''The Empty Canvas'' is a 1963 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mere ...

. The

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

written by Damiani,

Tonino Guerra Antonio "Tonino" Guerra (16 March 1920 – 21 March 2012) was an Italian poet, writer and screenwriter who collaborated with some of the most prominent film directors in the world. Life and work Guerra was born in Santarcangelo di Romagna. Accor ...

and

Ugo Liberatore Ugo Liberatore (26 September 1927 – 21 June 2012) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He contributed to more than forty films since 1960. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberatore, Ugo 1927 ...

is based on the best-selling

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

''La noia'' by

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

. The film stars

Horst Buchholz Horst Werner Buchholz (4 December 1933 – 3 March 2003) was a German actor who appeared in more than 60 feature films from 1951 to 2002. During his youth, he was sometimes called "the German James Dean". He is perhaps best known in English- ...

Catherine Spaak Catherine Spaak (3 April 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a French-born Italian actress and singer who acted in mostly in Italian films with some Hollywood and international productions. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Il Sorpasso'' (1 ...

Isa Miranda Isa Miranda (born Ines Isabella Sampietro; 5 July 1909 – 8 July 1982) was an Italian actress with an international film career. Biography Miranda was born Ines Isabella Sampietro in Milan, the daughter of atreet car conductor in Mian. When s ...

and

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

Synopsis

Mediocre artist Dino is obsessed with young model Cecilia and distraught that she shares her sexual favors with him as well as with actor Luciani. In an effort to derail her plan to vacation in Capri with his rival, Dino proposes marriage, and when Cecilia rejects his offer, he invites her to join him at the Rome estate of his domineering mother, a wealthy American, so that he can seduce her with his glamorous lifestyle. Despairing that he will never have a monogamous relationship with her, Dino crashes his sportscar into a wall. While recovering in the hospital, he realizes that his feelings will never be reciprocated. When Cecilia returns from her trip assuming their liaison will continue, Dino announces that the affair is over.

Cast

- Dino *

- Cecilia *

- Dino's Mother *

- Cecilia's Mother *

Lea Padovani Lea Padovani (28 July 1920 – 23 June 1991) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 60 films between 1945 and 1990. She starred in the film '' Black Dossier'' which was entered into the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. Partial filmography ...

- Balestrieri's Widow *

Daniela Rocca Daniela Rocca (12 September 1937 – 28 May 1995) was an Italian actress, model and writer. Biography Rocca was born and raised in Acireale, a small town near Catania. She became Miss Catania in 1953, and was discovered by talent scouts after ...

- Rita *

Georges Wilson Georges Wilson (16 October 1921 – 3 February 2010) was a French film and television actor. He was the father of French actor Lambert Wilson. Biography Wilson was born in Champigny-sur-Marne, Seine (now Val-de-Marne) as the illegitimate s ...

- Cecilia's Father

Production credits

* Produced by

Carlo Ponti Carlo Fortunato Pietro Ponti Sr. (11 December 1912 – 9 January 2007) was an Italian film producer with more than 140 productions to his credit. Along with Dino De Laurentiis, he is credited with reinvigorating and popularizing Italian cinema ...

Joseph E. Levine Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film distributor, financier and producer. At the time of his death, it was said he was involved in one or another capacity with 497 films. Levine was responsible for the ...

* Original music by

Luis Enríquez Bacalov Luis Enríquez Bacalov (30 August 1933 – 15 November 2017) was an Argentine-born film composer. He learned music from Enrique Barenboim, father of Daniel Barenboim the conductor of the Berlin, and Chicago orchestras, and also Berta Sujovolsky ...

* Cinematography by

Roberto Gerardi Roberto Gerardi (18 October 1919 - 1995) was an Italian cinematographer. Born in Rome, Gerardi began his career as an assistant of Carlo Montuori, then pursued his career as an assistant operator of Anchise Brizzi, with whom he worked in one of th ...

* Art direction by

Carlo Egidi Carlo Egidi (20 May 1918 – 2 February 1989) was an Italian art director. He worked on the set design of more than sixty films during his career. One of his earliest credits was the neorealist ''Bitter Rice'' (1949).Ben-Ghiat p.256 Selected fi ...

Release

The film was shot with the principal actors speaking English and was dubbed into Italian for its release in Italy as ''La noia'' (''Boredom''). In France, the film was titled ''L'ennui et sa diversion, l'érotisme'' (''Boredom and Its Diversion, Eroticism''). A version of the film with its original English audio track was released in the United States by

Embassy Pictures Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution studio responsible for such fil ...

in 1964 as ''The Empty Canvas''.

Reception

In his review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', Howard Thompson observed that "under Damiano Damiani's studied direction, the incidents move in stilted, crabwise fashion ... Miss Davis ... is truly a sight, looking like a

Pekingese The Pekingese (also spelled Pekinese) is a breed of toy dog, originating in China. The breed was favored by royalty of the Chinese Imperial court as a companion dog, and its name refers to the city of Peking (Beijing) where the Forbidden City i ...

under a blonde bob and growling an atrocious

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

accent ... At times, especially under-scored by Miss Davis's withering expression and lava lingo, the picture's overripe sexuality is downright funny." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine called the film "one of those 'international' movie projects that appears to have been dreamed up by its principals ... in a spirit of reckless unity ... It is chiefly notable for the fun of watching Davis breast the New Wave plot with bitchy authority ... Stretched too far to be believable, ''Canvas'' is the kind of overdrawn foolishness that frequently proves diverting."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Empty Canvas, The 1963 films Italian drama films 1960s Italian-language films 1963 drama films Films set in Rome Films based on Italian novels Films based on works by Alberto Moravia Films directed by Damiano Damiani Films scored by Luis Bacalov Films produced by Carlo Ponti 1960s Italian films