History, Film, Location: Visconti's Period Dramas - five online talks by Dr Pasquale Iannone

If you wish to register for this series after 7-Jul-25, please e-mail onlinetalks@martinrandall.co.uk

A world-class director of film, theatre and opera, Milan-born Luchino Visconti (1906–1976) was a towering figure of post-war European culture. Hailing from an aristocratic background, he entered the film industry in France in the mid-1930s before returning to an Italy still ravaged by war to make his own directorial debut, Ossessione (1943). The crime drama outraged the Fascist authorities with its stark, earthy fatalism, coming to be known as one of the first neorealist films. Visconti went on to make two more in this style before turning to more personal projects that drew on his family history and cultural heritage. Set between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, works such as Senso (1954), The Leopard (1963) and Ludwig (1973) have set the standard for historical screen productions ever since, influencing generations of filmmakers, from Bernardo Bertolucci (1900) to Martin Scorsese (The Age of Innocence), not only through their audio-visual splendour but also in their attention to complex issues of class, politics and sexuality.

This series by Dr Pasquale Iannone (Lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh) will explore five of Visconti’s period dramas, placing each in historical and cinematic context, and offering some richly-illustrated analysis of key sequences.

The talks take place every Monday from 7th July–4th August 2025 at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (29th September 2025).