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SALOME
This 1972 Italian obscurity is easily the wildest production
of Oscar Wilde's fin de siecle masterpiece SALOME you'll ever see. For
that matter, it's one the most outrageous films ever made. Overflowing with
eye-burning colors, bellowed dialogue, hyper-kinetic editing and camerawork,
costumes and props made of neon, and even vampires, director Carmelo Bene's film
is an unrelenting sensory assault that still manages to find time for quiet,
lyrical moments.
The Package
Even though the technical effects aren't up to
mega-budget Hollywood standards, they are effective within SALOME'S lunatic
universe. It was produced as well as written and directed by the infamous
Italian stage impresario Carmelo Bene, based on his stage piece of the same
name. It was the fourth of Bene's five films, and in my view the most
interesting by far.
The art direction suggests a head-on collision between
Heironymous Bosch and Andy Warhol, and featuring dozens of naked extras
cavorting among deliberately artificial, multi-colored neon props; the
photography was by Bene's stock cinematographer Mario Masini, whose work was
never more evocative. The acting--of Bene's "longtime companion"
Lydia Mancinelli, FELLINI SATYRICON'S Donyale
Luna (as the screen's only dark-skinned Salome), the German supermodel Veruschka,
and Bene himself as King Herod--might charitably be called over-the-top, as the
performers babble nearly all their dialogue at the top of their lungs (a Bene
trademark). The camerawork is as spastic as anything since the advent of MTV and
the editing appears to have been employed with a chainsaw (very few shots are
held for more than five seconds). The result is an often annoying, incoherent
yet profoundly intense viewing experience.
The Story
If you're at all familiar with Wilde's play, or the
biblical passages upon which it's based, then you know the story. Salome, the
whorish daughter of queen Herodias, is lusted after by her depraved stepfather
Herod. When her attempted seduction of the visiting prophet Iokanaan fails,
Salome agrees to satisfy her stepfather's perverted whims through the infamous
dance of the seven veils. She then demands that Herod do her bidding and murder
Iokanaan.
Needless to say, Carmelo Bene offers quite a few unique
twists. For starters, Salome's first dialogue with Iokanaan is shouted back and
forth with the latter stationed on a boat in the middle of a river and Salome
back on shore; each time he rejects her advances, he's hit over the head with a
thick book. Even more bizarre is Salome's final confrontation with Herod; as he
quickly descends into utter madness she peels the skin from his face.
And that's not even taking into account the numerous
flashes of vampire fangs worn by many of the actors, complete with the
inevitable though brief neck-biting. For all of Oscar Wilde's well-known
preferences for unbridled decadence, I strongly doubt he ever dreamed of
anything like this.
The Direction
Like his films, director Carmelo Bene is unknown in
this country. While I wouldn't call Bene's work great, it demonstrates s a
sensibility every bit as ingeniously warped as those of cinematic wackos like
Ken Russell and
Alejandro Jodorowsky. There are some truly extraordinary
moments here, such as the soundless opening montage of bizarre and decadent
imagery, an excellent introduction to the film we're about to view; a man
crucifying himself on a flashing neon cross; Herod/Bene's final speech,
delivered in an endless babble as the camera madly zooms in and out; and of
course Salome's scandalous dance of the seven veils, surprisingly the most
haunting, lyrical sequence in the movie.
But Bene's most intelligent decision was keeping
SALOME'S running time
barely 80 minutes
mercifully brief. Although he shows little restraint in the film's imagery, Bene
does appear to know when enough is enough.
Vital Statistics
SALOME
Cinecitta Productions
Director: Carmelo Bene
Producer: Paulo Mercuri
Screenwriter: Carmelo Bene
(Based on the play by Oscar Wilde)
Cinematography: Mario Masini
Editor: Mauro Contini
Cast: Donyale Luna, Lydia Mancinelli, Alfiero Vincenti, Carmelo Bene, Piero
Vida, Franco Leo, Roberto Ignozzi, Marco Carelli, Dakar, Juan Fernandez,
Veruschka