Francesca Bertini

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Francesca Bertini (actually Elena Seracini Vitiello ; born April 11 , according to other sources January 5, 1892 in Florence , † October 13, 1985 in Rome ) was an Italian film actress . She was considered the diva of Italian silent films .

Life

Bertini was the daughter of an actress, was adopted by the Neapolitan folk singer Arturo Vitiello and grew up in Naples , where she made her first stage appearances at the age of eleven. In 1904 the family moved to Rome, where they continued to play theater and the company Film d'Arte Italiano Pathé noticed them. From 1910 she appeared in Italian film , initially mainly in film adaptations of classical theater plays that were shortened to less than 15 minutes. A few hand-colored Shakespeare films by Gerolamo Lo Savio or Ugo Falena , with whom she worked closely in the early 1910s, have been preserved to this day.

From 1912 to 1915 at Celio Film and even more from 1915 to 1919 at Caesar Film , she became a film star and the undisputed diva of Italian film. Under the direction of Baldassarre Negroni , she played her first important roles in 1912/13 in Lagrime e sorrisi , Histoire d'un pierrot and La maestrina . She developed into a distinctive and strong actor personality with an often aggressive-passionate, but also cautious portrayal of internally contradicting women. Bertini played them with natural gestures. In 1915, together with Gustavo Serena , she created what is probably today's most famous film, the classic Verismo Assunta Spina set in Naples , in which she plays a passionately loving woman between two men. She had other important roles in La signora dalle camelie (1915), Odette (1916), Fedora (1916), Malìa (1917), La Tosca (1918), La donna nuda (1918) and La serpe (1919). In the 1920s she increasingly withdrew from the film business. On August 8, 1921, she married the Swiss banker Paul Cartier. She only accepted film offers very occasionally.

In 1976 Bernardo Bertolucci was able to win her over for the role of Sister Desolata in his 1900 epic . The documentary L'ultima diva: Francesca Bertini (1982) directed by Gianfranco Mingozzi is an interview documentary by the 90-year-old actress.

Francesca Bertini died at the age of 93 and was buried on the Cimitero Flaminio in the capital Rome.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1910: Salomé (short film)
  • 1912: Romeo and Juliet (Giulietta e Romeo)
  • 1913: Lagrime e sorrisi
  • 1915: Assunta Spina (Assunta spina)
  • 1915: La signora delle camelie
  • 1916: Odette
  • 1916: Fedora
  • 1917: Malìa
  • 1918: La Tosca
  • 1918: La donna nuda
  • 1920: La serpe
  • 1976: 1900 (Novecento)

Web link

Commons : Francesca Bertini  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Knerger.de: The grave of Francesca Bertini
personal data
SURNAME Bertini, Francesca
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vitièllo, Elena Seracìni (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian film actress
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1892 or April 11, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Florence
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1985
Place of death Rome