Fiorile

Posted by Martina Birk on Sunday, September 1, 2024

The power of gold and its ability to destroy human relationships is the theme of the Taviani brothers' ambitious historical epic "Fiorile," a vast, pulsating canvas spanning two centuries of Italian history. "Fiorile's" expert narration gracefully straddles the river of time, and its unfolding stories create a "what happens next?" atmosphere worthy of Scheherazade or a Gothic novel.

The power of gold and its ability to destroy human relationships is the theme of the Taviani brothers’ ambitious historical epic “Fiorile,” a vast, pulsating canvas spanning two centuries of Italian history. “Fiorile’s” expert narration gracefully straddles the river of time, and its unfolding stories create a “what happens next?” atmosphere worthy of Scheherazade or a Gothic novel. Big-scale, thought-provoking and highly enjoyable, pic begs for major foreign art film release to unleash its full potential. It will premiere abroad at Cannes, in competition.

Related Stories

Photo collage of Lionsgate franchises The Hunger Games, Expendables, and Saw. VIP+

What Lionsgate’s Partnership Deal With Runway Means

Toxic Fandom

Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are ‘Just Out for Blood’ — From Social Media Boot Camps to Superfan Focus Groups

Co-scripted with Sandro Petraglia, “Fiorile” is one of Paolo and Vittorio Tavianis’ most successful attempts to mix abstract ideas with storytelling, simplicity with inventive technique. This transposition of an old Tuscan legend echoes the social themes and rural settings that appear in all their work. At the same time, it has the elementary force of a fable, pitting the dark power of gold against the light of love and springtime, in a disturbing battle that can never be won.

Popular on Variety

The story is framed by a journey that takes place in the present day. As the Benedetti family drives from Paris to Tuscany to visit a grandfather the children have never seen, the father jokingly tells his son and daughter about the family legend, and why people of the region call them the Maledetti (cursed) instead of Benedetti (blessed).

Everything starts with the French revolution and a chest of gold. Napoleon’s army is invading the Italian peninsula. French soldier Jean (Michel Vartan) is smitten by a sweet-faced peasant girl, Elisabetta (Galatea Ranzi), he meets in the woods. He nicknames her Fiorile, which is Italian for Floreal, the month of May on the French revolutionary calendar.

While they make love, Jean forgets about the chest of gold he’s supposed to be guarding. Elisabetta’s brother (Claudio Bigagli) makes off with the loot. Jean goes before the firing squad; Elisabetta dies in childbirth. Her peasant family, suddenly enriched, buys huge amounts of land.

But the evil origins of the family fortune haunt Jean and Elisabetta’s descendants. One hundred years later, the radiant Elisa (again played by Ranzi) is involved in another tragic love affair. Her brother Alessandro (Bigagli), one of the richest landowners in the area, is after a seat in parliament and finds her peasant lover (Giovanni Guidelli) too low for his ambitions. When Elisa discovers her two brothers have forced him to leave the country, she murders them.

At the height of the Resistance movement in 1944, young Massimo Benedetti falls in love with fellow student Chiara Caselli. She involves him in a mission for the Italian partisans, and both are captured. In a moving scene in the hills , the fascists spare Massimo because of his family’s wealth and power, but gun down his comrades. The experience is so traumatic, it turns him into a hermit, and he refuses to see the son Chiara bears him, lest the family curse continue to spread.

Film’s conclusion cleverly brings all the threads together, in a spooky but touching scene between the old man and Jean’s ghost.

This complex story (beautifully edited by Roberto Perpignani) has enough plot points and turnarounds to keep pic moving swiftly, and pace is brisker than in most Taviani films. Giuseppe Lanci’s cinematography caresses the characters and sun-drenched landscapes with palpable sensuality, offsetting the Tavianis’ characteristically schematic direction. Ditto most perfs, whose concreteness lends conviction to briefly seen characters. Particular standouts are the flower-fresh Ranzi, a stage actress making her film debut, in the dual role of Elisabetta/Elisa; Vartan as the innocent idealists Jean/Massimo; and Carpentieri as the crusty-hysterical old man.

Nicola Piovani’s wistful score is a potent motif linking various parts. Gianni Sbarra’s memorable sets contribute waves of atmosphere to a film that spans centuries.

Jump to Comments

Fiorile

Italian-French-German

  • Production: A Penta Distribuzione release (Italy) of a Filmtre-Gierre Film production in association with Penta Film (Italy)/Florida Movies and La Sept/Cinema in association with Canal Plus (France)/Roxy-Film and K.S.-Film (Germany) co-production. Produced by Grazia Volpi, Jean-Claude Cecile, Luggi Waldleitner, Karl Spiehs. Directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. Screenplay, Sandro Petraglia, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
  • Crew: Camera (color), Giuseppe Lanci; art direction, Gianni Sbarra; editor, Roberto Perpignani; music, Nicola Piovani; costumes, Lina Nerli Taviani; associate producers, Anna Rita Appolloni, Claudio Amram. Reviewed at Anica screening room, Rome, March 16, 1993. Running time: 122 min.
  • With: Corrado/Alessandro - Claudio Bigagli Elisabetta/Elisa - Galatea Ranzi Jean/Massimo - Michael Vartan Old Massimo - Renato Carpentieri Luigi - Lino Capolicchio Juliette - Costanze Engelbrecht Gina - Athina Cenci Chiara - Chiara Caselli With: Giovanni Guidelli, Norma Martelli, Pier Paolo Capponi, Carlo Luca De Ruggieri, Laurent Schilling, Fritz Mueller Scherz, Laura Scarimbolo, Elisa Giani , Ciro Esposito, Giovanni Cassinelli.

More from Variety

Most Popular

Must Read

Sign Up for Variety Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. // This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Variety Confidential

A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast

ncG1vNJzZmiukae2psDYZ5qopV9mhnp%2Fjp%2BgpaVfp7K3tcSwqmiemaS%2FqrjEZmhraGBpgHKClXFm

CATALOG
    FEATURED TAGS