Silent Life is an upcoming American silent drama film written and directed by Vlad Kozlov and starring
Isabella RosselliniIsabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
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Galina JovovichGalina Jovovich is an actress and the mother of Milla Jovovich. She was very famous in Soviet Union for her roles in movies, and then gained additional popularity for being an agent of her daugther Milla Jovovich. Now she is an actress playing in American and Russian movies...
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Monte MarkhamMonte Markham is an American actor. During his career, Markham has appeared in film, in television, and on Broadway.Markham was born in Manatee County, Florida, the son of Millie Content and Jesse Edward Markham, Sr., who was a merchant.Of his television roles, Markham is perhaps most famous for...
and Vlad Kozlov. The film is set in 1926 Hollywood and
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and focuses on the troubled life of
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
icon
Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
and explores topics of life, death and immortality in the retrospective of classic silent cinema.
Plot
This minimalist B/W silent short film depicts the last days of the famous film-icon of the 1920's, Rudolph Valentino. Having unsuccessfully undergone an operation to remove appendicitis Valentino develops peritonitis and slips into coma. While in the depths of his subconscious, Valentino has surrealistic visions of the last days of his life. Though he is passionately idolized by millions of women around the world, he is deeply unhappy in his private life. Valentino is deeply and hopelessly in love with his wife, who does not reciprocate his feelings. Though he has been dubbed "The Great Lover" and "The Sheik", he becomes submerged in obscurity and loneliness during his life. As he sees images from his life flash before him, he understands that fate, having given him fame and glory, has also taken from him the dearest and most important things in the life.
Cast
- Isabella Rossellini
Isabella Fiorella Elettra Giovanna Rossellini is an Italian actress, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and model. Rossellini is noted for her 14-year tenure as a Lancôme model, and for her roles in films such as Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her.-Background and early life:Rossellini is a...
as Gabriella Guglielmi-Valentino
- Galina Jovovich
Galina Jovovich is an actress and the mother of Milla Jovovich. She was very famous in Soviet Union for her roles in movies, and then gained additional popularity for being an agent of her daugther Milla Jovovich. Now she is an actress playing in American and Russian movies...
as Alla NazimovaAlla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...
- Monte Markham
Monte Markham is an American actor. During his career, Markham has appeared in film, in television, and on Broadway.Markham was born in Manatee County, Florida, the son of Millie Content and Jesse Edward Markham, Sr., who was a merchant.Of his television roles, Markham is perhaps most famous for...
as Doctor Meeker
- Vladislav Kozlov as Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
- Eugenia Platone as Pam
- Ksenia Jarova as Natacha Rambova
Natacha Rambova was an American silent film costume and set designer, artistic director, screenwriter, producer and occasional actress. Later in life she worked as a mildly successful fashion designer and Egyptologist....
- Stephen Nelson as Kazimir
Development
The project began as a black-and-white silent short film "DayDreams of Rudolph Valentino" in 2006. After two years of development, it expanded into an original feature film.
Production
Silent Life has been in production for four years. The film was filmed at prominent Hollywood historic locations, such as
James Oviatt BuildingThe James Oviatt Building, commonly referred to as The Oviatt Building, is an Art Deco highrise in Downtown Los Angeles located at 617 S. Olive Street, half a block south of 6th St. and Pershing Square. In 1983, the Oviatt Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places...
,
Million Dollar TheaterThe Million Dollar Theater at 307 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It opened in February 1918...
, where Rudolph Valentino hosted the Los Angeles premiere of his last iconic movie
Son of the Sheik in 1926 and
Hollywood Forever CemeteryHollywood Forever Cemetery, originally called Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles, California. It is located at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood...
, where he is buried. The cemetery also has acted as a co-production company.