''Io Semiramide'' (AKA: ''I Am Semiramis'', AKA: ''Slave Queen of Babylon'', AKA: ''Duelo de Reyes'') is a 1963 film about
Semiramis
''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...
, a queen of the
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history and the final and greatest phase of Assyria as an independent state. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew t ...
. It was directed by
Primo Zeglio
Primo Zeglio (8 July 1906 – 30 October 1984) was an Italian film director and writer.
Selected filmography
* ''The Mask of Cesare Borgia'' (1941)
*'' Accadde a Damasco'' (1943)
*''Febbre'' (1943)
*'' Genoveffa di Brabante'' (1947)
*'' Nero ...
. The legends are in part based on the historical
Shammuramat
Shammuramat (Akkadian: ''Sammu-rāmat'' or ''Sammu-ramāt''), also known as Sammuramat or Shamiram, was a powerful queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Beginning her career as the primary consort of the king Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 BC), Shammura ...
, queen consort of
Shamshi-Adad V
Shamshi-Adad V ( akk, Šamši-Adad) was the King of Assyria from 824 to 811 BC. He was named after the god Adad, who is also known as Hadad.
Family
Shamshi-Adad was a son and successor of King Shalmaneser III, the husband of Queen Shammuramat (by ...
and regent for her son
Adad-nirari III
Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...
.
Plot
During the reign of Semiramis, the beautiful queen of the
Assyrian people,
Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
reaches one of the periods of greatest splendour, and to crown her successes she gives the order to build the great city of
Babylon. A young woman of the court of great political ambition, Semiramis falls in love with Kir, a prince enslaved who reciprocates. Kir, king of the
Dardanians, is defeated in
combat by General Onnos during a
military campaign launched by the latter against
Nineveh in Assyria.
Reduced to
slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, Kir is taken with other slaves to the capital where the general presents his prizes to King Minurte. Semiramis persuades Minurte to offer him Kir and also obtains a domain. She employs her slaves, including Kir, to build a city that becomes Babylon. Meanwhile, she leads political machinations and alliances with Kir and Onnos in order to
overthrow Minurte and take her place on the throne.
The
conspirators manage to take Kir from the queen and convince him that he has been betrayed by Semiramis with another man. Furious, Kir takes charge of the conspiracy against his beloved. Discovering the truth, Semiramis
poisons
Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
Kir by making him drink from a poisoned cup. Later, during the funeral, the queen is
shot
Shot may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard
*''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck
*'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy
* "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus
* ''Shot'' (2017 f ...
by an arrow thrown by the conspirators. The bodies of the two lovers are then burned together, united in death.
Io Semiramide (I Am Semiramis)
by FilmAffinity
FilmAffinity is a movie recommendations website created in 2002 in Madrid, Spain by the film critic Pablo Kurt Verdú Schumann and the programmer Daniel Nicolás. As of 2016, the site listed 125,000 movies and series and had 556,000 reviews wr ...
.com
Cast
*Yvonne Furneaux
Yvonne Furneaux (born Elisabeth Yvonne Scatcherd; 11 May 1928) is a French-British retired actress. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she worked with notable filmmakers like Peter Brook, Federico Fellini, Roman Polanski, Michelan ...
as "Semiramis
''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...
"
*John Ericson
John Ericson (sometimes spelled Erickson; September 25, 1926 – May 3, 2020) was a German-American film and television actor known primarily for his co-star role with actress Anne Francis on the ABC television series '' Honey West'' in the 196 ...
as "Kir"
*Renzo Ricci
Renzo Ricci (27 September 1899 – 20 October 1978) was an Italian stage and film actor. He was also a noted theatre director. Ricci played the title role in Roberto Rossellini's 1961 film ''Garibaldi''.Bondanella, Peter. ''The Films of Roberto ...
as "Minurte"
*Germano Longo
Germano Longo (24 May 1933 – 14 July 2022) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was sometimes credited as Herman Lang or Grant Laramy.
Life and career
Born in Poggiardo, Longo attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, ...
as "Onnos"
*Gianni Rizzo
Gianni Rizzo (1925–1992) was an Italian film actor. Between 1944 and 1986 he appeared in over seventy films and television productions, in a variety of supporting roles. His screen roles included parts in a number of Peplum film, peplum films, ...
as "Ghelas"
*John Bartha
János Bartha (6 February 1915 – 1991), better known as John Bartha, was a Hungarian film actor who appeared primarily in Spaghetti Westerns in the 1960s and 1970s. He is probably most recognizable in western cinema for his role as the Sheriff ...
as "Althar"
*Nino di Napoli
Nino or Niño may refer to:
*Nino (name)
*Niño (name)
* Antonin Scalia, American Supreme Court justice whose nickname was "Nino"
*El Niño, a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean
*NINO, an abbreviation for National Insurance number in th ...
as "Adath"
See also
*
* '' War Gods of Babylon (1962)''
* '' Queen of Babylon (1954)''
* ''The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules
''The Beast of Babylon Against the Son of Hercules'' ( it, L'eroe di Babilonia, french: Héros de Babylone, also known as ''Heroes of Babylon'', ''Hero of Babylon'' and ''Goliath, King of Slaves'') is a 1963 Italian-French peplum film written and ...
(1963)''
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0056088, I Am Semiramis
1960s historical films
1960s historical drama films
1963 films
1963 drama films
1960s adventure drama films
1960s action adventure films
Sword and sandal films
Historical epic films
Romantic epic films
Italian historical romance films
1960s historical romance films
Italian romantic drama films
Italian historical adventure films
Italian action adventure films
1960s Italian-language films
English-language Italian films
Films set in ancient Mesopotamia
Films about royalty
Films based on mythology
Films set in the 7th century BC
Films set in Babylon
Peplum films
Films directed by Primo Zeglio
Films scored by Carlo Savina
Films about conspiracy theories
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Assyrian culture
1960s Italian films
Semiramis