Carmelo Bene (1937–2002) was an Italian actor, director, writer and avant‑garde theatre and film practitioner, known for radical reinterpretations of classics and a distinctive declamatory vocal style.

Bene is publicly known for his experimental theatre and films, his confrontational reinterpretations of canonical works (Dante, Shakespeare, Wilde), and for privileging voice and theatricality over naturalistic representation. Reviews note his use of amplification and disruptive cinematic strategies.

DeBaser reviews celebrate Carmelo Bene's radical theatrical and cinematic work. Critics praise his magnetic vocal delivery and confrontational reinterpretations of classics. Salomè is framed as challenging and divisive; Lectura Dantis as reverent and revolutionary. The reviews value incomprehensibility as aesthetic strategy.

For:Readers and viewers interested in avant-garde theatre, experimental cinema, provocative performance and vocal/spoken-word art.

 When you listen to Bene’s voice, regardless of the texts he is reciting, you are enchanted.

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 "Cinema is mediation to unconsciousness, it cannot access the incomprehensible" (Carmelo Bene).

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 Bene is not only the core of the work, but he is "Salomè" in its entirety, he is "Salomè DI Carmelo Bene," a creature that cannot live without its creator, who took the liberty of subjugating a myth for his own use and pleasure.

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 "To which double do you refer when you speak of me?...It's time to start getting familiar with the language, you applaud the obvious...you are damned...but I do not challenge you, I do not see you! This Gentleman is one who detests you, cannot stand you...if only we were capable of hate, the only humanoid feeling. I do not speak to those who break my balls with being or with existence!"

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