Maddalena (1971)

Director:

Jerzy Kawalerowicz

Writer:

Jerzy Kawalerowicz (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Lisa Gastoni	...	Maddalena
Umberto Orsini
Ivo Garrani
Nando Gazzolo
Eric Woofe		(as Eric Woolfe)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paolo Bonacelli
Ernesto Colli
Ermelinda De Felice
Vera Drudi
Pietro Fumelli
Paolo Gozlino
Ezio Marano
Brizio Montinaro
Barbara Pilavin
Rosita Torosh

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Italy | Yugoslavia

Language:

Polish | Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R

Company:

Bosna Film

Trivia:

This film is best known for having the first appearance of the songs "Come Maddalena" and "Chi Mai" by Ennio Morricone. Both songs were re-recorded and released as the single "Disco 78" in 1977 and Chi Mai was later used in the TV series "The Life and Times of David Lloyd George" (1981).

Mary Magdalene revisited

The film Maddalena tells the story of a woman who is desperate to find real love in a real steady relationship on the one hand; and a priest who is doubting his ability to cope with celibacy on the other hand. When Maddalena decides the priest is the man that she wants, an atmosphere of erotic tension and self-questioning about true Faith fill up the air. The film is long forgotten (thus the five), but the score for the film, parts of which were used in other films, is considered by some as one of Morricone's finest, and quite rightly so. The already mentioned title part 'Come Maddalena', which mixes jazzy drumming with a modest church organ, the lyrical voices of Edda dell'Orso and a scatting choir, is probably one of the most evocative and thrilling parts of film music I have ever heard. Long before the world had ever heard of lounge music and chill-out, maestro Morricone must have sent the shivers down many a spine... as he has done so many times before and after.