Abstract
This essay focuses on the two films that actor Dirk Bogarde made with Luchino Visconti, La Caduta Degli Dei / The Damned (1969) and Morte a Venezia / Death in Venice (1971), which serve as decisive markers of transition between Bogarde's popular British stardom and his later European 'art-house' career. Three major arguments are made: firstly, in Bogarde's collaborations with Visconti, it is possible to identify an attempt to model a new, somewhat unique, 'international' pan-European type of stardom; secondly, this border-crossing form of stardom was intimately bound up with Bogarde's rather enigmatic 'queer' sexuality; and thirdly, that these concerns are evident and manifest in the fabric and texture of The Damned and Death in Venice themselves.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Dirk Bogarde's International Queer Stardom |
| Editors | Robin Griffiths |
| Place of Publication | Bristol, UK / Chicago, USA |
| Publisher | Intellect Books |
| Pages | 167-179 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-84150-079-9 |
| Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Dirk Bogarde, Luchino Visconti, European cinema, stardom, Death in Venice, The Damned, queer cinema