Rebecca’s Night. An evening on the cinematic imagination of Benni Bosetto

The Public Program dedicated to the exhibition “Rebecca” by Benni Bosetto presents, on Friday March 13, “Rebecca’s Night”: a long evening — from 7.00 PM to 1.30 AM — devoted to some of the films that have influenced the artist’s work. The program features four films centered on houses inhabited by invisible presences, almost endowed with a life of their own — an imaginary world that lies at the origin of the exhibition’s concept, inspired by the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and conceived precisely as a house. Throughout the night, the artist will share with the audience her perspective on the films and how they have inspired her work.

The evening opens with the short film Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) by Maya Deren, a landmark work of American experimental cinema. Set almost entirely within a domestic space that becomes the stage for deep unease, the film transforms the house into a mental and unstable place, marked by doubles and enigmatic presences that lead the protagonist — played by the director herself — into a truly labyrinthine nightmare suspended between dream and reality.

The program continues with the film that gives the exhibition its title, Rebecca (1940), based on the novel of the same name by the English writer Daphne du Maurier and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine as Maxim de Winter and his second wife, whose first name is, significantly, never spoken. In fact, the true protagonist of the film is Manderley, the great aristocratic mansion overlooking the cliffs of Cornwall, still haunted by the presence of the first wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously a few years earlier.

It continues with One Week (1920) by Buster Keaton, a short film marked by a comic tone in which the house becomes the absolute protagonist. Built from a prefabricated kit, the home turns into an unpredictable and almost autonomous object, constantly escaping the control of its inhabitants—a young newlywed couple—giving rise to surreal and hilarious situations.

The evening concludes with La Belle et la Bête (1946) by Jean Cocteau, a film based on the famous European fairy tale. The love story, which highlights the importance of looking beyond appearances to discover inner beauty, unfolds in an enchanted setting: the Beast’s castle, where the candelabra are formed by human arms and the statues conceal bewitched souls. Here too, the domestic setting takes on the role of an active character in the narrative, helping to create an atmosphere suspended between reality and magic.

The films will be screened in their original language with Italian subtitles.
In collaboration with Filmmaker Associazione.

 

Free admission until full capacity, on a first-come, first-served basis. You may check in at the registration desk in the museum lobby starting at 6.00 PM.

Reservations are available for Membership Card holders while spots last—click here.
To validate your Member pass, please arrive at least 15 minutes before the event starts.

 

On Friday, 13 March, the exhibition “Rebecca” by Benni Bosetto will be open to the public until 6.30 PM, to allow for the event setup.