Cabiria
classified PG SPlease note: This was screened in July 2021
Join us for a rare screening of Giovanni Pastrone’s epic silent film with live musical accompaniment by John Sweeney.
Set during the conflicts between Rome and Carthage in the third century BC, this classic of early Italian cinema tells the story of Cabiria (Lidia Quaranta), a Roman girl who is separated from her parents during the Second Punic War. Helped along the way by two heroes of the war, Fulvio (Umberto Mozzato) and Maciste (Bartolomeo Pagano), Cabiria’s odyssey includes eye-opening set pieces including the eruption of Mount Etna, sea battles with Mediterranean pirates, human sacrifices and Hannibal crossing the Alps.
Cabiria’s tremendous international success not only established a template for epic films, but also shot actor Bartolomeo Pagano and his screen persona, Maciste the Strongman (screening Sun 11 July), to international stardom and launched one of cinema’s first major franchises, the highly successful Maciste series.
A truly monumental film for its time, Cabiria can now be seen on the big screen thanks to this new restoration by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Turin.
“Cabiria had all the right ingredients: adventure, melodrama, pageantry, religion, extraordinary production design and striking camera angles and lighting” Martin Scorsese.
The event is generously supported by a grant from the Institute for Greece, Rome and the Classical Tradition at the University of Bristol. Organised in partnership with South West Silents and presented in partnership with Cinema Rediscovered.
