"L'odissea" (1968) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.7/10   

Directors:

Franco Rossi
Piero Schivazappa
(more)

Writers:

Giampiero Bona (writer)
Vittorio Bonicelli (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

24 March 1968 (Italy)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

TV Mini-Series | Ancient Greece

Cast

Bekim Fehmiu	...	Ulysses / Odysseus
Irene Papas	...	Penelope
Michèle Breton	...	Athena
Fausto Tozzi	...	Menelaus
Renaud Verley	...	Telemachus
Marina Berti	...	Arete
Samson Burke	...	Polyphemus
Roy Purcell	...	Alcinous
Stefanella Giovannini	...	Cassandra
Karl-Otto Alberty	...	Eurymachus
Maurizio Tocchi	...	Leocritus
Barbara Bach	...	Nausicaa (as Barbara Gregorini)
Vladimir Leib	...	Aeolus
Scilla Gabel	...	Helen
Duje Novakovic	...	Elpenor
Petar Buntic	...	Philoetius
Juliette Mayniel	...	Circe
Mimmo Palmara	...	Achilles
Giulio Donnini	...	Tiresias
Bianca Doria	...	Anticlia (as Bianca Maria Doria)
Rolf Boysen	...	Agamemnon
Marcella Valeri	...	Euryclia
Constantin Nepo	...	Antinous
Ilija Ivezic	...	Ctesippus
Laura Nucci	...	Antinous' mother
Kyra Bester	...	Calypso
Husein Cokic	...	Eumaeus
Sergio Ferrero	...	Peisistratos
Enzo Fiermonte	...	Demodocus
Voyo Goric	...	Philoctetes (as Vojislav Govedarica)
Gérard Herter	...	Laocoon
Peter Hinwood	...	Hermes
Branko Kovacic	...	Laertes
Miodrag Loncar	...	Irus / Arnaeus
Nona Medici	...	Iphthime
Corrado Monteforte	...	Amphinomus
Ada Morotti	...	Cyane
Ivica Pajer	...	Eurylochus
Luciano Rossi	...	Theoclymenus
Hrvoje Svob	...	Phemius
Giulio Tomei	...	Priam
Jaspar von Oertzen	...	Nestor
Tiberio Mitri
Sime Jagarinac
Franco Indovina
Franco Balducci
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Franco Fantasia
Danilo Poprzen

Directed by
Franco Rossi
Piero Schivazappa
Mario Bava		(episode "Polifemo")

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Giampiero Bona		writer
Vittorio Bonicelli		writer
Fabio Carpi		writer
Luciano Codignola		writer
Homer		poem
Mario Prosperi		writer
Franco Rossi		writer
Renzo Russo		writer

Produced by
Dino De Laurentiis	....	producer

Original Music by
Carlo Rustichelli

Cinematography by
Aldo Giordani

Film Editing by
Giorgio Serrallonga		(as Giorgio Serralonga)

Production Design by
Luciano Ricceri

Set Decoration by
Mario Altieri

Costume Design by
Dario Cecchi

Makeup Department
Maurizio Giustini	....	makeup artist
Anna Graziosi	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Alfredo De Laurentiis	....	production manager
Giorgio Morra	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lamberto Bava	....	first assistant director (episode "Polifemo")
Nello Vanin	....	assistant director

Art Department
Aldo Puccini	....	set constructor

Sound Department
Vittorio Trentino	....	sound

Special Effects by
Mario Bava	....	special effects
Carlo Rambaldi	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Sergio Bergamini	....	camera operator

Music Department
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor

Other crew
Rosa Calzecchi Onesti	....	translator: Homer's "The Odyssey"
Flavia Sante Vanin	....	script supervisor (as Flavia Vanin)

Production Companies

• Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica
• Jadran Film
• Bavaria Film TV
• Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF)
• Radiotelevisione Italiana

Distributors

• Radiotelevisione Italiana
• Paramount Pictures (1969) (Italy) (theatrical release)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (theatrical version) (original airing)
• TV Ontario (1969-1982) (Ontario) (miniseries)
• Enrique Viñals Vicent (1971) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française (ORTF) (France)
• ElleU Multimedia (Italy) (DVD)
• ElleU Multimedia (Italy) (VHS)
• Multimedia San Paolo S.r.l. (Italy) (DVD)
• Multimedia San Paolo S.r.l. (Italy) (VHS)
• Western International (1970) (USA) (dubbed)

Also Known As:

"Die Odyssee" (West Germany)
"L'odyssée" (France)
"Le avventure di Ulisse" (Italy) (theatrical title)
"Odissea" (Italy) (video title)
"The Adventures of Ulysses" (Europe: English title) (theatrical title)

Runtime:

Italy:109 min (theatrical version) | Italy:446 min (video version) | Italy:55 min (8 episodes) | Spain:91 min (theatrical version)

Country:

Italy | Yugoslavia | West Germany | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:GP

Filming Locations:

Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the bow of Ulysses is taken form the storage room it is clearly strung. Bows have to be stored unstrung or they lose their strength over time (and this one is said to have not been touched for 20 years). As a result the movie deviates from the epic in the essential part that in the epic the bow is useless to the suitors because they are unable to string it (either due to lack of strength or not knowing that a composite bow is strung backwards). The movie on the other hand shows the suitors (rather unconvincingly) unable to simply draw the bow.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nessuno (1992)

The Best Interpretation of the Homeric Classic

Of all the versions of the Odyssey (or of any Greek mythological story for that matter), this in my opinion is the best of them all. Almost true to the original storyline - with some minor deviations and omissions, e.g. the absence of Scylla & Charybdis and the fact that Eumaeus the swineherd recognizes Odysseus in disguise in his hut - realistic acting and authentic scenery and costumes all contribute to make this a truly memorable masterpiece,not some Hollywoodish sword-and-sandal B-flick. Notwithstanding the fact that the dialogue and subtitles are completely in Italian, if one is familiar with the storyline, he can still make heads and tails of what is going on and what the actors are saying (provided you have a good handy text of the Odyssey at hand). At least I did, and so much so that it has inspired me to study the Italian language to better appreciate the movie even more.