Cielo sulla palude (1949)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Augusto Genina

Writers:

Suso Cecchi d'Amico (screenplay)
Augusto Genina (adaptation)

Release Date:

24 November 1949 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The scene is the Pontine Marshes, a disease-ridden region. The year is 1902. Maria Goretti, a twelve-year-old girl...

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Rubi D'Alma	...	La contessa Teneroni
Michele Malaspina	...	Il conte
Domenico Viglione Borghese	...	Il dottore (as D. Viglione Borghese)
Inés Orsini	...	Maria Goretti
Assunta Radico	...	Assunta Goretti - La madre di Maria
Giovanni Martella	...	Luigi Goretti - il padre di Maria
Mauro Matteucci	...	Alessandro Serenelli
Francesco Tomalillo	...	Giovanni Serenelli - il padre di Serenelli
María Luisa Landín	...	Lucia
Ida Paoloni	...	Teresa
Federico Meloni	...	Angelo
Jole Savoretti	...	Anna
Giovanni Sestili	...	Mariano
Vincenzo Solfiotti	...	Antonio

Also Known As:

Heaven Over the Marshes (International: English title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Arx

Trivia:

Italian censorship certificate # 6572 delivered on 7-10-1949.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Les invasions barbares (2003)

THE LIFE OF MARIA GORETTI (Augusto Genina, 1949) ***

I had never heard of this before its recent screening on late-night Italian TV but, checking up on HEAVEN OVER THE MARSHES (the original title's literal translation) on the 'Net, I realized that it was the recipient of a couple of Venice Film Festival prizes – thus worth viewing in my book. As had been the case with THE STORY OF JACOB AND Joseph (1974; TV) – a viewing of which preceded this one – the life story of the child Saint Maria Goretti, who was canonized for upholding her virginity at the cost of her own life, was a staple during religious doctrine classes while I was growing up. The basic plot involving simple country folk (typically played, for the most part, by non-professionals and, consequently, restricted pretty much to stereotypes) lent itself to the rigorous "Neo-Realism" style then fashionable in Italy. Even so, the film – obviously laden with melodramatic situations but, in keeping with the theme and the approach, also displaying great feeling for its pastoral setting – is uncommonly stretched to 109 minutes (so that the second half virtually presents a relentless succession of attempts upon the girl's virtue!). For the record, I recently acquired another little-known but similarly well-regarded effort from director Genina i.e. the WWII movie BENGASI (1942) which, needless to say, takes a pro-Fascist stance.