''The Silent Mountain'' is a 2014 Austrian war drama film written by Clemens Aufderklamm and produced and directed by

Ernst Gossner Ernst Gossner is an Austrian film director, screenwriter and producer best known for writing and directing the 2007 film ''South of Pico'' as well as 2014 film ''The Silent Mountain'' Background Gossner grew up in Tirol and had his first stag ...

set in the

Alpine Front The Italian front or Alpine front ( it, Fronte alpino, "Alpine front"; in german: Gebirgskrieg, "Mountain war") involved a series of battles at the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918 in the course of World W ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. ''The Silent Mountain'' is a love story set in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

at the outbreak of hostilities between

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 re ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in 1915.

Plot

The story begins on May 1915 in

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

where Anderl Gruber, a son of a rich hotel owner, is attending the wedding of his sister Elisabeth (Lisl) with Italian Angelo Calzolari. There, he meets Angelo's sister Francesca, with whom he falls in love. However, the same day Italy declares war on

. The tensions present between Austrians and Italians immediately escalate into the conflict between them, and they both join their respective armies. With the expulsion of the Italians, by the villagers Francesca is forced to hide her identity. However, Fritz Weinberger, a local teacher who returns from the front and who has particularly strong hatred towards Italians, exploits this and offers Francesca to protect her identity in exchange for sexual favors. An

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army (, literally "Ground Forces of the Austro-Hungarians"; , literally "Imperial and Royal Army") was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint arm ...

platoon that occupies the adjacent mountains tricks the attacking Italians into retreating. Later. they are reinforced by a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Alpenkorps The Alpenkorps was a provisional mountain formation of Division (military), division size formed by the German Army (German Empire), Imperial German Army during World War I. It was considered by the Allies to be one of the best in the German Army. ...

unit. Anderl is wounded in a massive battle and ends up in the hotel Gruber, which is now a field hospital for wounded Austrian soldiers. Meanwhile, Anderl discovers Francesca's affair with Fritz and returns to the front in such a rage that he single-handedly repulses a massive attack of Italian infantry. Andrerl is severely wounded again. As the following Italian offensives also fail, Nicola Quinziato, the commander of Italian garrison, orders Angelo, an experienced

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

, to dig a tunnel below the Austrian positions. Initially it is planned to launch an offensive through the tunnels, but later Quinziato decides to set the explosives below the mountain to blow up the Austrian troops. Angelo is discharged immediately after that and sent to the regular infantry, thus exposing him to the dangers of the war. Some time later, Angelo is caught by the Austrians where he reveals the Italian plans to blow up the mountain. Anderl helps Angelo to return to their village, while the German and Austrian troops decide to hold the mountain despite the imminent danger. Unfortunately, Angelo's identity is quickly discovered and he is summarily executed by the Austrian troops, with Elisabeth watching. Anderl looks for Francesca, forgives her and leads her out of the village to the mountains. They arrive close to the Austrian positions in the moment of explosion, which annihilates the Austrian stronghold. They then leave the valley and Anderl later often thinks about their mountain, a mountain without the soldiers.

Cast

* William Moseley as Anderl Gruber * Eugenia Costantini as Francesca Calzolari *

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English. Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...

as Nuria Calzolari *

Harald Windisch Harald or Haraldr is the Old Norse form of the given name Harold. It may refer to: Medieval Kings of Denmark * Harald Bluetooth (935–985/986) Kings of Norway * Harald Fairhair (c. 850–c. 933) * Harald Greycloak (died 970) * Harald Hardrad ...

as Karl Gruber *

Fritz Karl Fritz Karl (born 21 December 1967) is an Austrian film, television and stage actor born in Gmunden, Upper Austria. He is one of the busiest Austrian actors. Private life Karl lives in both Munich and Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code ...

as Fritz Weinberger *

Werner Daehn Werner Daehn (born 14 October 1967) is a German actor, who has worked with Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson in '' XXX'', with Jason Priestley in ''Colditz'' an ITV1 2005 miniseries, with Bill Pullman in '' Revelations'' and with Steven Seagal in ...

as Sven Kornatz *

Emily Cox Emily Cox may refer to: * Emily Cox (actress) (born 1985), Austrian actress * Emily Cox (puzzle writer), American puzzle writer * Emily Cox (conductor), Australian conductor and choir master {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Emily ...

as Lisl Gruber * Brigitte Jaufenthaler as Anna Gruber * Julia Gschnitzer as Anastasia Gruber

Release

The film was a box-office success in Austria and Italy in March 2014 and sold to more than 60 countries worldwide. It was released in the United States on August 19, 2014.

Production

''The Silent Mountain'' was shot in various locations in the Dolomites in

South Tirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Trentino Trentino ( lld, Trentin), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento, is an autonomous province of Italy, in the country's far north. The Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, an autonomous region ...

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

and

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; lld, Anpezo, ; historical de-AT, Hayden) is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomitic) Alps in the Province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the Boite river, in an alp ...

. The story is inspired by the actual events during the

Mountain War The Mountain War ( ar, حرب الجبل , ''Harb al-Jabal''), also known as the War of the Mountain and Guerre de la Montagne in French language, French, was a subconflict between the Lebanese Civil War#Second phase of the war.2C 1982-1983, 1 ...

between 1915 and 1918. In 2012 it was announced by

Paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm () is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. Etymology ''Paradigm'' comes f ...

's manager David Guillod and his attorney Lev Ginsburg that William Moseley will star in a film along with Eugenia Costantini and

. The crew and cast was struck by lightning while shooting in the mountains. William Moseley was hit as was the camerawoman. She was looking through the viewfinder as the lightning struck and went through the iron body through her eye to her optical nerve and burnt it. A battlefield set was destroyed and flushed into a nearby river by a mud slide.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Mountain, The 2014 films Austrian war drama films English-language Austrian films Films scored by Gregor Narholz Films set in the Alps Climbing and mountaineering films World War I films set on the Italian Front Films set in 1915 Films shot in Austria 2010s English-language films