The basilisks

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Movie
German title The basilisks
Original title I basilischi
Country of production Italy
original language Italian
Publishing year 1963
length 85 minutes
Rod
Director Lina Wertmüller
script Lina Wertmüller
production Lionello Santi
music Ennio Morricone
camera Gianni di Venanzo
cut Ruggero Mastroianni
occupation

The Basilisk is the first black-and-white feature film by Italian director Lina Wertmüller from 1963. The director also wrote the script. The film premiered on September 2, 1963 at the Locarno International Film Festival . In the Federal Republic of Germany you could see him for the first time on December 23, 1968 in the television program of the ARD .

content

The film takes place in a half-forgotten nest in Basilicata , a region in southern Italy. The everyday life of the residents consists of a constant siesta , of the barely interrupted gossip about the neighbors and the dreams of setting out into the world that begins beyond the hills, for example in Bari or even in Rome. Three of these dreamers are Sergio, Antonio, the son of the notary, and the geodesist Francisco. In this atmosphere of musty and tiredness, their pastime is chasing girls, but they are not particularly successful. Neither the long-legged blonde, who got lost in a marriage here from Rome, nor the energetic Maddalena, who absolutely wants to found a cooperative for the production of spicy salami, are available for the three boys: a woman comes all too easily in Palazzo San Gervasio into talk.

Then suddenly there is an opportunity for Antonio to put an end to this life of boredom. An aunt takes him to Rome. He returns proudly, envied by his friends, raving about his experiences and boasting that he only came back to finally tear the bridges behind him. But Antonio succumbs to the crippling everyday life of his hometown, and the day comes when he has to realize that his words about leaving are nothing but empty chatter.

criticism

The lexicon of international films drew the following conclusion: “Lina Wertmüller's first film is a semi-documentary film that reports on the lives of a handful of small town dwellers in a factual and ironic way, without being ideologically involved. The film owes its image quality to Fellini's cameraman; Fellini inspired the production. ”The Protestant film observer says:“ First feature film by the Italian director Lina Wertmüller. Following Fellini's [...] she gives an almost documentary inventory of everyday life in a small town in southern Italy, in which every activity and every attempt to break out is stifled by the lethargy of the people. Restrained presentation and precise, sensitive camera work make the film worth seeing from 16. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Source: Evangelischer Filmbeobachter , Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 9/1969, pp. 8 to 9
  2. rororo-Taschenbuch No. 6322 (1988), p. 277