Introduced by Fashion Theorist Eugenia Paulicelli
“Rapsodia Satanica” is a masterpiece of silent Italian cinema. Based on a 1915 poem by Fausto Maria Martini, it was conceived as an “opera d’arte totale,” an amalgam of all the arts of the time, including the avant-garde fashion designs of Mariano Fortuny. The film is also a prime example of the diva genre, featuring Lyda Borelli as Alba d’Oltrevita in a Faustian tale of a search for eternal youth and worldly pleasures. Throughout, a diaphanous veil is singled out as a particularly prominent part of Alba’s wardrobe, and more than that–it becomes a visual event, moulded and layered over Alba’s face and body in scenes of seduction, reflection and melancholy, made all the more striking by the use of stencil color and tinting.
The screening is part of the Fashion in Film Festival, a three-day program of screenings, performances, talks and conversations that explore the intersection between fashion and cinema, curated by Marketa Uhlirova (University of the Arts London - Central Saint Martins) with Caitlin Storrie.
Purchase tickets HERE.
