Based on the famous opera of the same name by Vincenzo Bellini and made rigorously in period style, this film enters entirely into the programming which distinguished FAI in its beginnings, based on the adaptation of world-famous theater works. Targeted at an audience with a medium level of culture, the story of Norma was redone a number of times at the cinema: just think that, in the same year, at least one other film of the same name was made and produced by Vesuvio Films. The film was probably divided into eight scenes. We cannot however be certain about this because the original script for the film has not been found, and the print we have is incomplete – at least three scenes are missing. Restoration was carried out from an original nitrate negative, held at the Cinémathèque Française. For this reason it was not possible to reproduce the stencil coloring which most likely characterized the original positive print. The negative also lacked intertitles, because it was common practice at that time to cut them directly into the positive. To facilitate comprehension of the film, a new series of intertitles has been created based on non-filmic materials found regarding the film.

Alessia Navantieri, Michele Canosa