Carmelo Bene

Born

September 3, 1937

Died

March 16, 2002 (64 years old)

Known For

Acting

Place of Birth

Campi Salentina, Lecce, Italia

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

È severamente vietata la sosta in palcoscenico ai non autorizzati. Un documentario di meno su Carmelo Bene

È severamente vietata la sosta in palcoscenico ai non autorizzati. Un documentario di meno su Carmelo Bene

Himself (archive footage)

0.0

2024

The Last Days of Humanity

The Last Days of Humanity

Self (archive footage)

7.6

2023

BENE! Vita di Carmelo, la macchina attoriale

BENE! Vita di Carmelo, la macchina attoriale

7.5

2022

Tracce di Bene

Tracce di Bene

Self

0.0

2017

Lorenzaccio, al di là di de Musset e Benedetto Varchi

Lorenzaccio, al di là di de Musset e Benedetto Varchi

0.0

2003

Necro not(to b)e

Necro not(to b)e

Sé stesso

0.0

2003

Otello o la deficienza della donna

Otello o la deficienza della donna

1.0

2002

Pinocchio, ovvero lo spettacolo della Provvidenza

Pinocchio, ovvero lo spettacolo della Provvidenza

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

7.4

1999

Voce dei Canti

Voce dei Canti

0.0

1998

Macbeth Horror Suite

Macbeth Horror Suite

0.0

1997

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

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

0.0

1997

Carmelo nei Canti Orfici

Carmelo nei Canti Orfici

Himself

0.0

1996

Ai Rotoli

Ai Rotoli

Self

0.0

1996

Cos'è il teatro?!

Cos'è il teatro?!

Himself

0.0

1990

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

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

Amleto

4.0

1990

L'Adelchi di Alessandro Manzoni in forma di concerto

L'Adelchi di Alessandro Manzoni in forma di concerto

0.0

1985

Le tecniche dell'assenza

Self

0.0

1984

Manfred, versione per concerto in forma di oratorio

Manfred, versione per concerto in forma di oratorio

0.0

1983

La poesia dimenticata

La poesia dimenticata

0.0

1982

Riccardo III

Riccardo III

Riccardo III

0.0

1981

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

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

0.0

1980

Amleto di Carmelo Bene (da Shakespeare a Laforgue)

Amleto di Carmelo Bene (da Shakespeare a Laforgue)

Amleto

6.5

1978

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

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

0.0

1977

Claro

Claro

5.0

1975

One Hamlet Less

One Hamlet Less

Hamlet

7.3

1973

Ventriloquio

Ventriloquio

Jean des Esseintes

0.0

1973

Salomé

Salomé

Erode Antipa / Onorio

7.0

1972

Tre nel mille

Tre nel mille

Pannocchia

6.0

1971

Necropolis

Necropolis

4.7

1970

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

5.1

1970

Red Hot Shot

Red Hot Shot

Billy Desco

4.0

1970

Capricci

Capricci

Poet

5.8

1969

Umano non umano

Umano non umano

Self

6.5

1969

Our Lady of the Turks

Our Lady of the Turks

The Protagonist

6.5

1968

Hermitage

Hermitage

The Man

7.2

1968

Catch As Catch Can

Catch As Catch Can

Prete

5.8

1967

Oedipus Rex

Oedipus Rex

Creonte

6.8

1967

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

0.0

1967

Bis

Bis

0.0

1966

Un'ora prima di Amleto, più Pinocchio

Un'ora prima di Amleto, più Pinocchio

Himself

0.0

1965