Version made from a tinted aEven though the review by Pio Fasanelli in of 1.7.1920 mostly referred to another film, one cannot but agree with his observations that the affair is obstruse and that there is a lack of causality in the linking of the facts of the story. This is so even though the film is based on the real story of Maria Tarnowska, a nobilewoman of Venice, who, as Vittorio Martinelli recounts, was prominent in the society news of the first decade of the century.
The story presents three exotic personalities, pistols that appear from behind heavy black curtains, erotic ghosts and mirror games. It seems to be an excuse for showing off the star qualities of Francesca Bertini and Amleto Novelli. In the film the actor from Bologna, one of the few great Italian silent film actors, plays the part of the piovra (octopus), reversing the classic situation where the man is subject to the animal fascination of the female star. Especially memorable is the theatre scene in which the spectacular Bertini is conquered by a close-up of Novelli.
(Giacomo Manzoli)
nd toned positive print with French intertitles conserved by the C.N.C. – Les Archives du Film.