Ivory's initial effort as a filmmaker was Venice: Theme and Variations, a documentary made as his master's thesis at the USC film school that, although only 28 minutes long, is rich in composition and aesthetic texture.
Cinematography
Every frame could hang in a museum. No, seriously.
Direction
Student film energy but make it obsessively refined.
Director
James Ivory
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ivory shot this on 16mm black-and-white stock while studying at USC, basically launching his career on a student budget and sheer visual ambition.
This predates the Merchant Ivory partnership by years, but you can already see the DNA: Europe, elegance, and an almost fetishistic attention to architectural detail.
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