The secret of Santa Vittoria

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Movie
German title The secret of Santa Vittoria
Original title The Secret of Santa Vittoria
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1969
length 131 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Stanley Kramer
script Ben Maddow ,
William Rose
production Stanley Kramer
music Ernest Gold
camera Giuseppe Rotunno
cut William A. Lyon ,
Earle Herdan
occupation

The Secret of Santa Vittoria (Original Title: The Secret of Santa Vittoria ) is an American comedy film from 1969, which takes place at the end of World War II . The script is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Crichton .

action

Italy at the end of April 1945: The wine merchant Italo Bombolini paints an homage on the death of the dictator Benito Mussolini . This earned him honor and the mayor's office of Santa Vittoria. Bombolini is an optimist who believes that good and just government will ultimately work. He reads The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli and sets up a council.

Bombolini's later son-in-law Fabio rushes into town and tells of German troops on their way back towards Santa Vittoria. The Germans want to occupy the city and secure the wine depot, which is the financial basis of the city. Bombolini wants to save the wine by having the inhabitants transport the wine bottles to an old Roman cave outside the city. A million bottles of wine are taken there before the German troops arrive. Bombolini has withheld a small part of the wine for the Germans so that they don't become suspicious. The Germans under Captain von Prum confiscate half of the bottles found.

SS units reach the city. Prum informed that there had to be more wine. However, his attempts to find the wine fail. When the order to march is given, the captain makes one last attempt. He holds a pistol to Bombolini's head and demands that the inhabitants hand over the wine. But nobody says a word. Von Prum gives himself up and leaves with his men; the residents dance.

background

The US premiere took place on October 29, 1969. In Germany the film was released in cinemas on February 27, 1970.

The film was shot in the municipality of Anticoli Corrado near Rome . Since the original Santa Vittoria now had too many modern buildings, a replacement had to be found. The residents of the community partly worked on the shooting. Others were given paid leave at Kramer's expense so that they could film in their homes.

The song Sway , nominated for the Golden Globe, is an originally Spanish song with the original title ¿Quién será? and was composed by Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The English text is from Norman Gimbel .

Reviews

For the lexicon of international films , the film was a “rustic farce on the fringes of the war, the director painted a bit broadly, but was excellent in presentation. Despite its excess length, caricature-like clichés and a sentimental love story, an entertaining film. ”The film magazine Cinema described the film as“ a funny burlesque with tricky rivals ”.

Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote that the film might be of interest to film students. He doesn't have a single moving, surprising or spontaneous moment. Variety attested the film charm, tension and romance. The drama is softened by the humor and understanding so that the film conveys a war idyll in the Italian landscape.

Awards

At the 1970 Academy Awards , the film was nominated for an Oscar in the categories of Best Score and Best Editing . The score was also nominated for a Golden Globe, as was Stanley Kramer for Best Director , Anthony Quinn for Best Actor in a Comedy , Anna Magnani for Best Actress in a Comedy and the song Sway for Best Song in a Motion Picture . The film itself won the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Comedy) .

There was another nomination for the Eddie Award of the American Cinema Editors .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Secret of Santa Vittoria at Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ The Secret of Santa Vittoria. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed June 12, 2019 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ See cinema.de
  4. ↑ Vincent Canby : Hiding the Wine: 'The Secret of Santa Vittoria' Starts Run . In: The New York Times . October 30, 1969.
  5. ↑ See The Secret of Santa Vittoria . In: Variety . 1969.