THE NEW YORK TIMES: At 15, he played the muse to an ailing composer in Luchino Visconti’s film “Death in Venice.” He later said he’d felt sexualized by the director.
Bjorn Andresen, a Swedish actor who as a teenager played an ailing composer’s object of unrequited desire in the 1971 film “Death in Venice,” but who resented being objectified by the film’s director, Luchino Visconti, who called him “the most beautiful boy in the world,” died on Oct. 25 in Stockholm. He was 70.
The cause of death, in a hospital, was cancer, said his daughter, Robine Roman.
Mr. Andresen (pronounced “an-DRAY-son”) was 15 and had long blond hair and high cheekbones when he was cast as Tadzio, a Polish boy who visits Venice with his family, in Visconti’s adaptation of Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella.
Tadzio’s mere appearance bewitches the composer Gustav von Aschenbach, played in the film by Dirk Bogarde. They meet in an elevator, leaving Aschenbach spellbound as they lock eyes but do not speak. Aschenbach then follows Tadzio around the city and fantasizes about him as a kind of artistic and romantic muse, before growing sick and dying in a beach chair as he reaches toward the boy.
In his 1983 autobiography, “Dirk Bogarde: An Orderly Man,” Mr. Bogarde described Mr. Andresen as “the perfect Tadzio” and said that he had “an almost mystic beauty.”
But, he added, “the last thing that Bjorn ever wanted, I am certain, was to be in movies.” » | Richard Sandomir | Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Related video and links here.
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Monday, October 27, 2025
Björn Andrésen, Swedish Actor Who Starred in Death in Venice, Dies Aged 70
THE GUARDIAN: Actor who also starred in Midsommar and became a musician was nicknamed ‘the most beautiful boy in the world’ – a title he struggled with all his life
Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor best known for his breakout role in the 1971 film Death in Venice, has died aged 70.
At 15, Andrésen was cast in Italian director Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s novella, in which he played Tadzio, a beautiful boy with whom an older man, played by Dirk Bogarde, becomes obsessed.
Visconti called Andrésen “the most beautiful boy in the world” in the press, a title which stuck – much to the dismay of Andrésen, who would later speak of how his negative experience working with Visconti affected the rest of his life.
“I felt like an exotic animal in a cage,” he told the Guardian in 2003. Making the film had, he said in 2021, “screwed up my life quite decently”.
Andrésen’s death was announced on Sunday by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström, the co-directors of The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, a 2021 documentary about the actor.
Petri told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that Andrésen died on Saturday, while Lindström remembered him as “a brave person.” No cause of death was given. » | Sian Cain | Monday, October 27, 2025
‘Death in Venice screwed up my life’ – the tragic story of Visconti’s ‘beautiful boy’: Björn Andrésen was the striking child star of the classic film, the perfect embodiment of youthful beauty. Fifty years on, he is still haunted by the exploitation that continued long after filming »
Björn Andrésen, the Swedish actor best known for his breakout role in the 1971 film Death in Venice, has died aged 70.
At 15, Andrésen was cast in Italian director Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s novella, in which he played Tadzio, a beautiful boy with whom an older man, played by Dirk Bogarde, becomes obsessed.
Visconti called Andrésen “the most beautiful boy in the world” in the press, a title which stuck – much to the dismay of Andrésen, who would later speak of how his negative experience working with Visconti affected the rest of his life.
“I felt like an exotic animal in a cage,” he told the Guardian in 2003. Making the film had, he said in 2021, “screwed up my life quite decently”.
Andrésen’s death was announced on Sunday by Kristian Petri and Kristina Lindström, the co-directors of The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, a 2021 documentary about the actor.
Petri told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that Andrésen died on Saturday, while Lindström remembered him as “a brave person.” No cause of death was given. » | Sian Cain | Monday, October 27, 2025
‘Death in Venice screwed up my life’ – the tragic story of Visconti’s ‘beautiful boy’: Björn Andrésen was the striking child star of the classic film, the perfect embodiment of youthful beauty. Fifty years on, he is still haunted by the exploitation that continued long after filming »
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Bashar El-Assad: Power or Death
Dec 8, 2024 | This is the story of a man with two faces. The timid Doctor Bashar, who has long seduced the West and promised to move his country towards more democracy. And the terrible Mister Assad, dictator, who fights his own people in a civil war with hundreds of thousands of victims.
