The Brigant (1961)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The brigant |
| Original title | Il brigante |
| Country of production | Italy |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 140 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Renato Castellani |
| script | Renato Castellani |
| production | Franco Magli |
| music | Nino Rota |
| camera | Armando Nannuzzi |
| cut | Jolanda Benvenuti |
| occupation | |
| |
The Brigant is a socially critical, Italian film drama from 1961 directed by Renato Castellani . The story is based on a literary model by Giuseppe Berto .
action
Like a panaroma-like picture of the time, director Castellani describes the very hard life for most of the residents in the bitterly poor south of Italy, beginning in the war year 1942. The simple Michele Rende fell in love with the pretty Giulia Ricadi, who, however, had already been promised to the rich farmer Natale. When Natale is found dead one day, of course, Michele is immediately suspected. He is arrested and although Michele protests his innocence, Giulia does not believe him either and renounces him. In prison, Michele plans his escape, which actually succeeds. In freedom, he plans to take revenge for Giulia's lack of trust in him, which he regards as “treason” in himself. Only Nino Stigliano, an adolescent from Michele's social circle who adores Michele, believes in him. His sister Miliella, who cares a lot about Michele, wants to talk him out of his planned bloody act on the faithless Giulia. She succeeds with it, and Michele disappears without a trace for the next time.
A year has passed, the Americans landed in Sicily in 1943 and began to “roll up” the entire country militarily from the south. Michele Rende also returns to his village as a homecomer in the GI uniform of a paratrooper. Suddenly everyone is convinced of his innocence, and the same mob that pulled him in the previous year of the murder crouches in front of the “American” liberator. But Michele doesn't just want to be seen as a conqueror. Rather, he has revolutionary things in mind. The traumatic memory of Natale and his abused power in the district made him want to break the omnipotence of the local big farmers, the barons. Michele unites the terrified peasants and farm workers of the area and plans to lead them in the struggle for more justice against the wealthy landlords. This is at the same time a fight against the wretched social conditions in this area.
One of Michele's central measures is to take possession of the uncultivated land of the great owners and distribute it to the landless so that they can cultivate the fields and live from the yield. But big business strikes back. Michele is arrested again through an intrigue. And again the fighter breaks out, this time with the help of an understanding guard, and this time hides in the nearby mountains. One night when Michele wants to visit Miliella in the village, he is discovered by a police patrol. Michele unintentionally injures a police officer. Now the state power is persecuting him mercilessly as “brigands”, as rebels, revolutionaries and robber captains. Miliella, who has long since fallen in love with Michele, follows him into the mountains, and they are married there in a small chapel. The most important landowner in the area is determined to prevent Michele from escaping, so he instigates a hired killer on the newlyweds. But instead of him, Miliella is hit by a bullet. As if out of his mind, Michele storms back into the village and shoots wildly. He only spares the guard who once let him escape. But he is now doing his duty and with one shot kills the rebel for the good cause, who became a killer due to the circumstances.
Production notes
The Brigant was created in the rural rural area of Calabria and was premiered in August 1961 during the Venice Film Festival . The German premiere took place on October 19, 1970 on television ( ZDF ).
The film, with its playing time of 143 minutes (in the original, three minutes shorter in Germany), was originally three hours long and had to be shortened by around 40 minutes in order not to overwhelm the viewer.
Director Castellani, who received the FIPRESCI award , was nominated in Venice for the Golden Lion , composer Nino Rota for the Nastro d'Argento .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films says: "The neorealistic film draws - atmospherically dense and precise in the description of the environment - a convincing picture of the scandalous social conditions in post-war Calabria."
“Castellani has seamlessly merged the Briganten epic, the love story and social criticism. The landscape and the milieu also become a real part of the plot. Although Castellani never tries to use symbols, Michele appears quite naturally as the voice of the people, who are not yet able to articulate themselves, but which form a background that is both deplorable and threatening. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Brigant. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 1, 2019 .
Web links
- The brigand in the Internet Movie Database (English)