Duse
Drama • 2025 • 2h 5m
This movie was screened on 82. Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica 2025
The final act of Eleonora Duse’s life, the legendary actress confronting her return to the theater after losing everything. Between Venetian halls and historic stages, her magnetic presence illuminates scenes of war, trains carrying victims, and wreaths of flowers, as she grapples with fragile family relationships and the arrogance of figures like D’Annunzio. The film tells the story of a woman who loves the theater as she loves life itself, transforming challenges and disappointments into art, in a portrait suspended between legend and reality.
"I am nothing but an actress. But the theater is my religion."
(E. Duse)
Set between the end of World War I and the rise of Fascism, the film explores not only the career of the celebrated actress but also her complex interactions with the political and cultural figures of the era.
Marcello emphasizes the ambiguous relationship between Duse and D’Annunzio: on multiple occasions, it becomes clear that D’Annunzio perceives himself almost as a god, highlighting his hubris and the contrast between creative greatness and personal weakness. These elements offer the audience a multifaceted view of the tensions between art, ambition, and historical reality.
Duse is portrayed as a true artist, driven by an all-consuming love for the theater, which she loves as she loves life and death, and for which she is willing to do anything. Her seductive and charismatic personality shines through every gesture, conveying the image of a woman capable of captivating and commanding the stage, both in life and on it. Her decision to return to the theater is also tied to an adverse fate: the collapse of the Berlin bank where she had deposited all her savings robs her of security and forces her to take up the challenge anew.
Gabriele D’Annunzio, in his youth fragile and arrogant, capable of calling himself a god yet simultaneously a victim of his own destiny, in one of the most intense scenes, now wounded and weary, reveals to Duse that she has been deceived by Mussolini, who had promised to cancel her debts and provide her with a pension. This anecdote highlights not only the political manipulation of the era but also the fragility and limitations of great personalities in the face of power.
The film alternates intimate moments with scenes evoking the pain of war: trains filled with victims, wreaths of flowers, symbols of mourning and memory.
At the same time, the delicate and tormented bond between Duse and her daughter comes to light: the daughter, never able to penetrate her mother’s mystery, and Duse, though loving her without reservation, seems never to have fully embraced her, instead preferring the company of an assistant. Between them, a subtle but profound emotional rivalry unfolds, a silent interplay of absences and unfulfilled desires.
The Venetian setting amplifies the visual allure of the film: houses steeped in history, silent palaces, and illustrious theaters create a suspended atmosphere, where time seems to merge with legend.
Marcello’s intense, restless, artistic, and sophisticated direction, combined with Bruni Tedeschi’s undeniable performance, gives the film an extreme and melancholic tone, transforming Duse into a work that celebrates the strength, vulnerability, and complexity of one of the most emblematic figures of Italian theater.
"My Eleonora is my glory and my curse."
(G. D’Annunzio)
This movie was in the official competition of 82nd Venice International Film Festival 2025
