
D’AnnunzioCaveisastrange,loudanduniquefilm.ThefilmexaminestheatthetimeimmenselypopularItalianwriterGabrieleD’Annunzioopulentprivateresidence.D’Annunziopublisheddecadentandsymbolistliteraturefromthetimehewas16,hadaffairswithanumberofhisday’smostfamousbeauties,becameapatrioticherounder1WorldWarIIandafterthewarcasthimselfas”duce”ofacityinCroatiaforabriefperiod.Atonetimeabelesprit,whosewritingsarestillpartlyvaluedtoday,butalsoasourceofinspirationforfascism.<br/> WherethestyleofmostofEmigholz‘filmisquietandpanoramic,thisfilmishandheldandintrusive.Wherethesoundtrackoftheotherfilmsconsistsoffootagefromthesite,thereisinthisfilmconstantlyvoiceoverfromacacophonyofcomputervoicesthatreadtextsofd’Annunzio,JosephConrad,BenitoMussoliniandseveralothers.There’sevenbackgroundmusichereandtherefromDebussy,DavidByrneandBrianEno.Itisapoignantlybeautiful,noisyandpoeticallyoverwhelmingfilm–withlotsofcolorandfetish.Fromaforgottentime.


