Story of My Death (2013) ( Història de la meva mort )

Story of My Death (2013) (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Història de la meva mort
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
144 min

Aspect Ratio:
Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Short Film
Booklet
Remastered

Movie filmed in 2013 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
Albert Serra

Written By:
Albert Serra

Actors:
Vicenç Altaió ..... Casanova
Lluís Serrat ..... Pompeu
Eliseu Huertas ..... Dràcula
Noelia Rodenas ..... Delfina
Clara Visa ..... Clar
Montse Triola ..... Carmen
Mike Landscape ..... Poeta
Lluís Carbó ..... Senyor
Clàudia Robert ..... Noia
Xavier Pau ..... Pare
Floarga Dootz ..... Mare
Rosa Tharrats ..... Noia
Sebastián Vogler ..... Jugador

Synopsis:

HONOR DE CAVALLERIA comprised a radically minimalist, near-plotless riff on DON QUIXOTE, while BIRDSONG applied a similar approach to the New Testament tale of the Three Kings. The new film continues in this vein of literary/historical appropriation, but this time engineers a meeting between two figures (one historical, one mythical): 18th-century author, adventurer, and womanizer Giacomo Casanova and the immortal (in more ways than one) Dracula. If this inspired, high-concept pairing suggests that Serra has abandoned his trademark absurdist minimalism, never fear: both Casanova and Dracula serve as a means for Serra to imagine and inhabit the world of the 18th century, which he depicts with the serene patience, wry wit, philosophical curiosity that made his previous films so singular and astonishing.

The idea of legendary Renaissance man Giacomo Casanova meeting Count Dracula may sound like the basis for campy satire. But in the hands of experimental filmmaker Albert Serra, the result is a subtle, engaging parable about the shift from Casanova's Age of Enlightenment to the darker, emotionally restless Romanticism of the 19th century, represented by the world's most famous vampire. Story of My Death focuses on the great lover's final days, spent with his manservant Pompeu (Lluís Serrat) and planning the final publication of his memoirs. Casanova is played with childlike amusement by Vicenç Altaió, as he eats, jokes, and giggles his way through philosophical monologues about desire, politics and society. On a trip to the mountains of Carpathia, Casanova meets yet more potential carnal conquests in the form of young peasant girls, but this time he has competition in the form of Dracula (Eliseu Huertas, in an understated performance). After these polar opposites meet, a tonal shift occurs and Casanova's celebratory romp through life becomes enveloped by the grotesque, irrational world of death as blood drawn by Dracula begins to flow. Shooting mostly in natural light and using non-professional actors, Serra creates an incredibly detailed and naturalistic film that also resembles classic chiaroscuro paintings; an absorbing, deeply unconventional meditation on the cycles of life, love, decay, and death.

In his dying days, Casanova lives solemnly with his servant in rainy, moody 18th century Europe. Before he dies he meets a dark force in the form of Dracula, and together they discuss life's greatest pleasures.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 27 May, 2020.