Puccini and Cinema

The exhibition “Puccini and the cinema”, on show at the Puccini Opera in the historical town centre of Lucca, is divided into two sections. The first exhibits a series of original fashion-plates, created by Jacques Costet in 1942, using the “croquis à la mine de plomb” technique, for the film “La Vie de Bohème” by Marcel L’Herbier. These are costume sketches in coloured pencil which deftly capture the spirit of Parisian youth, evoked by Henry Murger’s novel and Giacomo Puccini’s music. The second section exhibits a remarkable collection of original posters for films by the director Carmine Gallone, who between 1935 and 1956 worked on 10 films inspired by Puccini’s melodies and female protagonists.
All the material, previously unseen publically, comes from a private collection and has been kindly made available for the purposes of the exhibition. An essential contribution towards the preparation of the accompanying documentation was provided by the work of Pier Marco De Santi and his collaborators for the 2008 exhibition at the open-air Theatre in Torre del Lago.