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Cast

Claudia Cardinale
as Sandra

Michael Craig
as Andrew

Jean Sorel
as Gianni

Renzo Ricci
as Gilardini

Fred Williams
as Pietro Fornari

Amalia Troiani
as Fosca

Marie Bell
as Mrs. Gilardini

Vittorio Manfrino

Renato Moretti

Paolo Pescini

Isacco Politi

Giovanni Rovini

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Critic Reviews for Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa

Audience Reviews for Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa

• Jan 08, 2015

  "Sandra" promises greatness with the presence of luscious Claudia Cardinale and director Luchino Visconti, but this sluggish tale unfortunately fails to deliver. Cardinale plays a jet-set beauty who returns to the lavish family mansion with her new husband, only to find some dark secrets re-emerge during the reunion. There's not much more to say about the story, which should tell you something about its thin development -- mostly, the action is just a lot of indoor talking and implied tension. There's also a remarkably grating piano piece recurring in the score. And while I rarely complain about old films not being in color, this is one case where I will -- the black-and-white cinematography poorly serves the home's opulent decor.
  

  Eric B Super Reviewer
• Oct 12, 2013

  With the party now over in Geneva, Sandra(Claudia Cardinale) is currently free to return to her home village in Italy with Andrew(Michael Craig), her American husband of a year, to put the family affairs in order. Frustratingly enough, they have to wait for her brother Gianni(Jean Sorel) to put in an apperance. Otherwise, he has been busy selling off the family heirlooms to support his lifestyle and writing of a book. On the other hand, he is happy to give Andrew a tour of the sights that includes an introduction to Dr. Pietro Formari(Fred Williams) who used to have a crush on Sandra while she stays behind to look through the family documents. "Sandra" is a beguilingly gothic tale consisting of all the necessary ingredients such as family, madness and sex. In introducing the movie, Gavin Smith remarked on the triangle at its heart while I would respectfully point out that the geometry is much more complex, with Sandra throwing off the orbits of the men around her with her ample charms. Politically, the movie is also about identity(Gianni and Sandra prominently wear Star of David's mostly to honor their father who died in Auschwitz) and how some of the characters have a problem adjusting to the new world order which is not necessarily due to provincialism as stated. This all happens in a country that is in ruins but what beautiful ruins.
  Walter M Super Reviewer

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