Cabiria

This article is about the 1914 silent film. Not to be confused with the 1957 film Nights of Cabiria.
Cabiria
Directed byGiovanni Pastrone
Screenplay by
  • Giovanni Pastrone
Based onA book by Titus Livius and a novel by Emilio Salgari[1]
Produced byGiovanni Pastrone
StarringBartolomeo Pagano, Lidia Quaranta
Cinematography
Music byManlio Mazza
Ildebrando Pizzetti
Production
company
Release date
  • 18 April 1914 (1914-04-18) (Italy)
Running time
  • 200 minutes (original cut)
  • 190 minutes (2006 restoration)
  • 148 minutes[1] (surviving Italian cuts)
  • 126 minutes (surviving USA cuts)
CountryItaly
LanguagesSilent
Italian Intertitles
Budget£50,000[3]
Box office₤1 million
Cabiria (full video)

Cabiria is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows the story of an abducted little girl, Cabiria, and features an eruption of Mount Etna, religious rituals in Carthage, the alpine trek of Hannibal, Archimedes' defeat of the Roman fleet at the Siege of Syracuse and Scipio maneuvering in North Africa. Apart from being a classic on its own terms, the film is also notable for being the first film in which the long-running film character Maciste makes his debut. According to Martin Scorsese, in this work Pastrone invented the epic movie and deserves credit for many of the innovations often attributed to D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille.[4] Among those was the extensive use of a moving camera, thus freeing the feature-length narrative film from "static gaze".

The historical background and characters in the story are taken from Livy's Ab Urbe Condita (written ca. 27–25 BC). In addition, the script of Cabiria was partially based on Gustave Flaubert's 1862 novel Salammbô and Emilio Salgari's 1908 novel Cartagine in fiamme (Carthage in Flames). It was the first film shown at the White House, having been viewed on the South Lawn, by the President, First Lady, Vice President, his wife, members of the Cabinet and their wives, due to the summer heat in June 1914.[5]

  1. ^ a b c Kinnard & Crnkovich 2017, p. 7.
  2. ^ "The Greatest Picture.: FILM PLAY "CABIRIA" COMING. : HANNIBAL'S CAMPAIGN CINEMATOGRAPHED". The Critic. Vol. XVI, no. 897. South Australia. 21 April 1915. p. 9. Retrieved 3 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ ""Cabiria." : A Magnificent Film Play. Produced At A Cost Of £50,000". The Mail (Adelaide). Vol. 3, no. 153. South Australia. 17 April 1915. p. 4 (SATURDAY'S NEWS SECTION). Retrieved 3 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger (2006-07-02). "The stuff of dreams". Roger Ebert.com. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  5. ^ "French Ambassador and Wife Soon to Take Ship for Visit to Paris Home". The Washington Post. June 27, 1914. p. 7.