''Scarlet Diva'' is a 2000 Italian film by actress and first-time director and screenwriter

Asia Argento Asia Argento (; born Aria Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento; 20 September 1975) is an Italian actress and filmmaker. The daughter of filmmaker Dario Argento, she has had roles in several of her father's features and achieved mainstream success with ...

Plot summary

''Scarlet Diva'' is a semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

film about the Italian actress and director Asia Argento's life as an actress. A self-destructive streak in Anna Battista (Argento) pulls her into drugs, sex and other excesses. To combat this descent, she attempts to fulfill her creative side by becoming a film director. Battista's attempts to realize her talent are thwarted by her desires and the uncaring responses of those around her. As part of her plans to become a director and bring her story to the screen, Battista travels to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

but only meets a shady film producer ( Joe Coleman). She falls in love with an uncaring Australian

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

star (Jean Sheperd), then finds out she is pregnant by him. But her life is still in disarray as she uses drugs to help herself feel better.

Cast

as Anna Battista **Gloria Pirrocco as Young Anna * Jean Sheperd as Kirk Vaines * Herbert Fritsch as Aaron Ulrich * Francesca D'Aloja as Margherita * Vera Gemma as Veronica Lanza * Daria Nicolodi as Anna's Mother * Selen as Quelou *

Leo Gullotta Salvatore Leopoldo "Leo" Gullotta (born 9 January 1946) is an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian and writer. Biography Born in Catania and the last of six children, Gullotta started his career as an extra in Teatro Massimo Bellini. In his long ...

as Dr. Vessi * Joe Coleman as Mr. Paar * Justinian Kfoury as J-Bird *

Schoolly D Jesse Bonds Weaver Jr. (born June 22, 1962), better known by the stage name Schoolly D (sometimes spelled Schooly D), is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Schoolly D teamed up with DJ Code Money in the mid-1980s. His ...

as Hash-Man * Leonardo Servadio as Young Alioscia *

Paolo Bonacelli Paolo Bonacelli (born 28 February 1937) is an Italian actor. He is best known for his performance as the Duke de Blangis in Pier Paolo Pasolini's final film, ''Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' (1975). He was in '' Midnight Express'' (1978) as t ...

as Swiss Journalist

Production

''Scarlet Diva'' was shot entirely on digital video, making it among the earliest feature films to be created with this technology. Though penetration isn't explicitly shown, Asia Argento revealed the sex scenes went way beyond acting. "It's true, the sex scenes are real. But I wasn't interested in penetration. I was interested in showing what the real sex did to the faces and the bodies of the actors," she said.

Harvey Weinstein reenactment scene

In October 2017, Argento revealed that the scene in which the producer tries to assault the main character is based on the alleged sexual assault on her by Harvey Weinstein, except "In the movie ..I ran away" according to Argento.

Reception and legacy

The film tied with two other films to win the Brooklyn Film Festival Award for Best New Director.SCARLET DIVA by Asia Argento - Narrative Feature Film @ Brooklyn Film Festival
/ref> A videocassette of the film can be seen on a shelf behind the counter in a video rental store in Dario Argento's film ''

Do You Like Hitchcock? ''Do You Like Hitchcock?'' (orig. ''Ti piace Hitchcock?'') is a 2005 made-for-TV giallo film directed by Dario Argento. The film is a homage to the acclaimed thriller film director Alfred Hitchcock. Plot Giulio, a film student, spies on Sasha, ...

References

External links

* 2000 films 2000s erotic drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s French-language films 2000s Italian-language films Films directed by Asia Argento Films set in the United States Italian erotic drama films 2000 directorial debut films 2000 drama films 2000 multilingual films Italian multilingual films Harvey Weinstein {{erotic-film-stub