most difficult cases of all time. For a few years now, he has retired from the limelight and now lives far under the radar. A life fraught with daily routines, vegan diet, dedicated vinyl collecting and an absolutely incredible love of gossip. He returns for a true crime show, only to discover a real murder.
- 11/18/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
Few filmmakers embrace artistic dichotomy like Baz Luhrmann. The Australian writer-director known for epic, ornate, long-gestating projects has become synonymous with both extravagant innovation and chaotic fluff. He is a walking, talking, directing state of creative contrast. “Six films into his career” might make it seem like he’s a relative newcomer, but Luhrmann’s been helming giant features since his 1996 tropical Ed Hardy rendition of Romeo + Juliet, which pales in scintillation to Elvis. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
I Love My Dad (James Morosini)
Inspired by actual events, I Love My Dad contains a cringe-worthy premise that should easily fall apart, as Franklin (James Morosini), a young-ish man, should have grown up with an awareness of the term “catfishing.
Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
Few filmmakers embrace artistic dichotomy like Baz Luhrmann. The Australian writer-director known for epic, ornate, long-gestating projects has become synonymous with both extravagant innovation and chaotic fluff. He is a walking, talking, directing state of creative contrast. “Six films into his career” might make it seem like he’s a relative newcomer, but Luhrmann’s been helming giant features since his 1996 tropical Ed Hardy rendition of Romeo + Juliet, which pales in scintillation to Elvis. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
I Love My Dad (James Morosini)
Inspired by actual events, I Love My Dad contains a cringe-worthy premise that should easily fall apart, as Franklin (James Morosini), a young-ish man, should have grown up with an awareness of the term “catfishing.
- 8/12/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Björn Andrésen at age 15 had his life turned upside down when Luchino Visconti anointed him to play Tadzio in his film version of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice
Björn Andrésen at age 15 had his life turned upside down when Luchino Visconti anointed him to play Tadzio in his film version of Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, starring Dirk Bogarde and pronounced him to be “the most beautiful boy in the world”.
Andrésen in Ari Aster’s Midsommar plays a man who has reached the end of his life. In Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström’s claustrophobic and disquieting documentary The Most Beautiful Boy In The World (Världens Vackraste Pojke), produced by Stina Gardell we are introduced to a man in his Sixties who is having a difficult time dealing with life.
Kristian Petri with Kristina Lindström and Anne-Katrin Titze on Björn Andrésen: “The scenes are like we are...
Björn Andrésen at age 15 had his life turned upside down when Luchino Visconti anointed him to play Tadzio in his film version of Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, starring Dirk Bogarde and pronounced him to be “the most beautiful boy in the world”.
Andrésen in Ari Aster’s Midsommar plays a man who has reached the end of his life. In Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström’s claustrophobic and disquieting documentary The Most Beautiful Boy In The World (Världens Vackraste Pojke), produced by Stina Gardell we are introduced to a man in his Sixties who is having a difficult time dealing with life.
Kristian Petri with Kristina Lindström and Anne-Katrin Titze on Björn Andrésen: “The scenes are like we are...
- 1/5/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström’s claustrophobic and disquieting documentary The Most Beautiful Boy In The World (Världens vackraste pojke), produced by Stina Gardell, introduces us to the present-day Björn Andrésen now in his Sixties by way of his supremely filthy apartment with commentary by his then girlfriend Jessica Vennberg who may not be the best match for him or for her to get life in order.
Björn at age 15 had his life turned upside down when Luchino Visconti anointed him to play Tadzio in his film version of Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, starring Dirk Bogarde, and pronounced him to be 'the most beautiful boy in the world'. Well chosen archival footage shows his supremely uncomfortable screen test in Stockholm, Björn on...
Björn at age 15 had his life turned upside down when Luchino Visconti anointed him to play Tadzio in his film version of Thomas Mann’s Death In Venice, starring Dirk Bogarde, and pronounced him to be 'the most beautiful boy in the world'. Well chosen archival footage shows his supremely uncomfortable screen test in Stockholm, Björn on...
- 1/4/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Björn Andrésen was just 16 when he landed the role that would change his life. The Swedish teenager was handpicked by legendary Italian auteur Luchino Visconti to star as Tadzio in the 1971 film adaptation of the 1912 Thomas Mann novella “Death in Venice.” In the film, Andrésen’s youth and striking looks obsess Dirk Bogarde’s Gustav von Aschenbach, a composer grappling with failing health. But that lucky break became a nightmare, particularly after Visconti labelled Andrésen the “most beautiful boy in the world” at a Cannes press conference for the film and then dropped the young man he had made a star.
“Life and career-wise, it fucked up a lot of things,” says Andrésen.
After gifting Andrésen with the memorable moniker describing his ethereal looks on that fateful day in the South of France, Visconti never spoke to the actor he’d plucked from obscurity and set off on a fateful collision course with teen idoldom.
“Life and career-wise, it fucked up a lot of things,” says Andrésen.
