Vajont - La diga del disonore (2001)

On October 9th, 1963, at 10:39 pm, 260 million cubic meters of rock fell down from Mount Toc to the artificial lake formed by the Vajont dam, the higher dam in the world. The landslide ... See full summary »

Director:

Renzo Martinelli

Writers:

Pietro Calderoni, Renzo Martinelli

Stars:

Michel Serrault, Daniel Auteuil, Laura Morante

3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Serrault	...	Carlo Semenza
Daniel Auteuil	...	Alberico Biadene
Laura Morante	...	Tina Merlin
Jorge Perugorría	...	Olmo Montaner
Anita Caprioli	...	Ancilla
Leo Gullotta	...	Mario Pancini
Philippe Leroy	...	Giorgio dal Piaz
Jean-Christophe Brétigniere	...	Edoardo Semenza
Nicola Di Pinto	...	Francesco Penta
Federica Martinelli	...	Margherita
Eleonora Martinelli	...	Giannina
Maurizio Trombini	...	Ing. Desidera
Bruno Bilotta	...	Remo
Paco Reconti	...	Bertolissi
Antonio Fabbri	...	Prof. Ghetti

Storyline

On October 9th, 1963, at 10:39 pm, 260 million cubic meters of rock fell down from Mount Toc to the artificial lake formed by the Vajont dam, the higher dam in the world. The landslide formed a 250-meters wave and 50 million cubic meters of water completely destroied all the below towns, killing more than 2000 people. Planned by engineer Semenza, Vajont dam (263 meters) had to carry the electricity in all the houses of the country. Tina Merlin, a journalist from "L'Unitá", tried for years to denounce the danger to build a dam near the Mount Toc and expecially to denounce all the omissions by the corrupted politicians and workers in charge of the dam construction. They preferred to trust in old geologist Dal Piaz instead to hear engineer Semenza young son's alarming analysis. No one seemed to understand the high danger until that October fatal night.

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Plot Keywords:

dam | water | mud | director on camera | cemetery | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian French

Release Date:

19 October 2001 (Italy)

Also Known As:

La folie des hommes

Filming Locations:

Belluno, Veneto, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

ITL 17,000,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Comune di Vajont, Les Productions Bagheera

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Selected for the Villerupt Italian Film Festival 2002.

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Goofs

Anita Caprioli screams as the water wave is coming, but her mouth is not open.

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Quotes

Ancilla: That's a beautiful story. Really... If I think about it... I'd like a story like that too.
Olmo Montaner: For a story like that, you have to start from the beginning.
Ancilla: [looking at a wooden sculpture] Listen... you didn't chose this one at random...
Olmo Montaner: Well, I was thinking... it's time to start a family.
Ancilla: Yes but... it takes two people to start a family.
Olmo Montaner: But there are two of us...

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Crazy Credits

Production wish to thank all the inhabitants of the areas hit by the disaster for the magnificent and generous collaboration offered to the crew and to the cast during the filming.

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Soundtracks

"Nostalgia"
Written and Performed by Gianni Fassetta

User Reviews

Fine Docu-Drama of the Vajont Dam Disaster

Director Renzo Martinelli mixes the usual disaster movie ingredients in Vajont with one ingredient you don't usually see. In Vajont, the movie shows the top engineers at the construction company who are responsible for building the then tallest dam in the world as practical people whose main concern is to finish the dam and get the Italian government to pay for the construction costs. The newlywed couple (the husband an engineer at the dam construction company), the reporter out to expose the flawed dam and the eventual disaster are the type of characters and situation you can find in plenty of movies about things going wrong. But when the top engineers realize they have a bad problem with landslides, they try to figure out what to do to protect the company's investment while avoiding a disaster. Since the incident at Vajont is well known in Italy, the ending of the movie is a foregone conclusion. Martinelli does a fine job of showing the dam builders trying to find a way out of the trap they are in, with the dam creating a lake against the Toc, the name the townspeople give to the crumbly mountain that borders the lake. The Italian DVD that had this movie also included an extra showing before and after, the step by step creation of the visual effects. A real interesting extra