Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa... (1965)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Suso Cecchi d'Amico (story) &
Enrico Medioli (story) ...

Release Date:

16 January 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Sandra is excitement! What Sandra does... is astonishing!

Plot:

Sandra comes back to Volterra, in Tuscany, the little town where she spent her childhood. She is with her American husband...

Plot Keywords:

Husband Wife Relationship | Family Relationships | Cult Director | Relations | Father Daughter Relationship

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Claudia Cardinale	...	Sandra Dawson
Jean Sorel	...	Gianni Wald-Luzzati
Michael Craig	...	Andrew Dawson
Renzo Ricci	...	Antonio Gilardini
Fred Williams	...	Pietro Formari
Amalia Troiani	...	Fosca - maid
Marie Bell	...	Sandra's mother
Vittorio Manfrino
Renato Moretti
Giovanni Rovini
Paola Piscini
Isacco Politi
Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Also Known As:

Sandra (France)
Sandra of a Thousand Delights (USA) (dubbed version)
Vagues étoiles de la grande ourse (France) (literal title)

Runtime:

105 min | Argentina:100 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

Italian | Hebrew | French | English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:18

Company:

Vides Cinematografica

Soundtrack:

Prelude, chorale and fugue

Still magical!

After watching "Sandra...", for the first time in mi life I wanted to know who the director was. It was 1966 and me 15, so until that moment, I was only interested in who starred what but never fully understood the director's work enormous importance. Since then, Visconti not only became one of my favorite directors ever but a parameter when judging a film. Actually, I had seen The leopard years before, when I was to young to notice more than the beauty in Cardinale and the sumptuous sets. About "Sandra" I still remember vividly not only how beautiful and glamorous Cardinale looked but how handsome and elegant Sorel was; how mysterious the whole black and white atmosphere was and the intriguing plot... which I didn't fully understood because even if the action seemed to say something, the subtitles said something else!. I thought then my mother was right when she used to tell me: You are too young to understand this and that. Well, not without relief, I learn, years later, than the subtitles had been made in Spain, during the Franco's days, so its censorship had erased all incest traces. After that, a new copy was made to match subtitles and story (and thats, thankfully, what you can find, at least in Spanish!). But even after so many years, and in my adulthood, I find Sandra as magical as the first time and still is one of my favorite movies, as many Visconti's works like Rocco and his brothers, Death in Venice or The dammed, as well, of course, The Leopard.