After gifting Andrésen with the memorable moniker describing his ethereal looks on that fateful day in the South of France, Visconti never spoke to the actor he’d plucked from obscurity and set off on a fateful collision course with teen idoldom.
- 11/30/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Art films used to cross over into the mainstream more than they do now, though it still happens (just look at the success of “Parasite”). But even back in the heyday of art-house earthquakes like “Z” and “Last Tango in Paris,” there was something surreal about the crossover phenomenon of Björn Andrésen. He was the 15-year-old Swedish boy who director Luchino Visconti cast as the love object in “Death in Venice,” his 1971 film of Thomas Mann’s novel, and for a time Andrésen blew up like a pop star. “Death in Venice” was a grand, slow-moving, and, to me, always rather stilted and awkward piece of lavish-souled literary adaptation. On the page, Mann had evoked the romantic and sensual obsession that his ailing autobiographical hero felt, from afar, for Tadzio, an adolescent he spies at the hotel he’s convalescing at on the Lido. In the movie, the hero’s...
- 11/6/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Juno Films has acquired global rights to “A Song for Cesar,” following the film’s debut at the Mill Valley Film Festival this October. Directed and produced by Abel Sanchez and Andrés Alegria, the film is a celebration of the organizers, musicians and artists comprising Cesar Chavez’s Farmworkers movement. Juno Films plans to release the film in the U.S. in early 2022 followed by a national broadcast release. The deal was negotiated by Elizabeth Sheldon, founding partner and CEO of Juno Films.
The film tells a previously untold story about the musicians and artists — including Joan Baez, Maya Angelou and Carlos Santana, among others — who dedicated their time, creativity and reputations to peacefully advance Chavez’s movement of labor organizing in pursuit of better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. The documentary also explores other facets of Chavez’s life — from childhood to his final days — revelations that, until now,...
The film tells a previously untold story about the musicians and artists — including Joan Baez, Maya Angelou and Carlos Santana, among others — who dedicated their time, creativity and reputations to peacefully advance Chavez’s movement of labor organizing in pursuit of better wages and working conditions for farmworkers. The documentary also explores other facets of Chavez’s life — from childhood to his final days — revelations that, until now,...
- 10/13/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Lest you think the title of this documentary is hyperbole, rest assured that the moniker “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” was indeed once applied to the film’s subject. He’s Björn Andrésen, who at the tender age of 15 was selected by legendary Italian film director Luchino Visconti to play the adolescent object of Dirk Bogarde’s obsession in the 1971 film adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. After making a worldwide splash in his first significant film role, Andrésen has spent the rest of his life in relative obscurity. Kristina Lindstrom and Kristian Petri’s ...
- 9/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lest you think the title of this documentary is hyperbole, rest assured that the moniker “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” was indeed once applied to the film’s subject. He’s Björn Andrésen, who at the tender age of 15 was selected by legendary Italian film director Luchino Visconti to play the adolescent object of Dirk Bogarde’s obsession in the 1971 film adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. After making a worldwide splash in his first significant film role, Andrésen has spent the rest of his life in relative obscurity. Kristina Lindstrom and Kristian Petri’s ...
- 9/23/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Luchino Visconti emerges badly from this desperately sad documentary about the exploitation of his Death in Venice child star Björn Andrésen
This documentary tells us how the most beautiful boy in the world became its saddest man, his life damaged by the exploitative abuse that the movie business incidentally hands out to all those beautiful girls in the world without anyone caring or making documentaries about them.
Related: ‘Death in Venice screwed up my life’ – the tragic story of Visconti’s ‘beautiful boy’...
This documentary tells us how the most beautiful boy in the world became its saddest man, his life damaged by the exploitative abuse that the movie business incidentally hands out to all those beautiful girls in the world without anyone caring or making documentaries about them.
Related: ‘Death in Venice screwed up my life’ – the tragic story of Visconti’s ‘beautiful boy’...
- 7/28/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Björn Andrésen was the striking child star of the classic film, the perfect embodiment of youthful beauty. Fifty years on, he is still haunted by the exploitation that continued long after filming
Björn Andrésen was just 15 when he walked straight into the lion’s den, being cast as Tadzio, the sailor-suited object of desire in Luchino Visconti’s film Death in Venice. Its release in 1971 made him not merely a star but an instant icon – the embodiment of pristine youthful beauty. Sitting alone in Stockholm today at the age of 66, he looks more like Gandalf with his white beard and his gaunt face framed by shoulder-length white locks. His eyes twinkle as alluringly as ever but he’s no pussycat. Asked what he would say to Visconti if he were here now, he doesn’t pause. “Fuck off,” he says.
No one who sees The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,...
