La notte di San Lorenzo (1982)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Directors:

Paolo Taviani
Vittorio Taviani

Writers:

Paolo Taviani (screenplay) &
Vittorio Taviani (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1982 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

The Night of San Lorenzo, the night of the shooting stars, is the night when dreams come true in Italian folklore...

Plot Keywords:

Town | Bread | WWII | Watermelon | Hiding

Awards:

15 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Omero Antonutti	...	Galvano
Margarita Lozano	...	Concetta
Claudio Bigagli	...	Corrado
Miriam Guidelli	...	Belindia
Massimo Bonetti	...	Nicola
Enrica Maria Modugno	...	Mara
Sabina Vannucchi	...	Rosanna
Giorgio Naddi	...	Bishop
Renata Zamengo	...	La Scardigli
Micol Guidelli	...	Cecilia
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Father Marmugi
Giovanni Guidelli	...	Marmugi Junior
Mario Spallino	...	Bruno
Paolo Hendel	...	Dilvo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leila Amodeo
Beatrice Bardelli	...	Woman in Canteen
Sauro Baschieri	...	Fascist
Samanta Boi	...	Rosanna as a child
Luca Canadri	...	Fascist
Dario Cantarelli	...	Priest
Sergi Dagliana	...	Olinto
Andrea De Bari	...	Rosanna's Fascist Cousin
Marco Fastame	...	Gino
Giuseppe Furia	...	Requiem
Graziella Galvani	...	Signora Migliorati
Edoardo Gazzetti	...	Egisto
Carlo Gensini	...	Ruggero
Vinicio Gioli	...	Belindia's Father
Andrea Giuntini	...	Gudo
Evelina Gori	...	Old Peasant Woman
Antonella Guidelli	...	Renata
Mirio Guidelli	...	Duilio
Titta Guidelli	...	Alfredina
Giuseppe Lo Parco	...	Fascist
Laura Mannucchi	...	Signora Naldini
Gianni Mantelli	...	Fascist
Norma Martelli	...	Ivana
Guido Marziali	...	Naldini
Luciana Mattioli	...	Woman of the Mountain
Rinaldo Mirannalti	...	Attorney Migliorati
Mauro Monni	...	Dante
Carla Montemagno	...	Family Member on the Road
Lorenzo Montemagno	...	Family Member on the Road
Vito Montemagno	...	Family Member on the Road
Gianfranco Morandi	...	Seminarist
Walter Pardini	...	Fascist
Donata Piacentini	...	Nicola's Mother
Franco Piacentini	...	Nicola's Father
Roberta Pinzauti	...	Old Peasant Woman's Niece
Antonio Prester	...	Tuminello
Paolo Ricchi	...	Singing German
Beatrice Righini	...	Migliorati's Daughter
David Riondino	...	Giglioli
Gianfranco Salemi	...	Man in the Bus
Alessandra Toesca	...	Rosanna's Friend
Maria Toesca	...	Rosanna's Friend
Daniele Trambusti	...	Fascist
Titti Travaglino	...	Rosanna's Friend
Giuseppe Valdisserra	...	Peasant

Also Known As:

Night of the Shooting Stars (USA)
The Night of San Lorenzo (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 (re-rating) (1995) | UK:A (original rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Company:

Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Marcello Mastroianni: mi ricordo, sì, io mi ricordo (1997)

A very personal experience of the horrors of war

The Night of the Shooting Stars is the semi-autobiographical recollection by the Taviani Brothers of the night when a group of peasants in a small Tuscan village left their homes that had been mined by the Fascists to look for liberating American soldiers rumored to be on the outskirts. Set on the night of the Feast of St. Lawrence in the closing days of World War II, and enhanced by a haunting score by Nicola Piovani, the film is a tragi-comic glimpse of what the war was like to an impressionable child filtered through years of memory. It is essentially a series of vignettes combining fact, memory, and poetic imagination told in flashback by a mother recalling her days as a 6-year old girl named Cecilia caught in the middle of war.

The film focuses on the nature of a conflict in which life long friends from the same village are often engaged in the struggle on different sides. Especially vivid is a scene involving a battle in a wheat field between the villagers and home grown Fascists, and a heart wrenching confrontation between the partisans and a father with his 15-year old son. There are many other poignant moments as well: a young couple expecting a child, the village priest who is a collaborator, and an elderly couple rekindling a romance started when they were adolescents.

Night of the Shooting Stars pays homage to the tradition of neo-realism, but also includes surrealistic moments such as when the young girl sees the partisans as Greek warriors, while the Fascist who threatens her life falls dead, pierced by multiple spears. Though Night of the Shooting Stars suffers from overacting, its unique approach allows us to see war as a very personal experience with all of its sadness and cruelty. It was also gratifying to see Americans being held in high esteem, an experience we haven't enjoyed much of recently.