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Carmelo Bene

Carmelo Bene

The filmmaking career of Carmelo Bene (1937 - 2002) lasted from 1968 to 1973, six years out of a lengthy time spent in the theater that made Bene one of the most celebrated figures of the Italian avant-garde in the second half of the 20th century.

Bene first made a name for himself with a controversial production of Camus’ Caligula in Rome in 1959. Subsequent productions retained this sense of notoriety, and Bene (like Pasolini) quickly acquired a police record. Bene, however, would come to bemoan the controversy his work created, because it attracted an audience looking for shocks and titillation, while he himself was more concerned with reinventing the vocabulary of the theater: sets, gestures, texts.

Bene’s turn to cinema expanded that quest to reinvent. His films resist synopsis because, although they are often derived from narrative sources, Bene uses these sources against themselves and as a springboard for his critique of the stultifying traps of representation and interpretation. The films are wildly inventive and visually arresting on several levels: the performance styles of his actors, including eccentric movements, gestures and grimaces; the sets, costumes and makeup; the editing; and the use of the camera, with stable shots regularly punctuated by handheld camera work, extreme close ups and the occasional baroque use of zooms, dollies, cranes, elaborate pans and exaggerated camera angles. They resemble something like the work of Jack Smith crossed with the experimental Pasolini of Teorema and Pigsty.

One constant feature of Bene’s work is its satire of heterosexuality. The two sexes keep trying to communicate with each other, but always fail to do so. Bene’s work constantly deflates masculinist pretenses at mastery: his male characters tend to be hapless and often hysterical, while his female characters are alternately predatory and remote, and unknowable in either case. But this satire is merely the most visible form of Bene’s revolt against convention and communication. Over and over again in the films, everyday actions become hopelessly complicated or endlessly interrupted. His characters often end up staring quizzically offscreen or even into mirrors, as if they were no more sure than we are of the meaning of what they see. Indeed, identity and by extension agency seem to get suspended, along with meaning. What is left is glorious spectacle and enigmas for the eyes and ears: endless music; babbling, stuttering text; excessive and exciting images. – David Pendleton

See more on
The Last Days of Humanity

The Last Days of Humanity

2023

as Self (archive footage)

BENE! Vita di Carmelo, la macchina attoriale

BENE! Vita di Carmelo, la macchina attoriale

2022

Tracce di Bene

Tracce di Bene

2017

as Self

Lorenzaccio, al di là di de Musset e Benedetto Varchi

Lorenzaccio, al di là di de Musset e Benedetto Varchi

2003

Otello o la deficienza della donna

Otello o la deficienza della donna

2002

Pinocchio, ovvero lo spettacolo della Provvidenza

Pinocchio, ovvero lo spettacolo della Provvidenza

1999

as Pinocchio / Geppetto / Mastro Ciliegia / Grillo Parlante / Mangiafuoco / Volpe / Lucignolo

Voce dei Canti

Voce dei Canti

1998

Macbeth Horror Suite

Macbeth Horror Suite

1997

In-vulnerabilità d'Achille (tra Sciro e Ilio)

In-vulnerabilità d'Achille (tra Sciro e Ilio)

1997

Carmelo nei Canti Orfici

Carmelo nei Canti Orfici

1996

as Himself

Ai Rotoli

Ai Rotoli

1996

as Self

Cos'è il teatro?!

Cos'è il teatro?!

1990

as Himself

Hommelette for Hamlet, operetta inqualificabile (da J. Laforgue)

Hommelette for Hamlet, operetta inqualificabile (da J. Laforgue)

1990

as Amleto

L'Adelchi di Alessandro Manzoni in forma di concerto

L'Adelchi di Alessandro Manzoni in forma di concerto

1985

Le tecniche dell'assenza

Le tecniche dell'assenza

1984

as Self

Manfred, versione per concerto in forma di oratorio

Manfred, versione per concerto in forma di oratorio

1983

La poesia dimenticata

La poesia dimenticata

1982

Riccardo III

Riccardo III

1981

as Riccardo III

Modi di vivere - Giorgio Colli. Una conoscenza per cambiare la vita

Modi di vivere - Giorgio Colli. Una conoscenza per cambiare la vita

1980

Amleto di Carmelo Bene (da Shakespeare a Laforgue)

Amleto di Carmelo Bene (da Shakespeare a Laforgue)

1978

as Amleto

Bene! Quattro diversi modi di morire in versi: Majakovskij-Blok-Esènin-Pasternak

Bene! Quattro diversi modi di morire in versi: Majakovskij-Blok-Esènin-Pasternak

1977

Claro

Claro

1975

One Hamlet Less

One Hamlet Less

1973

as Hamlet

Ventriloquio

Ventriloquio

1973

as Jean des Esseintes

Salomé

Salomé

1972

as Erode Antipa / Onorio

Tre nel mille

Tre nel mille

1971

as Pannocchia

Necropolis

Necropolis

1970

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

1970

as Don Giovanni

Red Hot Shot

Red Hot Shot

1970

as Billy Desco

Capricci

Capricci

1969

as Poet

Umano non umano

Umano non umano

1969

as Self

Our Lady of the Turks

Our Lady of the Turks

1968

as The Protagonist

Hermitage

Hermitage

1968

as The Man

Catch As Catch Can

Catch As Catch Can

1967

as Prete

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex

1967

as Creonte

Carmelo Bene, il canto d'amore di Alfred J. Prufrock

Carmelo Bene, il canto d'amore di Alfred J. Prufrock

1967

Bis

Bis

1966

Un'ora prima di Amleto, più Pinocchio

Un'ora prima di Amleto, più Pinocchio

1965

as Himself