Björn Andrésen was just 15 when he walked straight into the lion’s den, being cast as Tadzio, the sailor-suited object of desire in Luchino Visconti’s film Death in Venice. Its release in 1971 made him not merely a star but an instant icon – the embodiment of pristine youthful beauty. Sitting alone in Stockholm today at the age of 66, he looks more like Gandalf with his white beard and his gaunt face framed by shoulder-length white locks. His eyes twinkle as alluringly as ever but he’s no pussycat. Asked what he would say to Visconti if he were here now, he doesn’t pause. “Fuck off,” he says.
No one who sees The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,...
- 7/15/2021
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Documentary “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” about the teenage actor in Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice,” has been sold to numerous territories by Berlin-based sales agency Films Boutique.
The Swedish film, directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, premiered in Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. It receives an online market screening at Cannes’ Marché du Film on Tuesday at 9.30 A.M.
The film will be distributed in the following territories: Japan (Gaga), U.K. (Dogwoof), Australia and New Zealand (Madman), Korea (Watcha), BeNeLux (Amstel), Spain (Filmin), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Missing Films), Italy (Just Wanted), Greece (Carousel), China (Moviezone), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Denmark (Film Bazar), Norway (Another World), Poland (Against Gravity), Ex-Yugoslavia (Five Stars) and Israel (Lev Cinema).
The Swedish distributor is TriArt, which will release the film on Oct. 15. Juno has the North American rights, and will release Sept. 24.
The documentary...
The Swedish film, directed by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri, premiered in Sundance in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. It receives an online market screening at Cannes’ Marché du Film on Tuesday at 9.30 A.M.
The film will be distributed in the following territories: Japan (Gaga), U.K. (Dogwoof), Australia and New Zealand (Madman), Korea (Watcha), BeNeLux (Amstel), Spain (Filmin), Germany, Austria and Switzerland (Missing Films), Italy (Just Wanted), Greece (Carousel), China (Moviezone), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Denmark (Film Bazar), Norway (Another World), Poland (Against Gravity), Ex-Yugoslavia (Five Stars) and Israel (Lev Cinema).
The Swedish distributor is TriArt, which will release the film on Oct. 15. Juno has the North American rights, and will release Sept. 24.
The documentary...
- 7/5/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
John Waters has spent the last year and a half happily working on his latest book, a novel about a woman who steals suitcases at airports. Technically his first novel, it’s called “Flair Mouth,” subtitle “A Feel Bad Romance,” and is set for release in May of next year. During an in-person interview during this year’s Provincetown Film Festival, where he serves as unofficial emcee and hostess with the mostess, the director said that while the pandemic didn’t change his daily life too much, he’s itching to get back to the movies.
“I’m sick of watching stuff on TV, I’m sick of virtual everything,” said Waters, before rattling off a list of some of his quarantine watches. Some of his recent viewings include “Halston,” the Netflix show made by his friends Dan Minahan and Christine Vachon. True to his varied tastes, he also enjoyed “I, Sniper,...
“I’m sick of watching stuff on TV, I’m sick of virtual everything,” said Waters, before rattling off a list of some of his quarantine watches. Some of his recent viewings include “Halston,” the Netflix show made by his friends Dan Minahan and Christine Vachon. True to his varied tastes, he also enjoyed “I, Sniper,...
- 6/26/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Dogwoof has debuted a brand new trailer for the upcoming documentary ‘The Most Beautiful Boy in the World.’
Fifty years after the premiere of ‘Death in Venice’, Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri’s celebrated documentary explores the life of Björn Andrésen, the former teen star who embodied the legendary character Tadzio and whom director Luchino Visconti dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world.”
In 1970, filmmaker Luchino Visconti travelled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in his adaptation for the screen of Thomas Mann’s ‘Death in Venice.’ In Stockholm, he discovered Björn Andrésen, a shy 15-year-old teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between the Lido in Venice, London, the Cannes Film Festival and the so distant Japan. Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, Björn takes us on...
Fifty years after the premiere of ‘Death in Venice’, Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri’s celebrated documentary explores the life of Björn Andrésen, the former teen star who embodied the legendary character Tadzio and whom director Luchino Visconti dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world.”
In 1970, filmmaker Luchino Visconti travelled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in his adaptation for the screen of Thomas Mann’s ‘Death in Venice.’ In Stockholm, he discovered Björn Andrésen, a shy 15-year-old teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between the Lido in Venice, London, the Cannes Film Festival and the so distant Japan. Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, Björn takes us on...
- 6/18/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
"A haunting exploration..." Dogwoof in the UK has unveiled a new official UK trailer for a doc called The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which initially premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (watch the first trailer from then) and also played at the Hong Kong & Cleveland Film Festivals. In 1971, at the world premiere of Death in Venice in London, Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti proclaimed Björn Andrésen, the teen star of his latest film, "The most beautiful boy in the world." This is the story of a boy who was thrust to international stardom for his iconic looks and lived a life of glamour. A shadow that today, 50 years later, weighs Björn Andresen's life. The film is by Swedish filmmakers Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri. "Being immortalized as an iconic boy meant that Andrésen spent most of his adult life trying to be invisible, refusing to have his...
