L'Odissea

1911 DramaAdventure 44 minutes Directed by Francesco Bertolini

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About L'Odissea

Odysseus leaves Troy for Ithaca. He and his men are trapped by the Cyclops Polyphemus. Odysseus blinds him and they get out. They pass the Sirens and the channel between Scylla and Charybdis. His men are lost. He comes home in disguise, kills the suitors in his house, and is recognized by Penelope. His son Telemachus is there.

Cast & crew

More about L'Odissea

Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan, and Giuseppe De Liguoro directed it from Homer. De Liguoro wrote the scenario and plays Odysseus. Emilio Roncarolo photographed it and did the effects. Romolo Galli edited it. Milano Films produced it. Helios distributed it. It opened in November 1911. The negative is 925 meters, listed at 44 minutes. A timed copy runs 43 minutes 54 seconds. Eugenia Tettoni plays Penelope. It was made for the film contest at the 1911 Turin world's fair, held for the fiftieth year of Italian unification. A Moving Picture World notice in 1912, when it reached the United States, said it marked a new epoch in the history of the motion picture as a factory of education.

Themes

  • A blinding in the cave
  • A channel between two monsters
  • A return in disguise
  • Odysseus
  • Penelope
  • Polyphemus
  • Sirens
  • Ithaca
  • Milano Films

Background

The Turin exposition of 1911 marked fifty years since Italian unification and ran a contest for artistic, scientific, and educational films. This picture was entered in that contest.

Making

The same trio had made L'Inferno in 1911. They followed it with Homer for the Turin fair. Roncarolo handled both the camera and the trick work for the monsters.

Reviews

The Moving Picture World, reviewing the 1912 American release, wrote that the film marked a new epoch in the history of the motion picture as a factory of education.

Look

Emilio Roncarolo photographed the voyage and built the effects for Polyphemus and the sea monsters.

Preservation

L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna restored a print in 2006.

Notes

  • The Italian print is arranged as a prologue, the adventures, and the return.
  • The adventures include Calypso and Nausicaa on the island of the Phaeacians, with Polyphemus, the Sirens, and Scylla and Charybdis.
  • Ubaldo Maria Del Colle is billed.
  • L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna restored a print in 2006.

Scenes

  • Odysseus blinds Polyphemus and the men escape the cave.
  • The ship passes between Scylla and Charybdis.
  • The suitors are killed and Penelope knows him.

Influenced by

  • Homer's Odyssey

Also available

  • Wikimedia Commons (L'Odissea (Milano Films, 1911) .webm)