The Betrothed | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mario Camerini |
Written by | Ivo Perilli Gabriele Baldini Mario Camerini |
Based on | The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni |
Produced by | Mario Camerini |
Starring | Gino Cervi Dina Sassoli Ruggero Ruggeri Armando Falconi |
Cinematography | Anchise Brizzi |
Edited by | Mario Serandrei |
Music by | Ildebrando Pizzetti |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Lux Film |
Release date |
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Running time | 112 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
The Betrothed (Italian: I Promessi Sposi) is a 1941 Italian historical drama film directed by Mario Camerini and starring Gino Cervi, Dina Sassoli and Ruggero Ruggeri. It is an adaptation of the 1827 novel The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni. The film's producers organised a competition to select the lead actress (eventually won by Sassoli) which was modelled on the hunt for Scarlett O'Hara by the American producer David O. Selznick for Gone With the Wind . [1] It belongs to the movies of the calligrafismo style.
It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios in Rome and on location around Como. The film's sets were created by the art directors Gastone Medin and Gino Brosio while the costumes were designed by Gino Sensani. The novel was turned into a film again in 1964 and a television miniseries in 1989.
In a small town on Lake Como, the peasants Renzo (short for Lorenzo) and Lucia love each other, but are hampered by the squire Don Rodrigo, who himself has designs on Lucia. By intimidation, he prevents the parish priest Don Abbondio from celebrating the wedding. The good Friar Cristoforo visits Don Rodrigo, but is unable to dissuade him. Since Don Rodrigo's in love with Lucia, he subsequently tries to kidnap her, but Friar Cristoforo helps Renzo and Lucia to escape across a lake. Lucia goes to Monza, to a convent, while Renzo heads to Milan, where he becomes involved in a popular unrest (caused by lack of bread). He narrowly escapes the authorities by giving a false name, after unwittingly revealing it. Lucia is kidnapped by a rich man, a friend of Don Rodrigo, after a female nun (of noble descent) at the convent is coerced into helping.
Lucia is brought to the castle of the Innominato (Nameless), a friend of Don Rodrigo, but he has second thoughts about his cruel action. In fact, the next day the Innominato visits Cardinal Federigo Borromeo and repents in his presence. He decides to set Lucia free, accompanied by the parish priest Don Abbondio, who is subsequently rebuked for his moral weakness. Meanwhile, a plague breaks out in Lombardy, and both Renzo and Lucia are involved in the scourge. Renzo finds Friar Cristoforo in a hospital at Milan, who preaches forgiveness, not revenge. The young man also sees Don Rodrigo, who was also hit by the plague, dying, and decides to forgive him. When Renzo finally finds and embraces Lucia, the two can at last get married (despite a vow she'd made to the contrary), because they are no longer oppressed. Friar Cristoforo is on hand to resolve the theological issues relating to the vow. As he prays, rain begins to fall.
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Antonio Manzoni was an Italian poet, novelist and philosopher. He is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. The novel is also a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the development of the modern, unified Italian language. Manzoni also contributed to the stabilization of the modern Italian language and helped to ensure linguistic unity throughout Italy. He was an influential proponent of Liberal Catholicism in Italy. His work and thinking has often been contrasted with that of his younger contemporary Giacomo Leopardi by critics.
Lecco is a city of approximately 47,000 inhabitants in Lombardy, Northern Italy, 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como. The Bergamo Alps rise to the north and east, cut through by the Valsassina of which Lecco marks the southern end.
The Betrothed is an Italian historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, first published in 1827, in three volumes, and significantly revised and rewritten until the definitive version published between 1840 and 1842. It has been called the most famous and widely read novel in the Italian language.
Francesco "Nino" Castelnuovo was an Italian actor of film, stage and television, best known for his starring role as Guy Foucher in the French musical film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964).
Piero Cappuccilli was an Italian operatic baritone. Best known for his interpretations of Verdi roles, he was widely regarded as one of the finest Italian baritones of the second half of the 20th century. He was enormously admired within the field of opera for his rich and abundant voice, fine vocal technique and exceptional breath control. In the great Italian tradition he fused words and music into elegant phrases. He focused on Italian repertory, particularly the operas of Verdi, singing 17 major roles.
Luigi Cervi, better known as Gino Cervi, was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character Don Camillo (1952–1965), and police detective Jules Maigret on the television series Le inchieste del commissario Maigret (1964–1972).
The Iron Crown is a 1941 Italian adventure film written and directed by Alessandro Blasetti, starring Massimo Girotti and Gino Cervi. The narrative revolves a sacred iron crown and a king who is prophesied to lose his kingdom to his nephew. It blends motifs from several European myths, legends and modern works of popular fiction. The film won a Coppa Mussolini award, which is the ancestor to the Golden Lion.
La monaca di Monza is a 1962 Italian film directed by Carmine Gallone. It stars Gabriele Ferzetti, Giovanna Ralli and Mario Feliciani. The film is about a young nobleman who seduces a nun, leading to the death of the man and the internment of the woman. The film is a drama but is laced with satire.
The Betrothed is a 1989 Italian television miniseries starring Burt Lancaster and Franco Nero. It was directed by Salvatore Nocita, based on the 19th-century historical novel of the same name by Alessandro Manzoni.
Antonio Varni was an Italian painter, painting vedute, historical, and genre pieces.
The Seven Cervi Brothers is a 1968 Italian drama film directed by Gianni Puccini. The film recounts the last days of life during the resistance of the anti-fascist Cervi Brothers. The director Puccini died a few months after the end of production. The film was long blocked by the Italian censorship.
Sister Virginia Maria was an Italian nun. She gave birth to two children fathered by a local aristocrat, and had connived in the murder of another nun to cover up the affair. This took place in Monza, in northern Italy, at the beginning of the 17th century. Following this scandal she became widely known as the Nun of Monza. Her life inspired one of the characters in Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed, which has also been dramatized several times. Mario Mazzucchelli's book The Nun of Monza (1963) presents a nonfictional account of Sister Viriginia's life, drawing upon historical records.
Evi Maltagliati was an Italian stage, television and film actress.
Mino Doro was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred films between 1932 and 1970. Doro generally played supporting and character roles. He appeared as a blackshirt in the 1934 Fascist propaganda film The Old Guard.
The Betrothed is a 1964 Italian-Spanish historical drama film directed by Mario Maffei and starring Gil Vidal, Maria Silva and Arturo Dominici. It is based on the 1827 novel The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni, one of three film adaptations made during the twentieth century.
The Betrothed is a 1923 Italian silent historical drama film directed by Mario Bonnard and starring Domenico Serra, Nini Dinelli and Emilia Vidali. It is an adaptation of the 1827 novel The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni.
The Monk of Monza is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Corbucci. It parodies the story of the Nun of Monza, as depicted in the Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed.
This is a list of Italian television related events from 1967.
The thought and poetics of the Italian poet, novelist and philosopher Alessandro Manzoni encompass the entirety of the writer's poetic, stylistic, linguistic ideas and ideological convictions as they evolved from his Jacobin and neoclassical beginnings until his death. After the neoclassical period, which saw Manzoni engage in odes and other poetic production until 1810, he joined the Romantic movement from that year, becoming one of its leading exponents. During the so-called Quindicennio creativo (1812-1827), Manzoni produced literary, poetic, theatrical, and nonfiction works that profoundly changed the genetics of Italian literature and his own literary language, imposing himself as a milestone in the history of Italian literature. Between 1827 and his death in 1873, Manzoni continued his research, writing historical-literary essays in contrast to his early ones and, at the same time, reflecting on the nature of the "living" Italian language in the context of the new Kingdom of Italy.
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