- 6/17/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
If you haven’t seen Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, you probably know the director’s muse, Björn Andrésen. Even if you’re not familiar with Andrésen, he was the inspiration for the bishōnen archetype in manga: beautiful young men of androgynous beauty. Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri’s new documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World unravels the objectification experienced as a 15-year-old boy and how it compounded with family trauma to torment the actor’s life. The directors worked with Andrésen for five years and as he welcomes them into his life, their subject unpacks feelings and stories he’s never expressed, and embarks on a healing journey that involves discovering the cause of his mother’s death and embracing a faith that saves his life.
We spoke with directors Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri about making sure they told Björn Andrésen’s real story, their...
We spoke with directors Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri about making sure they told Björn Andrésen’s real story, their...
- 2/8/2021
- by Joshua Encinias
- The Film Stage
“The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” filmmakers Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri knew it was vital that film subject Björn Andrésen return to Japan in his adulthood, years after the actor’s first experience there “terrified” him.
The documentary follows Andrésen, once dubbed by the media as “the most beautiful boy in the world,” and shows how his life changed after he shot to sudden fame with his role in the 1971 film “Death in Venice.” After the release of the film, the then-teenager spent a lot of time in Japan, where the film became popular, and recorded several pop songs there. In the documentary, the Swedish-born actor finds himself back in Japan at a karaoke bar, singing a song in Japanese that he recorded years prior.
“When he went there in his youth, he hated going there and he was scared most of the time,” Petri told TheWrap’s...
The documentary follows Andrésen, once dubbed by the media as “the most beautiful boy in the world,” and shows how his life changed after he shot to sudden fame with his role in the 1971 film “Death in Venice.” After the release of the film, the then-teenager spent a lot of time in Japan, where the film became popular, and recorded several pop songs there. In the documentary, the Swedish-born actor finds himself back in Japan at a karaoke bar, singing a song in Japanese that he recorded years prior.
“When he went there in his youth, he hated going there and he was scared most of the time,” Petri told TheWrap’s...
- 2/6/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Chicago – The 2021 Sundance Film Festival heads into Day Three after Opening Night and a full slate of films for Day Two. This year’s festival is virtual and online, meaning anyone with a ticket or a pass can indulge in the film offerings throughout the festival, which runs until February 3rd.
For the premieres of 2021, the cutting edge potential influencer films and all the ancillary new voice filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival is the one that begins every film year with the movies that ultimately become the talk of the town and the gatherer of year end awards. Your ticket to the festival is your chance to see these films and filmmakers before the general public.
Strawberry Mansion
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual event organized by the Sundance Institute – an organization founded by actor Robert Redford in 1980 – and dedicated to the growth of independent artists.
For the premieres of 2021, the cutting edge potential influencer films and all the ancillary new voice filmmakers, the Sundance Film Festival is the one that begins every film year with the movies that ultimately become the talk of the town and the gatherer of year end awards. Your ticket to the festival is your chance to see these films and filmmakers before the general public.
Strawberry Mansion
Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual event organized by the Sundance Institute – an organization founded by actor Robert Redford in 1980 – and dedicated to the growth of independent artists.
- 1/30/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
by Jason Adams
"In all the world there is no impurity so impure as old age." -- Death in Venice
The director Luchino Visconti was 64-years-young when he directed his rumination on youth and beauty seen from the opposite end of life. Death in Venice saw Dirk Bogarde vacationing in a plague-riddled seaside hotel where a teen-boy called Tadzio (Björn Andrésen) suddenly sends his overheated brain reeling across platonically idyllic places. And now here 50 years later, premiering at Sundance, comes the documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which turns around and gives us Tadzio's perspective looking back. The sun doesn't shine as brightly from that direction...
"In all the world there is no impurity so impure as old age." -- Death in Venice
The director Luchino Visconti was 64-years-young when he directed his rumination on youth and beauty seen from the opposite end of life. Death in Venice saw Dirk Bogarde vacationing in a plague-riddled seaside hotel where a teen-boy called Tadzio (Björn Andrésen) suddenly sends his overheated brain reeling across platonically idyllic places. And now here 50 years later, premiering at Sundance, comes the documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which turns around and gives us Tadzio's perspective looking back. The sun doesn't shine as brightly from that direction...
- 1/29/2021
- by JA
- FilmExperience
In 1971, Björn Andrésen was the most beautiful boy in the world. In 2019, he’s the elder of a neopagan commune in rural Sweden, whose inability to commit suicide in the fictional ritual of ättestupa forces the other cult onlookers to brutally bash his head in with a rock. In the time between Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice and Ari Aster’s Midsommar, Andrésen lived a life that might have seemed enviable on the surface, but which he baldly describes in this documentary as a “living nightmare.” It was the fateful casting audition in 1970 Stockholm where Visconti met Andrésen and found his beautiful boy that set the wheels in motion for the rest of his life, marred by personal tragedy, substance abuse, and exploitation. At the film’s conclusion, the woman who oversaw Andrésen’s casting alongside Visconti regretfully reflects on the day that shifted the course of his life forever,...
