The film was inspired by events in the nation’s history – as was often the case at FAI – that were turned into melodramas. It was distributed throughout the world and gained much acclaim. “This picture, with its fairly dramatic story, its beautiful scenes and accurate settings, is an excellent offering for the public. It is instructive and it is also entertaining” (“The Motion Picture World”, 14.10.1912). Originally, the film was presented with stencil coloring, which was one of the factors that contributed to its success. The copy shown today is however black and white because the film was restored using an original nitrate negative held by the Cinémathèque Française, which did not have color information indicated. The intertitles were reconstructed from non-filmic sources.

Alessia Navantieri