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Duse

Play trailer Poster for Duse 2025 2h 3m Biography History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 15 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
After decades on stage, Eleonora Duse looks back on a legendary career that seems to have run its course. But in the savage days between World War I and the rise of Fascism, the Divine Duse heeds a call stronger than any resignation and returns to where her life began: the stage. It is not only the desire to act that drives her, but a deep urgency: the need to reaffirm herself in a world that is inexorably changing and that threatens to take everything away from her, including the financial independence she has won with her life's work. Once again, Eleonora chooses theater as the only refuge for truth and resistance. Armed only with her art, she defies time and disenchantment, transforming every word and every gesture into a revolutionary act. But the price of holding up beauty against the brutality of power and history is high. Relationships seem to dissolve, and her health worsens. Yet Eleonora will face her last journey convinced that one can give up life itself, but never one’s true nature.

Critics Reviews

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Sophie Monks Kaufman Little White Lies Sep 3
The film unfolds via a series of vignettes that have a tendency to go into convoluted details, labouring every beat of meandering conversations between peripheral characters. Go to Full Review Blake Simons IndieWire Sep 3
C+
It is hard to understand someone or grow sympathy for them when they won't stop yelling at you, and when all the world's a maximalist stage for the ensemble of "Duse," an emotional response is hard to elicit. Go to Full Review Marshall Shaffer Slant Magazine Sep 3
3/4
For Pietro Marcello, the only responsible art in times of need is a responsive art. Go to Full Review James Mottram Radio Times Nov 11
4/5
Bruni Tedeschi is a force of nature throughout, making this - despite Duse's relative obscurity - a highly watchable, resonantly staged tale. Go to Full Review Marcelo Paredes Cinencuentro Nov 3
Duse is a difficult, excessive, and at times exasperating film, but also profoundly human. I understand those who find it exhausting, but I believe its greatness lies in that intensity. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Hector A. Gonzalez InSession Film Oct 23
C
Throughout Duse, you feel Marcello’s admiration for the theater legend... However, the picture is quite contrived in its approach to tell this part of Duse’s life. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Lanfranco C @Lanfrancobz Sep 24 The sunset and the illness of a great actres See more Read all reviews
Duse

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Cast & Crew

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Pietro Marcello

Director

Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Eleonora Duse

Fanni Wrochna

Désirée Von Wertheimstein

Noémie Merlant

Enrichetta Checchi

Fausto Russo Alesi

Gabriele D'Annunzio

Edoardo Sorgente

Actor
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Duse

Duse (2025) Duse (2025) Duse (2025) Duse (2025) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis After decades on stage, Eleonora Duse looks back on a legendary career that seems to have run its course. But in the savage days between World War I and the rise of Fascism, the Divine Duse heeds a call stronger than any resignation and returns to where her life began: the stage. It is not only the desire to act that drives her, but a deep urgency: the need to reaffirm herself in a world that is inexorably changing and that threatens to take everything away from her, including the financial independence she has won with her life's work. Once again, Eleonora chooses theater as the only refuge for truth and resistance. Armed only with her art, she defies time and disenchantment, transforming every word and every gesture into a revolutionary act. But the price of holding up beauty against the brutality of power and history is high. Relationships seem to dissolve, and her health worsens. Yet Eleonora will face her last journey convinced that one can give up life itself, but never one’s true nature.
Director
Pietro Marcello
Producer
Carlo Degli Esposti, Nicola Serra, Marco Grifoni, Benedetta Cappon
Screenwriter
Letizia Russo, Pietro Marcello, Guido Silei, Letizia Russo, Guido Silei, Pietro Marcello
Production Co
Palomar, Avventurosa
Genre
Biography, History, Drama
Original Language
Italian
Runtime
2h 3m