Luna
An opera diva's desperate struggle to save her heroin-addicted son spirals into taboo intimacy and a painful reckoning with hidden family history.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- anguished
- operatic
- claustrophobic
- serious cinephile viewing
- 1970s cinema exploration
What critics said
Critics recognized Jill Clayburgh's forceful performance but found the film's Freudian melodrama excessive, vulgar, and dramatically compromised.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Caterina's attempts to manage Joe's addiction lead to an incestuous relationship that reshapes their family conflict.
Caterina's identity as an opera diva and her concert commitments collide with her responsibilities toward Joe.
Joe's heroin addiction drives Caterina's desperate efforts to rescue him and exposes the family's emotional instability.
The film places Caterina amid Verdi performances and uses the emotional scale of opera to frame domestic and sexual crisis.
Films like Luna, and why
The Mother and the Whore
shared psychoanalytic family drama, taboo desire, and emotionally volatile parent child dynamics
The Night Porter
shared european art cinema style, sexual taboo, and psychologically fraught family relationships
The Piano Teacher
shared oedipal conflict, difficult mother son intimacy, and intense melodramatic performance style
Damage
shared destructive desire, emotional extremity, and european psychological melodrama
Movie Details
- Director
- Bernardo Bertolucci
- Release Date
- 1979-08-29
- Runtime
- 142 min
- Rating
- 6.3 / 10 (127)
Cast
- Jill Clayburgh
- Matthew Barry
- Veronica Lazăr
- Renato Salvatori
- Fred Gwynne
- Alida Valli
- Elisabetta Campeti
- Franco Citti
- Roberto Benigni
- Carlo Verdone
Common questions
- What is Luna about?
- An opera diva's desperate struggle to save her heroin-addicted son spirals into taboo intimacy and a painful reckoning with hidden family history.
- What is Luna like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Luna as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Luna violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Luna as mild.
- What did critics think of Luna?
- Critics recognized Jill Clayburgh's forceful performance but found the film's Freudian melodrama excessive, vulgar, and dramatically compromised.
- Which films are like Luna?
- Films with a similar feel include The Mother and the Whore, The Night Porter, The Piano Teacher, and Damage.
- How long is Luna?
- Luna runs 142 minutes.
