''Assunta Spina'' is a 1915 Italian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

. Outside

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, it is sometimes known as ''Sangue Napolitano'' ("Neapolitan Blood").

Plot

Assunta Spina is a laundress living in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, engaged to a violent butcher named Michele Mangiafuoco. She is also courted intensely by Raffaele. When she accepts Raffaele's offer to dance during an open air feast in

Posillipo Posillipo (; nap, Pusilleco ) is an affluent residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples. From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Roma ...

, as she feels Michele is ignoring her, tragedy strikes. Michele, blinded by rage, slashes her face and is subsequently arrested. During the trial she bears witness in order to rescue him, saying he never wounded her, but the jury does not believe her. She is enticed by the court vice-chancellor to strike a bargain—Michele will stay in the nearby prison of

instead of Avellino, and at the end of the punishment Michele will kill the vice-chancellor before Assunta's eyes. She must take responsibility for the act before the eyes of the police in order to save her man.

Production

The original novel from which the story was taken was written by

Salvatore di Giacomo Salvatore Di Giacomo (12 March 1860 – 5 April 1934) was an Italian poet, songwriter, playwright and fascist, one of the signatories to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals. Di Giacomo is credited as being one of those responsible for ...

, and had been adapted to a successful theatre drama in 1909. Before

Francesca Bertini Francesca Bertini (born Elena Seracini Vitiello; 5 January 1892 – 13 October 1985) was an Italian silent film actress. She was one of the most successful silent film stars in the first quarter of the twentieth-century. Biography Born in Pra ...

became a famous actress, she would perform in this drama as a walk-on in the laundry scenes. Five years later, when she had started her career as a film actress, she and actor-director

Gustavo Serena Gustavo Serena (5 October 1881 – 16 April 1970) was an Italian actor and film director. He appeared in 107 films between 1909 and 1961. He also directed 33 films between 1912 and 1932. He was born in Naples and died in Rome. Selected fil ...

adapted the drama for film. Bertini is sometimes listed as co-director of the film. Bertini claimed with some support that she was the director of the film. The film stock was colorized with 4 colors and distributed worldwide by Caesar Film.

Cast

- Assunta Spina *

- Michele Boccadifuoco *

Carlo Benetti Carlo Benetti (1885–1949) was an Italian film actor of the silent era.Goble p.125 During the sound era he worked as Unit production manager, production manager on a number of films. Selected filmography * ''Assunta Spina (1915 film), Assunta Sp ...

- Don Federigo Funelli * Luciano Albertini - Raffaele *Amelia Cipriani - Peppina *Antonio Cruichi - Assunta's father *

Alberto Collo Alberto Collo (6 May 1883 – 7 May 1955) was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred and thirty films during his career, mostly during the silent era. During the 1910s he starred in several films directed by Baldassarre Negroni.Molit ...

- Officer *Alberto Albertini

Legacy

Francesca Bertini fully displayed her talent for the first time, introducing a new style of acting on the Italian

silver screen A silver screen, also known as a silver lenticular screen, is a type of projection screen that was popular in the early years of the motion picture industry and passed into popular usage as a metonym for the cinema industry. The term silver scree ...

. Her performance is generally rated as extraordinary, and in polar opposition to the work of writer and dramatist Gabriele D'Annunzio, who was very popular at the time. For example, the movie ''

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic mai ...

'' by

Giovanni Pastrone Giovanni Pastrone, also known by his artistic name Piero Fosco (13 September 1883 – 27 June 1959), was an Italian film pioneer, director, screenwriter, actor and technician. Pastrone was born in Montechiaro d'Asti. He worked during the era of ...

(1914)—one of the first known films where a camera moves through scenes while filming—was once considered a masterpiece at least in part because D'Annunzio had written the captions, but to modern moviegoers they seem excessively emphatic and redundant. The same can be said of the marked gestures of many actors and actresses of the silent era. Bertini wanted to end this affected behavior, so she focused on

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

. Her performances bear a closer resemblance to reality because of some acting devices: never look into the camera, use everyday gestures, and so on. This acting style also reduced the need for captions explaining the action.

Other versions

In 1930 the plot of '' Assunta Spina'' inspired a new film by

Roberto Roberti Vincenzo Leone (24 July 1879 – 10 January 1959), known professionally as Roberto Roberti, was an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director. He made over sixty films, mostly during the silent era. He was married to the actress Bice Valeria ...

. Another was produced in 1948, directed by Mario Mattoli, with

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters. Born in Rome, she worked her ...

and

Eduardo De Filippo Eduardo De Filippo (; 24 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and '' Napoli Milionaria''. Consid ...

as the protagonists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Assunta Spina (1915 Film) 1915 films 1910s Italian-language films Italian silent feature films Films based on Italian novels Italian films based on plays Realism (art movement) Italian black-and-white films Films set in Naples Films based on multiple works