The last days of Pompeii (1959)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The last days of Pompeii |
| Original title | Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei |
| Country of production | Italy , Spain , Monaco , Germany |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Mario Bonnard |
| script |
Sergio Corbucci Sergio Leone Ennio De Concini Luigi Emmanuele Duccio Tessari |
| production |
Paolo Moffa Lucio Fulci |
| music | Angelo Francesco Lavagnino |
| camera | Antonio L. Ballesteros |
| cut |
Eraldo da Roma Julio Peña |
| occupation | |
| |
The last days of Pompeii (original title: Gli ultimi giorni di Pompei ) is a monumental film by Mario Bonnard from 1959. The feature film is based on the novel The Last Days of Pompeii (original title: The Last Days of Pompeii ) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton from 1834. The work had its world premiere on November 12, 1959 in Italy. In the Federal Republic of Germany it was first seen in cinemas on December 22, 1959.
action
The film takes place in the year 79 AD in the Roman provincial city of Pompeii at the foot of Mount Vesuvius . The centurion Glaucus Leto has just returned from a victorious campaign in Palestine his hometown and now has to find that his house ransacked and his immediate family were murdered. Many other distinguished Roman families suffered the same fate. All Glaucus asks say that the perpetrators are a gang that always leaves a sign of the cross after their crimes. Most of the residents therefore consider the small Christian community to be guilty. Therefore the authorities hunt down this religious community and throw everyone who gets hold of them into prison. To amuse the decadent part of the population, the prisoners are said to take part in gladiator fights in the arena and to be thrown to the lions to eat.
Glaucus does not believe in the guilt of Christians. He wants to demand that the head of the city, the aedile Ascanius, who is currently at his summer residence in Herculaneum , clarify the raids quickly. During his ride into this city, however, he is attacked by criminals and seriously injured. With the last of his strength he manages to drag himself to Herculaneum and report to Ascanius.
Glaucus confidante Antonius discovers the traces of the gang. As their head he locates the Isis priest Arbaces. However, the leader is Julia, the wife of the aedile Ascanius. As a child she was abducted from her native Egypt by Roman soldiers and her whole family murdered. Therefore she devised the plan of revenge to destroy the noble Roman families. Even her own husband has to pay with his life for belonging to the upper class. Thereupon Julia - together with the Isis priest Arbaces - accuses Glaucus of murder. Together with the girl Elena, a Christian he loves, he is sentenced to death in the arena.
When Glaucus fiercely fights for his life in the arena, Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupts. In fear of death, the population flees to the sea. Only a few are allowed to escape the catastrophe. The lucky ones include Glaucus and Elena. Pompeii will be completely destroyed.
background
As with Ben Hur , Sergio Leone took over parts of the directing work without being officially named as co-director. However, as a second unit director he had his own credit, which was very unusual at the time
Reviews
- The lexicon of the international film praised: "Elaborate remake of the novel by Bulwer-Lytton, which, beyond all show effects and despite some (for the time it was made) excessively obvious atrocities, seriously tries to reconstruct the time of the persecution of Christians."
Web links
- The Last Days of Pompeii in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The last days of Pompeii at filmportal.de
- The last days of Pompeii with synopsis and criticism on Peplumania.com
- Five pictures from the film with a short review at Cinema.de
- Description of the film at Prisma.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Source: Program for the film: Illustrierte Film-Bühne , Vereinigte Verlagsgesellschaft Franke & Co. KG, Munich, No. 5123
- ↑ The last days of Pompeii. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .