Before It Had a Name is a 2005 film directed by Giada Colagrande and co-written by her and husband Willem Dafoe. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was retitled as The Black Widow when it was released on DVD. It marked the first time Dafoe had developed a project to the point of being shot as well as the first time Colagrande had written in English.[1]

Before It Had a Name
Film poster
Directed byGiada Colagrande
Written byGiada Colagrande
Willem Dafoe
Produced byBrian Bell
Rita Capasa
Randall Emmett
Frank Frattaroli
George Furla
Avi Lerner
StarringGiada Colagrande
Willem Dafoe
Seymour Cassel
CinematographyKen Kelsch
Brian Pryzpek
Edited byNatalie Cristiani
Production
companies
Bidou Pictures
Canary Films
Emmett/Furla Films
In Between Pictures
Millennium Films
Nu Image Films
Release date
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$450,000

Synopsis

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After her lover Karl dies, Eleonora goes to his New York estate known as 'The Rubber House' in hopes of learning about him. While there, she becomes involved with the property's strange caretaker, Leslie.

Principal cast

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Actor Role
Willem Dafoe Leslie
Giada Colagrande Eleonora
Seymour Cassel Jeff
Isaach de Bankolé Waiter
Emily Cass McDonnell Gail
Claudio Botosso Karl
Bari Hyman LP

Critical reception

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Boyd Van Hoei wrote in Cineuropa:

With its narrow focus on two people in a passionate relationship and its abundant use of metaphors, the film certainly has more in common with the intimate auteur dramas of the old continent than with new American cinema... Whatever the reaction of American audiences will be, Before It Had a Name is certainly amongst the most pleasing – and decidedly auteur – surprises of the Venice Days.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Before It Had a Name : In the name of love". Cineuropa. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
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