Beatrice Cenci (1969)

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (screenplay)
Lucio Fulci (story)

Release Date:

September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young Italian noblewoman plots with her lover and her family to murder her abusive father leading to an uproar in the community and the Roman Catholic church set in 16th Century Italy.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Italy | 16th Century | Castle | Told In Flashback

Cast

Tomas Milian	...	Olimpo Calvetti
Adrienne Larussa	...	Beatrice Cenci
Georges Wilson	...	Francesco Cenci (as George Wilson)
Mavie	...	Lucrezia, Beatrice's Stepmother (as Mavi)
Antonio Casagrande	...	Don Giacomo Cenci
Ignazio Spalla	...	Catalano (as Pedro Sanchez)
Max Steffen Zacharias	...	Prospero Fadinacco
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Cardinal Lanciani
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Gasparro
Mirko Ellis	...	3rd Excellency
John Bartha	...	2nd Excellency
Calogero Micciche'
Gustavo D'Arpe
Umberto D'Orsi	...	Inspector
Alfio Petrini

Also Known As:

La vera storià di Beatrice Cenci (Italy) (working title)
Perversion Story (UK)
The Conspiracy of Torture (USA)

Runtime:

99 min | USA:84 min | France:89 min (DVD version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | France:-16 (DVD rating) | Italy:T (VHS rating) | Italy:VM18 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Filmena

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ti ricordi di Lucio Fulci? (2006) (V)

Flesh and blood

I do not go much for Fulci's horror movies which remain very inferior,IMHO, to those of his Italian colleagues (Dario Argento and Mario Bava).But this one ,by keeping the horror sequences to the minimum (the tortures scenes do not last long fortunately),is eminently commendable.

The cast includes two French actors :one of them ,Georges Wilson ,a very earnest stage thespian ,and the father of Lambert Wilson,is very unexpected here ,and his part of the violent perverse noble who rejoices cause two of his sons are dead so he won't have to feed them anymore and who imprisons his daughter in a dungeon is quite impressive .The other French actor is Raymond Pellegrin in a supporting role.Adrienne Larusso is incredibly beautiful as Beatrice Cenci and Thomas Milian gives a restrained effective performance.

The plot is not easy to catch up with ,because the director blends present and past without the traditional codes .No transition most of the time.Besides ,there are many characters ,and many of them are underwritten (Beatrice's brother for instance)

It's a film of blood and fury,the monsters are everywhere :Francesco Cenci is terrifying but so is the Holy Office whose goal is to appropriate the Cenci's fortune.

Like this?try these....

Flesh and blood (Paul Verhoeven,1985)

The devils (Ken Russel,1970)

La monaca di Monza (ERIPRANDO Visconti,1968)