Parsifal
About Parsifal
King Amfortas, played by Mario Bonnard, has fallen into sin under the wizard Klingsor and the witch Kundry, Mary Cléo Tarlarini, and he fails to guard the Holy Grail. Parsifal, played by Vitale De Stefano, is named protector. Klingsor and Kundry try to pull him into sin and do not manage it. The Bishop, Antonio Grisanti, teaches him the secrets of the Grail. Maria Caserini plays Parsifal's mother.
Cast & crew
More about Parsifal
Mario Caserini directed Ambrosio production number 731 near the start of a stay at the company that lasted a little over a year. Alberto Capozzi supplied the story. Arrigo Frusta adapted Richard Wagner's 1882 libretto. Angelo Scalenghe photographed it. Italian release is dated 22 November 1912. A censorship visa, number 9544, is dated 22 June 1915. The original length is 1,064 meters.
Themes
Making
Frusta had been writing costume subjects at Ambrosio since 1908. Caserini gave him Wagner's Grail drama as one of the first films of his year at the studio.
Reviews
In La Vita Cinematografica of 25 November 1912, the writer signing as Il rondone called the mise-en-scène magnificent, the weapons, props, and costumes accurate, and the photography technically clean.
Look
Angelo Scalenghe shot woodland and stream banks against church and castle interiors. Servants watch Parsifal's approach in a round mirror and then turn into nobles. In the forest an army appears in front of him.
Preservation
EYE Filmmuseum holds a tinted print of 1,029 meters, 50 minutes at 18 frames per second, with Dutch titles. Haghefilm preserved it in 1990 from an internegative. The original was 1,064 meters.
Notes
- Some later cast lists give Dario Silvestri the name Parsifal. The 2018 Giornate del Cinema Muto note gives it to Vitale De Stefano and leaves Silvestri, Oreste Grandi, Filippo Costamagna, and Lia Negro without assigned parts.
- La Fotografia Artistica, September 1912, called the film a complete re-enactment of Wagner's hero.
- Mauro Colombis played piano for the Pordenone screening on 6 October 2018.
- The surviving print is 35 meters shorter than the 1,064-meter original.
Scenes
- Servants see Parsifal coming in the reflection of a circular mirror, then change into high-born nobles.
- Hundreds of soldiers appear at once in a forest in front of Parsifal.
- Ghosts rise out of a fire summoned by Klingsor and Kundry and challenge him with swords.
Influenced by
- Richard Wagner's Parsifal (1882)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Parsifal (1912).webm)
