Messalina (1960)

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Movie
German title Messalina
Original title Messalina, Venere imperatrice
Country of production Italy
original language Italian
Publishing year 1960
length 96 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Vittorio Cottafavi
script Ennio De Concini ,
Mario Guerra ,
Carlo Romano ,
Duccio Tessari
production Emo bistolfi
music Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
camera Marco Scarpelli
cut Luciano Cavalieri
occupation

Messalina (original title: Messalina, Venere imperatrice ) is an Italian monumental film by Vittorio Cottafavi . The script was written by Ennio De Concini , Mario Guerra , Carlo Romano and Duccio Tessari . British actress Belinda Lee is in the title role . The work had its world premiere on March 12, 1960 in Italy. In the Federal Republic of Germany, the film was released for the first time on September 19, 1960.

action

The action begins in AD 41. Claudius succeeds the overthrown Emperor Caligula to rule the Roman Empire . At this time, the beautiful girl Valeria is being prepared for her future priesthood in the temple of the goddess Vesta . Because Valeria longs for power over her fellow men, the counselor Sulpicius arranges for her to marry Claudius. From then on she bears the name Messalina and can now call herself Empress. In this capacity she does not shrink from any crime. Her first victim is Sulpicius, after he tried to blackmail her. Her other opponents are Narcissus, who intrigues against her in secret , and the Senator Aulus Celsus, who is genuinely concerned about the fate of Rome.

Messalina knows how to make herself popular with the people. The old principle “ Panem et circenses ” attains its greatest importance with her. Under the guise of generosity, however, she is ready for all sorts of outrageous acts that put Aulus Celsus in white heat. When her former lover, the Centurion Lucius Maximus, returns to Rome from a campaign , he no longer feels as comfortable as he used to. The fake prosperity of the capital hits his mind. He rests with his soldiers in a tavern . There he strongly criticizes the conditions in today's Rome, which causes a great commotion.

When Messalina heard of Lucius' return, her love for him flared up again. It doesn't take long for Lucius' resistance to this woman to melt away. From then on he functions as her lover and becomes - albeit unconsciously - the tool of her crimes. Aulus Celsus tries to open his old friend's eyes, but has no luck. Only when Messalina had the senator murdered does it fall from Lucius' eyes like scales. Thereupon he takes the side of the opposition , which is led by Narcissus.

Claudius turns out to be a weak emperor. Messalina wants to take advantage of this to usurp full rule herself with a group of conspirators . Meanwhile, however, Lucius manages to set up a powerful army with the help of the Christian Sylvia. Now he succeeds in defeating Messalina's Praetorian Guard and the other conspirators. Rome is saved. Lucius Maximus is honored and celebrated as a hero. Together with Sylvia, with whom he now gets along wonderfully, he leaves town. The two want to be happy together in a more peaceful area.

criticism

The lexicon of international film draws the following conclusion: “The intrigues and ambitious love affairs of the Roman empress in a pseudo-historical scandal chronicle, which gives the trivial director Cottafavi the opportunity to show off his talent for optical effects when depicting courtly feasts, bathing scenes and insidious assassinations with a lot of blood paste . "

source

  • Program for the film: Das Neue Film-Programm , published by the Heinrich Klemmer company of the same name, Mannheim, without a number

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lexicon of international films, rororo-Taschenbuch No. 6322 from 1988, p. 2570.