- 1/29/2021
- by Brianna Zigler
- The Film Stage
Waves of sadness wash through this documentary by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri’s documentary, which profiles Björn Andrésen, and plays out as a not entirely satisfying mix of film history and a particularly melancholic episode of Who Do You Think You Are?
Andrésen – who still cuts a striking figure with long hair and a beard today – was plucked from obscurity at the age of 15 by Luchino Visconti to star as the beautiful teenager Tadzio, with whom Composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes obsessed in Death In Venice.
Although it is not explicitly stated – very little is in the course of this frustrating documentary – Andrésen appears to suffer from depression to the degree that when we first encounter him, his girlfriend his helping him to entirely clean out his filthy flat under threat of eviction. The filmmakers no doubt want us to draw a direct line from Death In...
Andrésen – who still cuts a striking figure with long hair and a beard today – was plucked from obscurity at the age of 15 by Luchino Visconti to star as the beautiful teenager Tadzio, with whom Composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes obsessed in Death In Venice.
Although it is not explicitly stated – very little is in the course of this frustrating documentary – Andrésen appears to suffer from depression to the degree that when we first encounter him, his girlfriend his helping him to entirely clean out his filthy flat under threat of eviction. The filmmakers no doubt want us to draw a direct line from Death In...
- 1/29/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"The slightest bloody thing makes you hit the roof." Juno Films has released a promo trailer for a doc called The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, which is premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival soon. In 1971, at the world premiere of Death in Venice in London, Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti proclaimed Björn Andrésen, the teen star of his latest film, "The most beautiful boy in the world." This is the story of a boy who was thrust to international stardom for his iconic looks and lived a life of glamour. 50 years later, Björn looks back on what it is was like to be known as the "most beautiful boy in the world." The doc film is made by Swedish filmmakers Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri. "Being immortalized as an iconic boy meant that Andrésen spent most of his adult life trying to be invisible, refusing to have his identity shaped...
- 1/26/2021
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival, beginning Thursday, will look quite different. Forging ahead during the pandemic, they’ve to continue offering some of the year’s finest independent discoveries, with a new online platform, drive-ins, screenings at independent arthouses around the country, and more.
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re counting down our most-anticipated films. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
Year after year, Sundance’s Next section offers independent cinema’s most compelling new voices; one that’s caught our eye is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Shot by Daniel Patrick Carbone and scored by Alex G, it follows a teenager (Anna Cobb) whose reality begins blurring when she plays an online horror role-playing game.
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re counting down our most-anticipated films. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
Year after year, Sundance’s Next section offers independent cinema’s most compelling new voices; one that’s caught our eye is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Shot by Daniel Patrick Carbone and scored by Alex G, it follows a teenager (Anna Cobb) whose reality begins blurring when she plays an online horror role-playing game.
- 1/25/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Juno Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” ahead of its world premiere at this month’s Sundance Film Festival.
The film will be of particular interest to cinephiles, as it tells the story of Björn Andrésen, who became internationally recognizable at the age of fifteen with a key role in Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice.” His star turn opposite Dirk Bogarde was something of a double-edged sword — it made him famous and plunged him into a world of the rich and powerful, but it also left psychological baggage. Visconti picked Andrésen because, in the director’s estimation, he was “The world’s most beautiful boy.” And he shot him in ways that highlighted his looks — a decision that has not necessarily aged well.
Andrésen suggested that Visconti’s style bordered on exploitation of a minor. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian,...
The film will be of particular interest to cinephiles, as it tells the story of Björn Andrésen, who became internationally recognizable at the age of fifteen with a key role in Luchino Visconti’s “Death in Venice.” His star turn opposite Dirk Bogarde was something of a double-edged sword — it made him famous and plunged him into a world of the rich and powerful, but it also left psychological baggage. Visconti picked Andrésen because, in the director’s estimation, he was “The world’s most beautiful boy.” And he shot him in ways that highlighted his looks — a decision that has not necessarily aged well.
Andrésen suggested that Visconti’s style bordered on exploitation of a minor. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian,...
- 1/18/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Juno Films has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to the documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, the Kristina Lindstom and Kristian Petri film set to premiere in the World Documentary Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Produced by Stina Gardell’s Stockholm-based Mantaray Film, the film follows former child star Björn Andrésen who played Tadzio in Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. Juno Films will release the film in theaters in May 2021.
The new film follows Andrésen, who was thrust to international stardom at the age of fifteen based on his iconic looks, as he wistfully reflects on his stardom. In 1969, Visconti traveled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in the film, and a year later discovered Andrésen, a shy Swedish teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a...
Produced by Stina Gardell’s Stockholm-based Mantaray Film, the film follows former child star Björn Andrésen who played Tadzio in Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. Juno Films will release the film in theaters in May 2021.
