Director: Mario Caserini
Year: 1913
Country:
Italy
Rating: 5.0
The most amazing thing about this film is that
it still exists. Over 110 years ago and we can still watch it today in the
comfort of our home. And it is in fairly good condition. There have been
numerous versions of this film - based very loosely on the 1834 novel by
Bulwer-Lytton. This one produced in Italy in 1913 wasn't even the first -
there was one in 1900 and one in 1908 - though they were not feature films.
This one coming in at 88 minutes was very unusual for the time - as was its
epic nature. Italy back in the silent days was a major player in cinema -
producing the epic costume films, Peplums, comedies and dramas. Intertitles
were easy to change in different countries and films were global. What they
didn't really have in 1913 was great special effects of course, but they
were not far off. What is also interesting in this film is that there was
not one single close-up. The best thing about silent films for me are the
magnificent close-ups of the stars - this was all shot from a distance with
one camera and it gets a bit dull.
Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79AD with the
energy of the atomic bombs that hit Hiroshima - it spewed tons of toxic material
into the air and then the lava came. Just the other day they uncovered a
couple holding each other. The population of the town and the surrounding
area was about 20,000 - very few made it out alive. When you watch this film,
you know nearly everyone is doomed. There are still dramatics - an Egyptian
High Priest desires Jone, the lover of Glaucus - a refined man as the film
says. After the Priest attempts to rape her, he instead through a blind woman
in love with Glaucus persuades her that he is giving her a love potion when
in fact it makes him go crazy.
Framed for a murder, he is sent to the colosseum
- which has thousands of extras - to be fed to the lions. But good news.
Vesuvius explodes! This is the money shot - what we came for - and we keep
waiting and waiting - and waiting. With about ten minutes to go it happens
- basically smoke and a few falling columns - but back in 1913 this must
have been thrilling. Not so much anymore. I read that the Italian epic films
(this, Cabiria and Quo Vadis) influenced D.W. Griffith to go from shorts
to features. Close-ups had been used going back to English filmmaker George
Albert Smith in 1898, but this director chose not to which I think keeps
a distance between the audience and the characters. Special effects had of
course been around since Méliès, but they were still quite
primitive - mainly in the editing process..
