The Empty Canvas

The Empty Canvas is a 1963 Italian drama film directed by Damiano Damiani. The screenplay written by Damiani, Tonino Guerra and Ugo Liberatore is based on the best-selling novel La noia by Alberto Moravia. The film stars Horst Buchholz, Catherine Spaak, Isa Miranda and Bette Davis.

This article is about the 1963 film. For empty canvases, see Emptiness (disambiguation).
The Empty Canvas
Italian film poster
Directed byDamiano Damiani
Screenplay byDamiano Damiani
Tonino Guerra
Ugo Liberatore
Based onLa Noia by Alberto Moravia
Produced byCarlo Ponti
StarringBette Davis
Horst Buchholz
Catherine Spaak
CinematographyRoberto Gerardi
Edited byRenzo Lucidi
Music byLuis Bacalov
Production
company
Compagnia Cinematografica Champion Les Films Concordia
Distributed byEmbassy Pictures
Release date
4 December 1963
Running time
105 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguagesItalian
English

Synopsis

Mediocre artist Dino is obsessed with young model Cecilia and distraught that she shares her sexual favors with him as well as with actor Luciani. In an effort to derail her plan to vacation in Capri with his rival, Dino proposes marriage, and when Cecilia rejects his offer, he invites her to join him at the Rome estate of his domineering mother, a wealthy American, so that he can seduce her with his glamorous lifestyle. Despairing that he will never have a monogamous relationship with her, Dino crashes his sportscar into a wall. While recovering in the hospital, he realizes that his feelings will never be reciprocated. When Cecilia returns from her trip assuming their liaison will continue, Dino announces that the affair is over.

Cast

Production credits

Release

The film was shot with the principal actors speaking English and was dubbed into Italian for its release in Italy as La noia (Boredom). In France, the film was titled L'ennui et sa diversion, l'érotisme (Boredom and Its Diversion, Eroticism).

A version of the film with its original English audio track was released in the United States by Embassy Pictures in 1964 as The Empty Canvas.

Reception

In his review in The New York Times, Howard Thompson observed that "under Damiano Damiani's studied direction, the incidents move in stilted, crabwise fashion ... Miss Davis ... is truly a sight, looking like a Pekingese under a blonde bob and growling an atrocious Southern accent ... At times, especially under-scored by Miss Davis's withering expression and lava lingo, the picture's overripe sexuality is downright funny."[1]

Time magazine called the film "one of those 'international' movie projects that appears to have been dreamed up by its principals ... in a spirit of reckless unity ... It is chiefly notable for the fun of watching Davis breast the New Wave plot with bitchy authority ... Stretched too far to be believable, Canvas is the kind of overdrawn foolishness that frequently proves diverting."[2]

See also

References
  1. "Movie Review - Screen: Moravia's 'The Empty Canvas':Filmed in Italy, Movie Stars Bette Davis - NYTimes.com". movies.nytimes.com.
  2. "Cinema: Existential Momism". 17 April 1964. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012 – via www.time.com.
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