The new film follows Andrésen, who was thrust to international stardom at the age of fifteen based on his iconic looks, as he wistfully reflects on his stardom. In 1969, Visconti traveled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in the film, and a year later discovered Andrésen, a shy Swedish teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a...
- 1/18/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Films Boutique represents world sales.
Juno Films has acquired North American rights to The Most Beautiful Boy In The World, the upcoming Sundance 2021 world premiere that documents the life of the Swedish child star of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 drama Death In Venice.
Kristina Lindstom and Kristian Petri directed the documentary, which catches up with Björn Andrésen decades after he was plucked from obscurity by Visconti, who described him at the world premiere of Death In Venice as “the most beautiful boy in the world”.
Fifteen-year-old Andrésen became a figure of fascination, even attaining cult status in Japan for his role...
Juno Films has acquired North American rights to The Most Beautiful Boy In The World, the upcoming Sundance 2021 world premiere that documents the life of the Swedish child star of Luchino Visconti’s 1971 drama Death In Venice.
Kristina Lindstom and Kristian Petri directed the documentary, which catches up with Björn Andrésen decades after he was plucked from obscurity by Visconti, who described him at the world premiere of Death In Venice as “the most beautiful boy in the world”.
Fifteen-year-old Andrésen became a figure of fascination, even attaining cult status in Japan for his role...
- 1/18/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The film is about the shy teenager who starred in Luchino Visconti’s ’Death In Venice’ in 1971.
Berlin-based Films Boutique has picked up world rights to Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri’s Swedish documentaryThe Most Beautiful Boy In The World, which is set to premiere at Sundance 2021.
Produced by Stina Gardell’s Stockholm-based Mantaray Film, the film will compete in the World Cinema Documentary section.
It is about Björn Andrésen, the Swedish teenager plucked from obscurity by legendary Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti to star opposite Dirk Bogarde in Death In Venice in 1971. For Visconti, Andrésen was “the world’s most beautiful boy.
Berlin-based Films Boutique has picked up world rights to Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri’s Swedish documentaryThe Most Beautiful Boy In The World, which is set to premiere at Sundance 2021.
Produced by Stina Gardell’s Stockholm-based Mantaray Film, the film will compete in the World Cinema Documentary section.
It is about Björn Andrésen, the Swedish teenager plucked from obscurity by legendary Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti to star opposite Dirk Bogarde in Death In Venice in 1971. For Visconti, Andrésen was “the world’s most beautiful boy.
- 12/17/2020
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
New projects also selected from Oscar nominees and a Venice-winning duo.
Cph:dox has unveiled the 34 projects set to be presented at Cph:forum, its financing and co-production event from March 24-26.
Scroll down for full list of titles and descriptions
The selection includes new projects from Oscar-nominated Laura Nix (Walk Run Cha-Cha) and Talal Derki (Of Fathers And Sons), Berlinale winner Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not), Sundance winners Jialing Zhang (Born In China) and Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The Law in These Parts) and Venice winning team Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski (The Prince and the Dybbuk).
Titles include Her, a documentary about...
Cph:dox has unveiled the 34 projects set to be presented at Cph:forum, its financing and co-production event from March 24-26.
Scroll down for full list of titles and descriptions
The selection includes new projects from Oscar-nominated Laura Nix (Walk Run Cha-Cha) and Talal Derki (Of Fathers And Sons), Berlinale winner Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not), Sundance winners Jialing Zhang (Born In China) and Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The Law in These Parts) and Venice winning team Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski (The Prince and the Dybbuk).
Titles include Her, a documentary about...
- 2/13/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
"This weekend - the sommar never ends." A24 has revealed a short trailer to promote the Director's Cut release of the cult horror film Midsommar, Ari Aster's freakish Swedish delight that first opened in June. This Director's Cut is an unrated release, with new footage + extended scenes that put it at a total running time of 171 minutes. This was initially only supposed to show at special events, but A24 decided to put it back in theaters. Midsommar is about a woman who reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a holiday trip to a small Swedish village, where the encounter a pagan cult conducting a "violent and bizarre" ritual. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor star, with Will Poulter, Julia Ragnarsson, William Jackson Harper, Björn Andrésen, Anna Åström, and Liv Mjönes. The Director's Cut has been praised as the complete vision and has worthwhile scenes to see (read Indiewire's report). If you...
- 8/27/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Dag Andersson, Björn Andrésen, Anders Back | Written and Directed by Ari Aster
Midsommar is the sophomore effort and highly anticipated follow up in director Ari Aster’s filmography, after his critically acclaimed directorial feature debut Hereditary, released in 2018. Midsommar follows Dani (Florence Pugh) along with her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) and two of his classmates Mark and Josh (Will Poulter and William Jackson Harper) who are invited to a rural mid-summer festival that takes place every ninety years in Sweden. Much like Aster’s predecessor, it is best to head into Midsommar with as little knowledge as possible regarding the events within the film. Avoid all trailers and promotional material and what you’ll experience is a spellbinding majestic provocative horror at its most dire and gleeful best.
