Before It Had a Name
| Before It Had a Name | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Giada Colagrande |
| Produced by | Brian Bell Rita Capasa Randall Emmett Frank Frattaroli George Furla Avi Lerner |
| Written by | Giada Colagrande Willem Dafoe |
| Starring | Giada Colagrande Willem Dafoe Seymour Cassel |
| Cinematography | Ken Kelsch Brian Pryzpek |
| Edited by | Natalie Cristiani |
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Production
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Release dates
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September 2005 (Venice Film Festival |
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Running time
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101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $450,000 |
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]
Synopsis
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
| 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
Boyd Van Hoei wrote in Cine Europa:
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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]
