Duse

Among the greatest stage actors of her time, Eleonora Duse was born in 1858 in Lombardy, then part of the Austrian Empire. Her popularity was such that she became known simply as a one-name wonder: La Duse. Though she earned her first stirrings of fame for the embodiment of roles initially performed by the great Sarah Bernhardt, Duse’s intensity, conviction, and longevity made her a national legend.

Visionary Italian auteur Pietro Marcello (whose Martin Eden won TIFF’s 2019 Platform Award) delivers this feverish portrait of Duse through the twilight of her storied career, which intersected with Italy’s forbidding, increasingly fascistic post–First World War years. In an all-out performance, a spellbinding Valeria Bruni Tedeschi incarnates the passionate artist who, despite the turbulence of a new world and ailing health, returns to her vocation in a state of both abandon and urgency — committing to performance as an act of revolutionary resistance. Aided by her ardently devoted assistant (Fanni Wrochna), the actor defies the pleas of her daughter (Noémie Merlant), who implores her to retire for the sake of her welfare and their family; instead, fuelled by her fiery calling, Duse relishes new opportunities to electrify the stage.

Shot in Venice on Super 16 and 35mm, alongside the filmmaker’s signature, striking use of archival footage, Duse is a portrait of an indefatigable woman, whose belief in art’s transformative powers is matched by Marcello’s steadfast and sensual vision. Mixing melodrama with fine-brushed detail and an expressionistic soundtrack, the film rejects the conventions of the historical biopic, opting for a raw portrayal of beauty and daring in the face of death.

ANDRÉA PICARD