It was a face that launched a thousand fanatics – Björn Andrésen was dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world” by director Luchino Visconti, who had scoured Europe in search of the perfect Tadzio for his adaptation of Thomas Mann’s short story ‘Death in Venice’.
Andrésen’s waves of flaxen hair, dark eyes and prominent cheekbones captivated an audience across the world, from arthouse cinema lovers to Japanese manga artists, who saw him as the embodiment of ‘bishōnen’. This film by Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri offers a particularly moving insight into Andrésen’s personal history of tragedy, and the trauma inflicted by such limelight in his youth, a documentary piece that inspires real affection for its subject and exposes the ways abuse can be easily inflicted in stardom. (Subtitles) Sweden 2021 Kristina Lindström, Kristian Petri 93m
NB. Visconti’s ‘Death in Venice’ is showing on Sat 21 Aug.