''Zenabel'' is a 1969 film directed by

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (born 7 May 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and sometime actor. His career has spanned a wide-range of genres including peplum, comedy, drama, poliziottesco and science fiction, yet he is perhaps best known fo ...

Plot

The film is set in 1627 and is about a young woman named Zenabel (Lucretia Love) who finds out that she is the daughter of a Duke who was killed by the Spanish Baron Imolne. Zenabel gathers a group of women to lead them to fight against Imolne to exact revenge.

Cast

Production

''Zenabel'' was directed by Ruggero Deodato to work again with producer and actor Mauro Parenti, who he had worked with previously on ''

Phenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankhamen ''Phenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankhamen'' ( it, Fenomenal e il tesoro di Tutankamen) is a 1968 Italian film directed by Ruggero Deodato. The film was produced by and starred Nicola Mauro Parenti as Fenomenal, a masked superhero who attempts t ...

''. The title role was given to Lucretia Love, Parenti's wife at the time, and Parenti also demanded an acting role for himself, and was given that of the bandit Gennaro.

John Ireland John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian actor. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first Vancouver-born actor to receive an Oscar nomina ...

played the role of the villain Baron Alfonso Imolde. The film was shot in

Bracciano Bracciano is a small town in the Italian region of Lazio, northwest of Rome. The town is famous for its volcanic lake ( Lago di Bracciano or "Sabatino", the eighth largest lake in Italy) and for a particularly well-preserved medieval castle Cast ...

in Rome and

Tuscania Tuscania is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella. History Antiquity According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, wher ...

. Deodato recalls during a scene in Tuscania's main square where Love's character is about to be burned alive, John Ireland was missing. Ireland was at the Hilton Hotel in Rome waiting for his check as the producer had not paid him yet. When Ireland arrived on set, he refused to give an act in a scene that was to give the signal to light Zenabel aflame. Ireland refused to act not knowing the character's motivation, which led to Deodato giving him a dwarf actor in his arms like a baby to light to signal which pleased Ireland and let him complete the scene.

Release

''Zenabel'' was released in Italy in December 1969. Italian film critic and historian Roberto Curti stated that the film was a "financial disaster" in Italy as it was released during the same week as the

Piazza Fontana bombing The Piazza Fontana bombing ( it, Strage di Piazza Fontana) was a terrorist attack that occurred on 12 December 1969 when a bomb exploded at the headquarters of Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura (the National Agricultural Bank) in Piazza Fontana ...

. Deodato later stated that he put his "heart and soul into ''Zenabel'', but the film was affected by the lack of a popular lead actress." The film was re-released in France in 1975 under the title ''La Furie du Desir'' with hardcore pornography scenes added. These scenes were directed by

Claude Mulot Claude Mulot (1942–1986) was a French screenwriter and film director who mainly specialized in adult films, but also made various attempts in other genres like horror films ('' The Blood Rose''), comedies (''Le jour se lève et les conneries co ...

Reception

In a retrospective overview of Deodato's career, Louis Paul, author of '' Italian Horror Film Directors'', stated that ''Zenabel'' was "Deodato's first film where he exhibits a unique persona as director".

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links

* {{Ruggero Deodato Films directed by Ruggero Deodato Italian historical comedy films French historical comedy films Films shot in Rome Films set in 1627 Films scored by Bruno Nicolai 1960s Italian films 1960s French films Films about nobility Italian films about revenge French films about revenge