Conversation Piece, A Film by Luchino Visconti (2013, the Fendi special edition)

A profusely illustrated study of Visconti's film, with 2 DVDs (the film plus extras)

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Printing Details

First edition, first printing. Special edition for Fendi, issued a year before the trade edition. Hardback in slipcase. 31 × 25.5cm, 264pp + 2 DVDs in pockets to the rear. The book is designed so the hardback cover binding is about a quarter shorter than the pages, leaving the top quarter exposed. A note to the copyright page reads "Can a Film Become a Book? Driven by Fendi’s spirit of experimentation, we have tried to turn this film into an object made of paper. Not just a container of images nor a set prop, but a book that, thanks to its shape and structure, can describe both the film’s world and its narrative. We identified in the cover of the book—a traditional one of reassuring proportions—the professor and his house, which together reluctantly host the family of Marchioness Brumonti, represented in the book by the block of text. An unusual family that was unabashedly trying to break away from the traditional canons of a country that in those years was undergoing radical change. Two elements—the cover and the block of text—between which no form of connection seems possible at first sight, but which in this film find harmony in the adroit storytelling of Maestro Visconti."

A lavish volume celebrating the award-winning classic film Conversation Piece, featuring the costumes designed by Fendi and including an exclusive DVD with a newly restored version of the film plus extras. Conceived by Visconti as a critique of the jet set similar to Fellini's La Dolce Vita, the film features a star-studded international cast including Burt Lancaster, Silvana Mangano, and Helmut Berger. The book showcases the beautiful set designs from the movie and the costumes designed by Fendi, and chronicles how pleased Visconti was with the designs for the film. It includes important documents and behind-the-scenes information about the creation of Silvana Mangano's chic costumes and the appearance of Fendi furs in several key scenes.

Features interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, Liliana Cavani, Anna Fendi, Carla Fendi, Enrico Medioli, Piero Tosi, Henry Bacon, Caterina D'Amico, Luca Guadagnino, and Maurizio Porro.

Condition

The book itself is in very good condition, though with a little sunning to the spine and light wear to the printed silver titling, there is a little creasing to the pages top corner of the exposed section. The slipcase also has some light rubbing, bumping and marking, and again with some light wear to the silver titling., but it has kept its integrity and protects the book well.