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Duet for Cannibals

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Duet for Cannibals
Promotional release poster
Directed bySusan Sontag
Written bySusan Sontag
Starring
Production
company
Sandrews
Release date
Running time
105 minutes
CountrySweden
LanguageSwedish

Duet for Cannibals (Swedish: Duett för kannibaler) is a 1969 Swedish psychological drama film[1] written and directed by American writer Susan Sontag, in her directorial debut.[2] It stars Adriana Asti, Gösta Ekman, Lars Ekborg and Agneta Ekmanner.

Duet for Cannibals had its world premiere at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival.[3]

Cast

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Production

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Despite being a Swedish-language film, the screenplay for Duet for Cannibals was written in English by Sontag, who described herself as not being "competent" in Swedish.[4] It was then translated into Swedish for the Swedish actors.[4]

Reception

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Kevin Kelly of The Boston Globe described the film as "virtually devoid of any real dramatic sensibility [...] The film is unbelievable either as black parable or self-consciously disciplined pap."[5] Richard Roud of The Guardian praised its casting and the "richness of possible interpretations of the film", concluding: "Its originality of texture, its degree of visual invention, is remarkable, and not only for a first film. In short, Duet for Cannibals is a stunning achievement."[6]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 80% based on five reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10.[7]

In 2019, Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo gave the film a score of three out of four stars, concluding: "An interesting, if tonally inconsistent, experiment, it serves as an intriguing cinematic extension of its maker's more well-known written work."[2]

References

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  1. ^ Rowes, Barbara Gail (October 11, 1969). "Can a girl intellectual make it as a Swedish movie director?". The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. p. 77.
  2. ^ a b Cataldo, Jesse (November 16, 2019). "Review: Duet for Cannibals Is an Intriguing Mix of Pastiche and Parody". Slant. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  3. ^ Hudson, David (November 18, 2019). "Susan Sontag's Duet for Cannibals". Criterion.com. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Collins, William (September 28, 1969). "Two views of Sontag: English and Swedish". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  5. ^ Kelly, Kevin (March 14, 1971). "Film 'Duet for Cannibals' lacks dramatic sense". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 60.
  6. ^ Roud, Richard (November 28, 1969). "Eating people". The Guardian. London, England. p. 8.
  7. ^ "Duet for Cannibals". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
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