''Nostra Signora dei Turchi'' (internationally released as ''Our Lady of the Turks'') is a
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Januar ...
Italian drama film. It is the feature film debut of
Carmelo Bene and it is based on a stage play by the same Bene.
It won the
Special Jury Prize at the 1968
Venice Film Festival.
The film was shown as part of a retrospective "Questi fantasmi: Cinema italiano ritrovato" at the
.
Plot
A man (
Carmelo Bene) cannot bear to be part of the society he lives in. He considers himself a "jerk" and so invents his own philosophy, which involves the destruction of the ways of his native land of
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, where all residents are devoted to the
Catholic religion. However, the man cannot destroy the belief of the pilgrims of
Salento, because a woman prevents him. She is an unknown "Santa Margherita", who tries to turn the man away from what she considers his weird and impossible philosophy. Successive scenes of the film show various dreamlike situations in which the two protagonists try to best each other. After a blasphemous dialogue between monks, the man includes his whole philosophy in a Moorish building. In fact, this seems to have been the scene of the massacre of the famous 800
Martyrs of Otranto, who are considered by the sceptic to be the absolute death of Christianity.
The man, dressed as a medieval knight, tries to find pleasure in amorous adventures with a servant, but fails completely. In fact, it seems that a part of him is tied to something so holy that he cannot stand. The woman in the story has told him that she wants to save him from his own philosophy, but the man has always refused. Now that the man is determined to change and destroy his own philosophy, he discovers that it is too late. Santa Margherita, in the famous Moorish palace, is no longer willing to forgive and to convert the man who, struck down, dies without happiness.
Cast
*
Carmelo Bene: the man, or central character
*
Lydia Mancinelli: Santa Margherita
*
Salvatore Siniscalchi
Salvatore may refer to:
* Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name
* "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015
* Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band
* '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...
: the editor
*
Anita Masini
Anita or ANITA may refer to:
Arts
* ''Anita'' (1967 film), an Indian film
* ''Anita'' (2009 film), an Argentine film
* ''Anita'' (2021 film), a Hong Kong film
*'' Anita: Swedish Nymphet'', a 1973 erotic film
People
* Anita (given name), people ...
: Santa Maria
References
External links
*
1968 films
Italian drama films
Italian films based on plays
Films directed by Carmelo Bene
Venice Grand Jury Prize winners
1968 directorial debut films
1960s Italian-language films
1960s Italian films
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