La notte di San Lorenzo (1982)

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)

Falling stars

The night of August 10th, when the feast of St. Lawrence is observed, is the time of the year when meteor showers can be observed in the sky. It has been a tradition in the western culture that wishing for a favor when watching the falling stars in the sky is a way to ask for love, riches and luck. The sky watchers can expect a spectacle like no other because of the way those distant lights are seen falling, fast and furious.

The brothers Taviani, Paolo and Vittorio, have always come out with interesting films that involve simple people, usually connected to the land. In "La Notte di San Lorenzo", the Tavianis take the viewer to witness a group of people from Tuscany during the last days of WWII. The story is told by a 6 years old girl who was too young to realize the horrors around her in those final days of the conflict.

In spite of the approaching American liberating army, there are still the horrible local Fascists, who knowing they were fighting a losing battle, terrorized their neighbors into submission. These misguided people, having mined most of the houses in the town, are feared by the local population. Some flee into the countryside, but some remain in the town, convinced that being in the big church will protect them against evil.

Things go from bad to worse. We see different vignettes involving some of the people, as they cope with the situation. There is Galvano, who has loved Concetta in silence and is finally, as in a miracle, gets his wish granted in the way that she acknowledges that she has always love him, even after both have been married to different people. There's the young pregnant young bride, who is expecting and who gets married at the beginning of the film, only to be separated from her husband in an ironic twist.

The Tavianis painted a huge canvas in which they situated the action. Tuscany in the summer is a lovely place to be, but one can't even comprehend that it was also the scene for the tragedy lived in Italy in those tragic years. The music by Nicola Piovani is effective in the background. Franco DiGiacomo's photography does wonders to make the film a great experience. The large cast does an excellent job for the Tavianis, who are ultimately, the ones to thank for their courage in presenting us this lyrical movie of beauty and death.