Isabella Rossellini - from star to snail

A very familiar face in the 1980s and 1990s, Isabella Rossellini seemed to have completely vanished from her usual stomping grounds: billboards and magazine ads and film.  I had followed her ignominious  replacement by Lancome as spokesperson for the brand on grounds that she was too old, ending a 10 year contract (1982-1992). Rossellini was quite vocal about her dismissal, 6 days after her 40th birthday: "I did not leave on my own. They hired a younger woman with raven hair to replace me." she told Vogue (http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/daily/2002-02/020226-rossellinis-old-news.aspx) and was told she should be happy to have lasted that long in the business!

Ironically, her daughter, Elettra Rossellini-Wiedemann is now on Lancome's payroll! Interesting family dynamics at play, I'm sure.

I saw Isabella Rossellini by chance in James Gray's film Two Lovers, starring with Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw.  I had a bit of a shock at first as I had not seen her on screen for a long time and confused her with her mother, Ingrid Bergman as age seemed to suddenly catch up with her.  All the same, I thought it was brave to show herself unadorned and rather dowdy.

Isabella Rossellini

Curious as to what she had been up too these past few years, I came across short films that she wrote and directed. She also stars in them. The series goes under the "Green Porno" title and is both highly comical and quite outrageous. The films explore the sexuality of insects (and sea creatures in the latest episodes) and are apparently scientifically correct. It is interesting to note that Rossellini tends to play male roles in the short films and take great delight in their bloody demise. The films are quite educational and pretty graphic - expect lots of squirming and embarrassment but I think they can be great fun for children to watch.  Here is the spider:



If you want more "Green Porn", here is the link to the Sundance channel:http://www.sundancechannel.com/greenporno/video/