La signora delle camelie

Francesca Bertini is Camille, and Gustavo Serena is Armand in one of two features produced in 1915, based on Dumas Fils' story. The leads were big stars at the time, and Signorina Bertini acts up a storm. However there's an abruptness to the pacing that makes me think this is another of those movies meant for an audience familiar with the story. Even at 53 minutes, there's an air o highlights of the novel that makes it les tan a full work of art.

This was restored in 1992, and Ennio Morricone provided a score full of tremolo. It certainly fits in with the sentimental tale, but it remains for me, a maudlin piece.

This is one of two versions of the Alexandre Dumas novel filmed in Italy in 1915, the two versions are often confused as being the same. The other version was directed by actor/director Baldassarre Negroni and starred Hesperia. This version directed by the talented actor/director Gustavo Serena stars himself with the incomparable Francesca Bertini.

In 1915, "La Bertini" and Serena were setting standards in cinema world-wide with their subtle and realistic acting. This acting brilliance was most notable in their collaboration on the silent masterpiece "Assunta Spina" filmed in the same year, arguably the finest film made that year, anywhere.

Compared to other major titles of the same period, this film lacks some of the technical brilliance that was developing in cinema at the time (e.g. camera movement, facial close-ups), but the film makes up for this lack in other ways. The compositions are elegant, the way scenes are lit are well thought out (note the light and darkness on Bertini's face in certain scenes), the acting subtle (for its time), the crowd scenes are so well-handled.

As a final note, Ennio Morricone wrote a score for this in 1992, which is musically very apt and complements the film.

Bravo Serena and Bertini