The terrible Mister Assad, dictator who fights his own people
Thanks to the testimonies of his relatives and former executives of the regime, the film tells the rise of a man who was not supposed to be president and deciphers a system that resembles that of the Mafia. With its godfathers, its settling of scores, and its billions in dirty money.
Bashar El-Assad received Syria as an inheritance from his father, Hafez El-Assad. He is the one who built this iron dictatorship that has held the country for nearly 50 years.
The film also explores the passionate ties that unite France and Syria. Leading French political figures, former ministers and diplomats, take us behind the scenes of this tumultuous relationship. A relationship that the story of Bashar El-Assad perfectly symbolises.
French presidents Jacques Chirac and then Nicolas Sarkozy initially considered him a valuable ally and rolled out the red carpet for him. Before bitterly regretting it.
Directed by Christophe Widemann
The terrible Mister Assad, dictator who fights his own people
Thanks to the testimonies of his relatives and former executives of the regime, the film tells the rise of a man who was not supposed to be president and deciphers a system that resembles that of the Mafia. With its godfathers, its settling of scores, and its billions in dirty money.
Bashar El-Assad received Syria as an inheritance from his father, Hafez El-Assad. He is the one who built this iron dictatorship that has held the country for nearly 50 years.
The film also explores the passionate ties that unite France and Syria. Leading French political figures, former ministers and diplomats, take us behind the scenes of this tumultuous relationship. A relationship that the story of Bashar El-Assad perfectly symbolises.
French presidents Jacques Chirac and then Nicolas Sarkozy initially considered him a valuable ally and rolled out the red carpet for him. Before bitterly regretting it.
Directed by Christophe Widemann
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Thursday, October 06, 2022
Last Persian Shah - Full Movie | Reupload
Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi would have been 100 years in October 2019. The Shah's story begins with good ideas and ideals and ends in bloody chaos.
On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance.
Directed By: Holger Preuße
On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance.
Directed By: Holger Preuße
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Sex, Revolution and Islam | Trailer | Coming Soon
Prince Andrew’s Newsnight Interview to Be the Subject of a New Film
THE GUARDIAN: Scoop to tell the behind-the-scenes story of the extraordinary BBC encounter which saw the Duke of York discuss his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in 2021. Photograph: Neil Hall/PA
A new film will tell the story of how producers at Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, secured and executed their interview with Prince Andrew.
According to Deadline, Scoop, which will begin shooting in November, is being written by Peter Moffat, whose previous credits include the Bryan Cranston series Your Honor and the 2004 film Hawking, which won acclaim for star Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Hawking.
It is adapted from Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, a nonfiction book which gives insider information on how some of the broadcaster’s keynote interviews came about. » | Catherine Shoard | Thursday, July 14, 2022
A new film will tell the story of how producers at Newsnight, the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme, secured and executed their interview with Prince Andrew.
According to Deadline, Scoop, which will begin shooting in November, is being written by Peter Moffat, whose previous credits include the Bryan Cranston series Your Honor and the 2004 film Hawking, which won acclaim for star Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Hawking.
It is adapted from Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews, a nonfiction book which gives insider information on how some of the broadcaster’s keynote interviews came about. » | Catherine Shoard | Thursday, July 14, 2022
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
The Last Persian Shah | Full Movie
Feb 25, 2021 • Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi would have been 100 years in October 2019. “The Shah's story begins with good ideas and ideals and ends in bloody chaos”.
On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance.
Directed By: Holger Preuße
On the one hand, he helped carry Iran into modernity. His wealth was legendary, and his marriages made tabloid headlines for years. However, his name also stands for a time of human rights violations, vicious oppression and intolerance.
Directed By: Holger Preuße
Sunday, January 16, 2022
Krieg der Träume (2/4) – Versprechen | Serie Reupload | ARTE
Jan 8, 2022 • Der Weltwirtschaftskrise folgt die Massenarbeitslosigkeit und die Weimarer Republik ums Überleben. Ständig wechselnde Regierungen werden zwischen Extremisten von Links und Rechts zerrieben. Kommunisten und Nationalsozialisten liefern sich blutige Straßenschlachten. Am 30. Januar 1933 wird Adolf Hitler zum Reichskanzler ernannt.