The greatest strength of Aster’s...
Midsommar is the sophomore effort and highly anticipated follow up in director Ari Aster’s filmography, after his critically acclaimed directorial feature debut Hereditary, released in 2018. Midsommar follows Dani (Florence Pugh) along with her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) and two of his classmates Mark and Josh (Will Poulter and William Jackson Harper) who are invited to a rural mid-summer festival that takes place every ninety years in Sweden. Much like Aster’s predecessor, it is best to head into Midsommar with as little knowledge as possible regarding the events within the film. Avoid all trailers and promotional material and what you’ll experience is a spellbinding majestic provocative horror at its most dire and gleeful best.
The greatest strength of Aster’s...
- 7/4/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
"It's like they're trying to make it gross..." A24 has debuted a short, new "Summer Solstice" trailer for Ari Aster's cult horror film Midsommar, which opens in a few weeks. The trailer celebrates the actual, literal "midsummer", the longest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere). Midsommar is about a woman who reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a holiday trip to a small Swedish village, where the encounter a pagan cult conducting a "violent and bizarre" ritual. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor star as the couple, along with Will Poulter, Julia Ragnarsson, William Jackson Harper, Björn Andrésen, Anna Åström, and Liv Mjönes. Early word from preview screenings is that the films is truly messed up, with viewers saying it's "Wild, unsettling, profound and & just about the craziest shit I’ve witnessed on the big screen". Oh yes. Here's the new "Summer Solstice" trailer for Ari Aster's Midsommar, direct...
- 6/21/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"I don't want to acclimate – I want to go." A24 has revealed the second official trailer for Ari Aster's cult horror film Midsommar, the follow-up to his highly acclaimed feature debut Hereditary. Midsommar is about a woman who reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a trip to a small Swedish village, where the encounter a pagan cult conducting a "violent and bizarre" ritual. This looks very, very freakalicious. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor star as the couple, along with Will Poulter, Julia Ragnarsson, William Jackson Harper, Björn Andrésen, Anna Åström, and Liv Mjönes. A24 teamed up with Aster to develop and produce this after releasing Hereditary, and will drop it in theaters in July in the middle of the summer. This looks mesmerizing and horrific and beautiful and frightening all at once. The music in this trailer rules. Here's the new full-length trailer (+ poster) for Ari Aster's Midsommar, direct from...
- 5/14/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Stars: Dirk Bogarde, Björn Andrésen, Marisa Berenson, Mark Burns, Silvana Mangano | Written by Nicola Badalucco, Luchino Visconti | Directed by Luchino Visconti
Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella Der Tod in Venedig focused on a German writer named Gustav von Aschenbach, who decides to take a holiday to Venice, where he falls in love. The greatest change in Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film adaptation, Death in Venice, is the fact that Gustav (Dirk Bogarde) is instead a composer. The troubling scenario concerning the main character’s paedophilic intentions remains, and is perhaps intensified in this, the best-regarded screen adaptation.
Through flashbacks we learn that Gustav has come to Venice to recover from an illness, possibly brought about by the death of his young daughter. His wife (Marisa Berenson) will not be joining him. Gustav enters a world of aged, crumbling architecture, bathed in a light that always seems to be dwindling – a reflection of...
Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella Der Tod in Venedig focused on a German writer named Gustav von Aschenbach, who decides to take a holiday to Venice, where he falls in love. The greatest change in Luchino Visconti’s 1971 film adaptation, Death in Venice, is the fact that Gustav (Dirk Bogarde) is instead a composer. The troubling scenario concerning the main character’s paedophilic intentions remains, and is perhaps intensified in this, the best-regarded screen adaptation.
Through flashbacks we learn that Gustav has come to Venice to recover from an illness, possibly brought about by the death of his young daughter. His wife (Marisa Berenson) will not be joining him. Gustav enters a world of aged, crumbling architecture, bathed in a light that always seems to be dwindling – a reflection of...
- 3/19/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
"You can't speak... you can't move... But this opens you up... It breaks down your defenses... Trust me." A24 has unveiled a teaser trailer for Ari Aster's new cult horror film Midsommar, the follow-up to his highly acclaimed feature debut Hereditary. A24 teamed up with Aster to develop and produce this after releasing Hereditary, and will drop it in theaters in August in the summer (of course). Midsommar is about a woman who reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a trip to a small Swedish village, where the encounter a pagan cult conducting a "violent and bizarre" ritual. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor star as the couple, along with Will Poulter, Julia Ragnarsson, William Jackson Harper, Björn Andrésen, Anna Åström, and Liv Mjönes. This is nuts!! I dig the bright colors, and all the floral elements, despite how horrific it looks. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Ari Aster's Midsommar,...
