About a Hundred Years Ago. 1915
Programme curated by Mariann Lewinsky and Giovanni Lasi
Our A Hundred Years Ago series and its catalogue are again, like last year, organized into thematic chapters, consisting of several films or sessions. While some of the works from 1915 presented – among them the serial Les Vampires and Italian diva films Assunta Spina or Il fuoco – are canonized classics of film history, the core themes are linked to political history and the catastrophe of that year, the ongoing War.
The war devastated Europe and led its film industries and their formerly international businesses to ruin. France and Italy (the latter entered the war on May 24, 1915) lost the vast export market territories of the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Shipping routes were cut. In summer 1915, distributor Jean Desmet in neutral Netherlands had to screen programmes consisting of pre-war films, some of them made as early as 1911 or even 1910, for lack of supply.
The themes of diva film, war and emigration are not confined to A Hundred Years Ago but are to be found as well in other sections of this edition – Armenia, Velle and Murillo, Frascaroli, and the Restored Silents –, all of them connected by a network of films.
My warmest thanks go to the archives who have preserved and lent the films, and to the colleagues who have helped to organize this section.
Mariann Lewinsky
1915. Italian Film
During the first months of 1915 production was running at full speed galvanized by the wild success of the previous two years. Francesca Bertini, Lyda Borelli, Pina Menichelli, Gustavo Serena, Alberto Capozzi and Emilio Ghione, to name the most well-known, were part of a sociological phenomenon hitting the entire planet: film celebrity worship by the masses. In 1915, some of the most notable Italian silent movies were custom made for them: Assunta Spina and Diana l’affascinatrice, starring Francesca Bertini and Gustavo Serena; Il fuoco for the duo Pina Menichelli and Febo Mari; Fior di male and Rapsodia satanica – released later in 1917 – starring the incomparable Lyda Borelli.
This divine period of Italian cinema was not only due to the excellence of its actors but also to the quality of a generation of great directors like Carmine Gallone, Nino Oxilia, Gustavo Serena and Augusto Genina, who by 1915 had developed fully mature directing skills. On a technical level, the Italian film industry could also count on first-class professionals like cinematographers Carlo Montuori, Alberto Carta, Angelo Scalenghe and Giorgino Ricci.
After Italy entered the war, the dazzling lights of national film slowly faded, and, in tune with the bellicose times, other myths and other more aggressive ideologies took over.
Giovanni Lasi
Program
Saturday 27/06/2015
14:30
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODES 1 ET 2
LES VAMPIRES EPISODES 1 ET 2
Manuela Padoan e Ariane Toscan du Plantier (Gaumont)
Stephen Horne
Saturday 27/06/2015
16:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
IL FUOCO
IL FUOCO
Giovanni Lasi
Gabriel Thibaudeau
Sunday 28/06/2015
10:15
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
1915 / The War. Body and Soul
1915 / The War. Body and Soul
Mariann Lewinsky
Stephen Horne
Sunday 28/06/2015
11:00
The Restoration of Les Vampires
The Restoration of Les Vampires
Incontro con Manuela Padoan, Béatrice Valbin e Audrey Birrien
Sunday 28/06/2015
12:00
120 YEARS OF GAUMONT
120 YEARS OF GAUMONT
Sunday 28/06/2015
18:15
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
Presentation of the Assunta Spina DVD
Presentation of the Assunta Spina DVD
Presentazione del DVD di Assunta Spina a cura di Giovanni Lasi (Edizione Cineteca di Bologna)
Sunday 28/06/2015
22:15
Piazzetta Pier Paolo Pasolini
Projection with carbon lamp. ASSUNTA SPINA
Projection with carbon lamp. ASSUNTA SPINA
Sunday 28/06/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 3: LE CRYPTOGRAMME ROUGE
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 3: LE CRYPTOGRAMME ROUGE
Donald Sosin
Monday 29/06/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES – Episodes 4 and 5
LES VAMPIRES – Episodes 4 and 5
Daniele Furlati
Tuesday 30/06/2015
10:30
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
THE ITALIAN
THE ITALIAN
Kevin Brownlow
Tuesday 30/06/2015
14:30
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI
THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI
Mariann Lewinsky e John Sweeney
Accompanied by John Sweeney (piano) and Frank Bockius (drums)
Tuesday 30/06/2015
17:45
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
IL JOCKEY DELLA MORTE
IL JOCKEY DELLA MORTE
Giovanni Lasi
Antonio Coppola
Tuesday 30/06/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 6: LES YEUX QUI FASCINENT
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 6: LES YEUX QUI FASCINENT
Neil Brand
Wednesday 01/07/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 7: SATANAS
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 7: SATANAS
Accompanied by Maud Nelissen (piano), Frido ter Beek (saxophone) and Jasper Somsen (double bass)
Thursday 02/07/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 8: LE MAÎTRE DE LA FOUDRE
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 8: LE MAÎTRE DE LA FOUDRE
John Sweeney and Frank Bockius (drums)
Friday 03/07/2015
10:15
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
THE DESPOILER
THE DESPOILER
Neil Brand
Friday 03/07/2015
21:30
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
ASSUNTA SPINA
ASSUNTA SPINA
Recorded music by Guido Sodo and Francois Laurent, inspired by the Neapolitan tradition.
Friday 03/07/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 9: L’HOMME DES POISONS
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 9: L’HOMME DES POISONS
Antonio Coppola
Saturday 04/07/2015
10:15
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 3: LE CRYPTOGRAMME ROUGE
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 3: LE CRYPTOGRAMME ROUGE
Maud Nelissen
Saturday 04/07/2015
10:30
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
DENMARK, ISLAND OF PEACE
DENMARK, ISLAND OF PEACE
Stephen Horne
Saturday 04/07/2015
11:15
LES VAMPIRES – Episodes 4 and 5
LES VAMPIRES – Episodes 4 and 5
Gabriel Thibaudeau
Saturday 04/07/2015
12:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
1915, ENVOI. THE PROGRAMME OF THE UNKNOWN FILM
1915, ENVOI. THE PROGRAMME OF THE UNKNOWN FILM
Donald Sosin
Saturday 04/07/2015
14:00
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 6: LES YEUX QUI FASCINENT
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 6: LES YEUX QUI FASCINENT
Antonio Coppola
Saturday 04/07/2015
15:15
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 7: SATANAS
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 7: SATANAS
Stephen Horne
Saturday 04/07/2015
16:30
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 8: LE MAÎTRE DE LA FOUDRE
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 8: LE MAÎTRE DE LA FOUDRE
Antonio Coppola
Saturday 04/07/2015
17:45
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 9: L’HOMME DES POISONS
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 9: L’HOMME DES POISONS
Maud Nelissen
Saturday 04/07/2015
18:45
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 10: LES NOCES SANGLANTES
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 10: LES NOCES SANGLANTES
Daniele Furlati
Saturday 04/07/2015
09:00
LES VAMPIRES EPISODES 1 ET 2
LES VAMPIRES EPISODES 1 ET 2
Donald Sosin
Saturday 04/07/2015
09:00
Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 10: LES NOCES SANGLANTES
LES VAMPIRES EPISODE 10: LES NOCES SANGLANTES
Neil Brand