Die Massenarbeitslosigkeit infolge der Weltwirtschaftskrise erreicht 1932 ihren Höhepunkt. In Deutschland kämpft die Weimarer Republik ums Überleben. Am 30. Januar 1933 wird Adolf Hitler zum Reichskanzler ernannt. Der Reichstagsbrand Ende Februar 1933 dient dem Regime als Vorwand für die Zerschlagung der KPD. Jüdische Bürger sehen sich massiven Repressalien ausgesetzt. Hans Beimler ist 1932 für die KPD in den Reichstag eingezogen. Doch nach dem Reichstagsbrand muss er abtauchen. Beimler wird verraten und in das KZ Dachau verschleppt. Dort wird er brutal gefoltert. Die Lage scheint aussichtslos, doch dann bietet sich eine Chance zur Flucht. Rudolf Höß hat geheiratet, eine Familie gegründet und lebt als Landarbeiter in Pommern. Er übernimmt die Führung des völkischen Artamanen-Bundes vor Ort. Da begegnet er Heinrich Himmler, der ihn für die SS-Totenkopfverbände gewinnt. Wenig später tritt Höß eine Stelle als Aufseher im KZ Dachau an. Nach erfolgreichen Jahren in Hollywood hat Pola Negri in der Weltwirtschaftskrise ihr Vermögen verloren. Auch ihr erster Tonfilm ist ein Flop. Die deutsche Filmindustrie will den ehemaligen Star für deutsche Produktionen gewinnen. Trotz Warnungen ihres Vertrauten Ernst Lubitsch lässt sich Pola Negri auf das Geschäft ein. Unity Mitford, Tochter einer britischen Adelsfamilie, schwärmt für Adolf Hitler. Sie gehört zu der wachsenden Gruppe von Briten, die sich für den Faschismus begeistern – im Gegensatz zu ihrer jüngeren Schwester Jessica, die eine überzeugte Kommunistin ist. Ihr Vater, Lord Redesdale, erlaubt Unity eine Reise nach Deutschland.
Dokureihe, Regie: Jan Peter und Frédéric Goupil (D 2018, 52 Min)
Video auf Youtube verfügbar bis zum 11/02/2022
Teil 1 kann man hier anschauen.
Die Massenarbeitslosigkeit infolge der Weltwirtschaftskrise erreicht 1932 ihren Höhepunkt. In Deutschland kämpft die Weimarer Republik ums Überleben. Am 30. Januar 1933 wird Adolf Hitler zum Reichskanzler ernannt. Der Reichstagsbrand Ende Februar 1933 dient dem Regime als Vorwand für die Zerschlagung der KPD. Jüdische Bürger sehen sich massiven Repressalien ausgesetzt. Hans Beimler ist 1932 für die KPD in den Reichstag eingezogen. Doch nach dem Reichstagsbrand muss er abtauchen. Beimler wird verraten und in das KZ Dachau verschleppt. Dort wird er brutal gefoltert. Die Lage scheint aussichtslos, doch dann bietet sich eine Chance zur Flucht. Rudolf Höß hat geheiratet, eine Familie gegründet und lebt als Landarbeiter in Pommern. Er übernimmt die Führung des völkischen Artamanen-Bundes vor Ort. Da begegnet er Heinrich Himmler, der ihn für die SS-Totenkopfverbände gewinnt. Wenig später tritt Höß eine Stelle als Aufseher im KZ Dachau an. Nach erfolgreichen Jahren in Hollywood hat Pola Negri in der Weltwirtschaftskrise ihr Vermögen verloren. Auch ihr erster Tonfilm ist ein Flop. Die deutsche Filmindustrie will den ehemaligen Star für deutsche Produktionen gewinnen. Trotz Warnungen ihres Vertrauten Ernst Lubitsch lässt sich Pola Negri auf das Geschäft ein. Unity Mitford, Tochter einer britischen Adelsfamilie, schwärmt für Adolf Hitler. Sie gehört zu der wachsenden Gruppe von Briten, die sich für den Faschismus begeistern – im Gegensatz zu ihrer jüngeren Schwester Jessica, die eine überzeugte Kommunistin ist. Ihr Vater, Lord Redesdale, erlaubt Unity eine Reise nach Deutschland.
Dokureihe, Regie: Jan Peter und Frédéric Goupil (D 2018, 52 Min)
Video auf Youtube verfügbar bis zum 11/02/2022
Teil 1 kann man hier anschauen.
