Diva Dolorosa
1999 · 75 MIN · IMDB 7.4 · 84 VOTES · DIR. Peter Delpeut
Overview
In this mesmerizing collage of silent Italian melodrama, found-footage filmmaker Peter Delpeut (Lyrical Nitrate) affectionately captures the spirit of the World War One-era cinema diva. In all-but-lost gems such as La donna nuda (1914), and Tigre reale (1916), superstars such as Lyda Borelli and Pina Menichelli portrayed heroines teetering dangerously between defiant indulgence in sexual passion and hysterical remorse at their own cruelties. Delpeut’s inventive celebration of Black Romanticism is both striking and heartbreaking in its composition—a beautifully woven narrative of tempted fate and self-torment, elegantly guided by Loek Dikker’s original score. Zeitgeist Films is proud to present Delpeut’s stunningly experimental work in all its heaving bosomed, luridly tinted glory.
Dialogue Timeline — 54 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:43 that were strongly influenced by the Black-Romantic ideals ofthe fin de siècle
00:00:56 They were the first divas ofthe silver screen.
00:01:08 that had been so popular in the decadent arts of the previous century.
00:01:19 A calvary ofloss, guilt and self-torment was her inevitable fate in these stories.
00:01:33 in coproduction with VPRO television
00:01:50 "Be beautiful! and be sad!..."
00:10:41 "My whole soul is burning for you!"
00:11:31 It reaches up to the sky, but only for a brief moment!"
00:14:25 If you don't want to grant me the taste of your lips...
00:15:19 Why shouldn't he lay down his life for that...?"
00:21:25 "I'm not worthy of you coming to me.
00:22:04 In the graveyard of the soul love will bloom."
00:25:12 Let me dream in your arms of renewed bliss.
00:46:04 And the venom of love once more poured into her heart...
00:49:35 ACT THREE
00:53:48 You who find this letter...
00:54:12 and people will hate us for it.
00:57:36 And slowly the veil of death passes over the pale face...