- 3/5/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
High class Italo filmmaking slips into the ’70s with Luchino Visconti still on top. This handsomely appointed period drama recreates Venice of 1910. Make that a highly stylized recreated Venice. As curiously enacted by Dirk Bogarde, Thomas Mann’s story of a composer’s inner turmoil over a maddeningly attractive teenaged boy becomes a one-man ordeal.
Death in Venice
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 962
1971 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 25, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci, Marisa Berenson,
Carole André, Björn Andrésen, Silvana Mangano.
Cinematography: Pasquale De Santis
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Art Direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music selections: Gustav Mahler, Beethoven, Mussorgsky
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Written by Luchino Visconti, Nicola Badalucco from the novel by Thomas Mann
Produced by Robert Gordon Edwards, Mario Gallo, Luchino Visconti
Directed by Luchino Visconti
See Venice and die… or isn’t it supposed to be ‘see Rome and die?...
Death in Venice
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 962
1971 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 25, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Romolo Valli, Mark Burns, Nora Ricci, Marisa Berenson,
Carole André, Björn Andrésen, Silvana Mangano.
Cinematography: Pasquale De Santis
Costume Designer: Piero Tosi
Art Direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Music selections: Gustav Mahler, Beethoven, Mussorgsky
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Written by Luchino Visconti, Nicola Badalucco from the novel by Thomas Mann
Produced by Robert Gordon Edwards, Mario Gallo, Luchino Visconti
Directed by Luchino Visconti
See Venice and die… or isn’t it supposed to be ‘see Rome and die?...
- 2/23/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Death in Venice. Courtesy of Warner Bros."You’re much too important a man to be a slave to conventions about nature. I’ll restore what was yours [...] Then you can fall in love."—Luchino Visconti's Death in VeniceThe adaptation of a novel to film is a precarious task, especially with source material as philosophically dense and deliberately cryptic as Thomas Mann’s turn-of-the-century novella Death in Venice. Since the time of its release, Luchino Visconti’s 1971 interpretation of the famous work has weathered a mixed critical reception, with praise reserved primarily for the film’s lush, scenic photography. Still, some considered these elements wasted on a questionable depiction of a man’s Lolita-esque sexual guilt trip. Gustav von Aschenbach, the writer-protagonist of Mann’s story, is in Visconti’s interpretation Aschenbach the composer (played by Dirk Bogarde with fussy and uncharacteristically sallow demeanor), a man self-exiled to Venice in search of rest,...
- 12/14/2018
- MUBI
Everything starts so innocently that you’d be hard-pressed to realize Ali Abbasi‘s Shelley is a horror film besides the score’s dread-inducing soundscape rising to a deafening level of static. Sure the setting’s weird with Louise (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Kasper (Peter Christoffersen) living in the Danish woods without electricity or running water far-removed from civilization, but the world’s fill of eccentrics. They’re actually quite nice, bringing in a new maid (Cosmina Stratan‘s Romanian single mother Elena) with open arms and warm smiles. It takes some getting used to, but the newcomer is quite content after a while. She adjusts to the quiet, regularly calls home to speak with her mother and son, and resigns herself to the prospect of returning after two to three years accumulating salary abroad.
In a moment of bonding Elena and Louise speak about motherhood to reveal the tragedy of the Dane’s past.
In a moment of bonding Elena and Louise speak about motherhood to reveal the tragedy of the Dane’s past.
- 7/28/2016
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
François Ozon has concocted a tense, serious study of a 17-year-old girl's sexual awakening. It plays a little like Belle de Jour without the subversion
François Ozon's new film is a luxurious fantasy of a young girl's flowering: a very French and very male fantasy, like the pilot episode of the world's classiest soap opera. There's some softcore eroticism and an entirely, if enjoyably, absurd final scene with Charlotte Rampling, whose cameo lends a grandmotherly seal of approval to the drama's sexual adventure. But this is well-crafted and well-acted, with strong performances from Géraldine Pailhas and Frédéric Pierrot as well-to-do middle-aged couple Sylvie and Patrick, and from newcomer Marine Vacth as Isabelle, their 17-year-old daughter, who is on the verge of a seismic personal transformation. There is also a nice contribution from Fantin Ravat as Isabelle's kid brother Victor: a saucer-eyed onlooker and confidant – and also, I suspect,...
François Ozon's new film is a luxurious fantasy of a young girl's flowering: a very French and very male fantasy, like the pilot episode of the world's classiest soap opera. There's some softcore eroticism and an entirely, if enjoyably, absurd final scene with Charlotte Rampling, whose cameo lends a grandmotherly seal of approval to the drama's sexual adventure. But this is well-crafted and well-acted, with strong performances from Géraldine Pailhas and Frédéric Pierrot as well-to-do middle-aged couple Sylvie and Patrick, and from newcomer Marine Vacth as Isabelle, their 17-year-old daughter, who is on the verge of a seismic personal transformation. There is also a nice contribution from Fantin Ravat as Isabelle's kid brother Victor: a saucer-eyed onlooker and confidant – and also, I suspect,...
- 5/16/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.