Krieg der Träume (1/4) – Crash | Serie Reupload | ARTE
Jan 7, 2022 • In den Goldenen Zwanzigern wächst die Schere zwischen Arm und Reich. Ende 1927 kommt ein neues Finanzprodukt aus Amerika nach Europa: der Konsumentenkredit. Die Menschen kaufen massenhaft auf Pump und spekulieren mit Aktien. Mit dem Schwarzen Freitag 1929 zerplatzt der Traum vom Aufschwung. Banken, Warenhäuser und Betriebe brechen zusammen.
Während eine kleine Oberschicht die Goldenen Zwanziger genießt, leben in den Armenvierteln Millionen Menschen im Elend. Nach dem Schwarzen Freitag 1929 brechen Banken zusammen, es folgen Warenhäuser und Betriebe. Der Geschäftsmann Marcel Jamet eröffnet in Paris das Edelbordell „One Two Two“, das zum Treffpunkt von Politikern, Militärs und internationalen Stars wird. Als sich einer seiner Geldgeber das Leben nimmt, muss er mit dem Geheimdienst kooperieren, um sein Bordell durch die Wirtschaftskrise zu bringen. Hans Beimler kommt aus dem Gefängnis und engagiert sich erneut für den Kommunismus. Er verliebt sich in eine junge Genossin. Beimlers Frau Magdalena begeht Selbstmord, die Partei nimmt ihm daraufhin beide Kinder weg. Elise Ottesen ist inzwischen Schwedens bekannteste Kämpferin für sexuelle Aufklärung und Frauenrechte. Sie hält landesweit Vorträge über Sexualität und Empfängnisverhütung. Sie hat Erfolg. Doch dann beginnt ihr langjähriger Lebensgefährte eine Affäre mit der 18-jährigen Alfa. Silvio Crespi ist es gelungen, sein Firmenimperium weiter auszubauen – mit Hilfe hoher Kredite. Infolge der massiven Aufwertung der Lira durch Mussolini brechen aber die Exporte ein. Ein Großauftrag der Regierung bringt noch einmal Hoffnung. Doch dann fordern die Banken den Kredit zurück. Die Österreicherin Edith Wellspacher wird als eine der ersten Frauen in Wien zum Medizinstudium zugelassen. Sie erträgt die Anfeindungen durch Mitstudenten und Professoren und hungert oft tagelang, um das Studium finanzieren zu können. Da begegnet sie dem jüdischen Assistenzarzt Max Wachstein.
Dokureihe, Regie: Jan Peter und Frédéric Goupil (D 2018, 52 Min)
Video auf Youtube verfügbar bis zum 11/02/2022
Dieses Video ist altersbeschränkt. Es ist daher nur auf YouTube verfügbar. Hier ist ein Link dazu.
Während eine kleine Oberschicht die Goldenen Zwanziger genießt, leben in den Armenvierteln Millionen Menschen im Elend. Nach dem Schwarzen Freitag 1929 brechen Banken zusammen, es folgen Warenhäuser und Betriebe. Der Geschäftsmann Marcel Jamet eröffnet in Paris das Edelbordell „One Two Two“, das zum Treffpunkt von Politikern, Militärs und internationalen Stars wird. Als sich einer seiner Geldgeber das Leben nimmt, muss er mit dem Geheimdienst kooperieren, um sein Bordell durch die Wirtschaftskrise zu bringen. Hans Beimler kommt aus dem Gefängnis und engagiert sich erneut für den Kommunismus. Er verliebt sich in eine junge Genossin. Beimlers Frau Magdalena begeht Selbstmord, die Partei nimmt ihm daraufhin beide Kinder weg. Elise Ottesen ist inzwischen Schwedens bekannteste Kämpferin für sexuelle Aufklärung und Frauenrechte. Sie hält landesweit Vorträge über Sexualität und Empfängnisverhütung. Sie hat Erfolg. Doch dann beginnt ihr langjähriger Lebensgefährte eine Affäre mit der 18-jährigen Alfa. Silvio Crespi ist es gelungen, sein Firmenimperium weiter auszubauen – mit Hilfe hoher Kredite. Infolge der massiven Aufwertung der Lira durch Mussolini brechen aber die Exporte ein. Ein Großauftrag der Regierung bringt noch einmal Hoffnung. Doch dann fordern die Banken den Kredit zurück. Die Österreicherin Edith Wellspacher wird als eine der ersten Frauen in Wien zum Medizinstudium zugelassen. Sie erträgt die Anfeindungen durch Mitstudenten und Professoren und hungert oft tagelang, um das Studium finanzieren zu können. Da begegnet sie dem jüdischen Assistenzarzt Max Wachstein.
