From:"Mario Mariani"
To:only1kcm@yahoo.com
Subject: italian silent movie scored and performed live by Mario Mariani
Date:Tue, 2 Oct 2001 20:42:31 +0200
CAINA’ (DIRECTED BY GENNARO RIGHELLI), 15TH OCTOBER 2001, FANO FILM FESTIVAL (ITALY)
Dear Kally,
I would like to bring to your attention an Italian 1922 silent movie, "Cainà", directed by Gennaro Righelli. The film certainly represents a milestone in the Italian film industry as it is the first movie ever shot in Sardinia. Although thought to have gone lost for decades, it was found in 1992 in Prague with Czech subtitles and restored by the Cineteca di Bologna; being quite familiar with this kind of projects, I was contacted to write original music for it.
The plot is simple but astonishingly modern considering the times and the setting (I’d just like to mention that Sardinia was almost totally rural before the Second World War): a young, strong-willed girl called Cainà (hence the title), tired of the small village life and its narrow-minded mentality, decides to leave the island and secretely boards a ship directed to Italy (or "The Continent", as people from Sardinia commonly call it) and hides in the hold. Her escape will unfortunately end fairly soon when the captain finds her. Meanwhile Cainà’s father, in an attempt to find his escaping daughter, will find his death in a storm. Once on mainland, Cainà is offered accommodation at the captain’s house and soon will have to face the sad reality: she is a young woman on the run and as such she is not accepted by the captain’s family, she is obstracised and finally driven to leave. Back to Sardinia, Cainà will discover that her attempt to improve her life has only won her the anger and resentment of the "betrayed" village; finally she will be murdered by her lover, Agostineddu, driven insane by her absence. The movie closes with Cainà’s body on the rocks, washed by the waves, the same sea which once represented her pathway to "real" life.
The film will open on 15th October at Teatro della Fortuna (Fano, Italy) during the Fano Film Festival (www.fanofilmfestival.it) and I would really appreciate if you could insert this date in your event page and possibly including link to my homepage (www.mariomariani.com).
I found this project extremely stimulating and it would be my intention to promote it, maybe as part of a well-structured programme on less famous Italian silent movies; I would really appreciate if you could let me know whether you would be interested in such a project or if you could pass me information on any festival or organization who may be.
[Home] [News & Notes] [The Features Page] [The Store] [At the Movies]
[The Calendar] [Silent Era Facts] [Silent Star of the Month]
only1kcm@yahoo.com