7.5
In 1971, due to the world premiere of Death in Venice, Italian director Lucino Visconti proclaimed his Tadzio as the world’s most beautiful boy. A shadow that today, 50 years later, weighs Björn Andrésen’s life.
Björn Andrésen
Self
Robine Román
Self - Björn Andrésen's Daughter
Annike Andresen
Self - Björn Andrésen's Sister
Jessica Vennberg
Self - Björn Andrésen's Girlfriend
Ann Lagerström
Self - Björn Andrésen's Childhood Friend (voice)
Miriam Sambol
Self - Governess (voice)
Silva Filmer
Self - Björn Andrésen's Mother's Friend
Margareta Krantz
Self - Casting Director (voice)
Max Seki
Self - Manager
Masatoshi Sakai
Self - Music Producer
Hajime Sawatari
Self - Photographer (voice)
Riyoko Ikeda
Self - Manga Artist
Johanna Lidén
Self - HR- Stockholm City Archive
Kristina Lindström
Narrator (voice)
Barbro Andrésen
Self - Björn Andrésen's Mother (archive footage)
Anne, Princess Royal
Self (archive footage)
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Self (archive footage)
Dagny Erixon
Self - Björn Andrésen's Grandmother (archive footage)
Mario Tursi
Self (archive footage)
Luchino Visconti
Self (archival footage)
Dirk Bogarde
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Silvana Mangano
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Nora Ricci
Tadzio's Governess (archive footage) (uncredited)
Director, Writer
Kristian Petri
Director, Writer
Kristina Lindström
May 30, 2022
7
If there ever were to be a story of not just how transitory beauty is, but of how shallow too - then it has to be this documentary film. Kristina Lindström starts us off in the grubby and filthy apartment of Björn Andrésen. His neighbours are threatening to have him evicted if he doesn't up his game... Who is he and why should we care? Well we are quickly taken back fifty years to auditions held by Luchino Visconti for his soon to be made "Death in Venice". He is looking to cast the part of "Tadzio" - the stunningly beautiful, angelic, young man who turns the head of just about everyone in this most romantic of cities - but especially that of Dirk Bogarde's "Gustav von Aschenbach". What now ensues is a tale of a young man who must learn quickly to deal with the discipline and adulation of fame; but also with it's fickleness and with the troughs that always follow the all-too-brief moments of joy and celebrity. Let's just say that this young man didn't have his tragedies and battles to seek as he aged and this film portrays honestly, though not unsympathetically, as he learned to cope and is still trying to cope now. It features plenty of archive actuality to give the narrative gravitas and authenticity - and offers a salutary warning about the volatility of life in and after a bright, bright spotlight.