Dokureihe, Regie: Jan Peter und Frédéric Goupil (D 2018, 52 Min)
Video auf Youtube verfügbar bis zum 11/02/2022
Monday, June 21, 2021
‘I Am Very Shy. It’s Amazing I Became a Movie Star’: Leslie Caron at 90 on Love, Art and Addiction
Leslie Caron and her companion, Jack, greet me at the front of their apartment. They make a well-matched couple – slight, chic, immaculately coiffured. Caron, the legendary dancer and actor, is 90 in two weeks’ time. Jack, her beloved shih tzu, is about nine.
Caron heads off to make the tea, with Sidney Bechet’s summery jazz playing in the background. I am left alone with Jack to explore the living room. It feels as if I am tunnelling through the history of 20th-century culture. Here is a photo of a pensive François Truffaut; below is a smirking Warren Beatty. The centrepiece on the wall is a huge watercolour of Caron’s great friend Christopher Isherwood, painted by his partner, Don Bachardy. To the left is Louis Armstrong, to the right Rudolf Nureyev, with whom she starred in 1977’s Valentino, and further along is Jean Renoir, who she says was like a father to her. And we have barely started.
Caron leads me into her magnificent garden, long and thin as a cricket wicket. “What do you think?” she says, with undisguised pride at her handiwork. She points out the petunias, geraniums, forget-me-nots and a solitary rose trailing on the wall. The pots, some of them almost as big as she is, line up like a military tattoo. “The rose came out in the night. Fabulous.” She licks her lips. » | Simon Hattenstone | Monday, June 21, 2021
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
’Breaking Bread’ Australian Trailer
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Sunday, March 05, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Saudi Arabia Furious over Iran 'Mohammed' Movie
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| Saudi Arabia's King Salman |
Saudi Arabia's top cleric hit out at Iranian film "Mohammad" on Wednesday describing its portrayal of the founder of Islam's childhood as a "hostile act" and a "distortion" of Islam.
Iran's most expensive movie, which opened nationwide in the Shiite Islamic republic last week, depicts the Muslim prophet on screen, an act that is prohibited in Sunni Islam.
"This is an obscene work... It is a distortion of Islam," Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh told Al-Hayat newspaper. "It is a hostile act against Islam.
"This is a mockery of the prophet and a degradation of his status," he said. » | Arutz Sheva Staff | AFP contributed to this report | Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Related »
Monday, August 31, 2015
Can Iranian Movie 'Muhammad' Alter Islam's Violent Image?
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| Filmmaker Majidi: 'I decided to make this film to fight against the new wave of Islamophobia in the West' |
"The more movies that are made about the prophet's life, the better," said Majid Majidi, the director of the high-budget biopic "Muhammad: Messenger of God" at Montreal's world film festival on Friday, August 28. The first part of the planned trilogy, which opened to packed cinema houses in Iran on August 27, captures the time before the birth of the prophet more than 1,400 years ago, and his childhood.
The acclaimed Iranian director, famous for his film "Children of Heaven," has taken pains to show the "rightful image of Islam." The 171-minute movie, which premiered both in Iran and internationally last week, cost the Oscar-nominated director $40 million (36 million euros) and seven years of hard work. But will he be able to alter the tainted image of Islam and its prophet through his movie? » | Shamil Shams | Monday, August 31, 2015
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.
As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria. Vulnerable and alone in a strange land, she endures the typical ordeals of a teenager. In addition, Marjane has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape. Over time, she gains acceptance, and even experiences love, but after high school she finds herself alone and horribly homesick.
Though it means putting on the veil and living in a tyrannical society, Marjane decides to return to Iran to be close to her family. After a difficult period of adjustment, she enters art school and marries, all the while continuing to speak out against the hypocrisy she witnesses. At age 24, she realizes that while she is deeply Iranian, she cannot live in Iran. She then makes the heartbreaking decision to leave her homeland for France, optimistic about her future, shaped indelibly by her past.
Related »
Nabil Karoui was charged over the decision by his Nessma television station to broadcast the award-winning animated film "Persepolis."
The film, about a girl growing up in Iran, includes a scene depicting Allah, which is forbidden in Islam. an escalating series of protests against the station's broadcast of "Persepolis" on October 7.
The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran's 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam.
Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas at some demonstrators as some of the protests against the station degenerated. » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Thursday, May 03, 2012
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