I will never forget the shock of seeing Beatrice Cenci at a small cinema in Lyon behind the Brotteaux station, being struck by the close-ups, by the crane movement that focuses on a young girl running in a forest on a stormy night, this nocturnal chase scene, the sudden appearance of a knight who saves her at least for a little while, who gives her some rest. A masterly opening sequence in which Freda makes colors collide, the blues of night, of the water, the yellows of a dress or of a torch, in which he takes control of the space with the same dazzling force that propels his characters towards their own destiny.

Bertrand Tavernier, in Riccardo Freda, Jean A. Gili (ed.), Quaderni di Cinecittà International n. 5, Roma 1993

My scriptwriters and I agreed: the heroine had to be innocent so that the drama would develop and emotion would dominate the film from beginning to end. Beatrice Cenci is a modern sword-and-sandal, a drama with no way out, like the Greek tragedies. You cannot fight destiny. And I filmed this diabolical fatality in CinemaScope, even if I did not participate directly in the writing, I contributed with my ideas and scrupulously followed the development of the screenplay.
[…] The director of photography, Gabor Pogany, was able to transform every one of my ideas, in terms of light. He immediately understood that film should look like a fresco, but a morbid fresco. He knew the right light for the lovers, the child on the river; and he knew how to light the feast, even in depth of field. But he also knew how to light the incestuous atmosphere of Cenci as he watches his own daughter undressing.
I also thought about the costumes, Beatrice’s clothing is part of the drama. They are a mixture of violent colours which incite Cenci to commit his crime and pastels which evoke Beatrice’s modesty and innocence. Arrigo Equini’s set design and Mario Bava’s effects are both very important. Bava is not mentioned but he participated in the set design and the special effects. These effects prove that he is a genuine artist. I think Cinemascope is a magnificent format and I feel at ease with it. More than ever before, I tried to get Carpaccio’s style into the picture; he never hesitated in using canvases that were sixty feet wide. But no critic has ever noticed the Italian painters influence in my work.

Riccardo Freda in Eric Poindron, Riccardo Freda, un pirate à la caméra. Entretiens, Institut Lumière – Actes Sud, Arles 1994