Cabiria (1914)

Three centuries before Christus. Young Cabiria is kidnapped by some pirates during one eruption of the Etna. She is sold as a slave in Carthage, and as she is just going to be sacrificed to... See full summary »

Director:

Giovanni Pastrone

Writers:

Gabriele D'Annunzio (titles), Titus Livius (book)

Stars:

Italia Almirante-Manzini, Lidia Quaranta, Bartolomeo Pagano

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Carolina Catena	...	Cabiria da piccola / as a Child (as Catena)
Lidia Quaranta	...	Cabiria - also called Elissa
Gina Marangoni	...	Croessa - Cabiria's Nurse
Dante Testa	...	Karthalo - the High Priest
Umberto Mozzato	...	Fulvio 'Fulvius' Axilla
Bartolomeo Pagano	...	Maciste - Axilla's Slave
Raffaele di Napoli	...	Bodastoret - the Innkeeper
Emilio Vardannes	...	Hannibal
Edoardo Davesnes	...	Hasdrubal
Italia Almirante-Manzini	...	Sophonisba - Hasdrubal's Daughter
Alex Bernard	...	Siface 'Syphax' - King of Cirta (as Alessandro Bernard)
Luigi Chellini	...	Scipione 'Scipio' - the Consul
Vitale Di Stefano	...	Massinissa - the Numidian King
Enrico Gemelli	...	Archimede
Ignazio Lupi	...	Arbace

Storyline

Three centuries before Christus. Young Cabiria is kidnapped by some pirates during one eruption of the Etna. She is sold as a slave in Carthage, and as she is just going to be sacrificed to god Moloch, Cabiria is rescued by both Fulvio Axilla, a Roman noble, and his giant slave Maciste. Maciste is captured just after having confided Cabiria to Sophinisbe's safe keeping, while Fulvio Axilla manages to escape from Carthage. Ten years went away with Punic wars before he is able to come back to Carthage...

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Plot Keywords:

carthage | slave | moloch | 3rd century b.c. | roman | 

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Taglines:

1200 - Scenes - 1200 (original ad)

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1 June 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

Кабирия

Filming Locations:

FERT Studios, Turin, Piedmont, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$210,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Itala Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

148 min 125 min (1990 alternate) 123 min (Kino Restored Print) 162 min (1995 restoration) 181 min (2006 restoration)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first film to use a dolly-track system, the effects of which were pegged "Cabiria movements" in the industry.

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Alternate Versions

Eighteen Frame, Inc. copyrighted a version in 1990 with a piano music score based on the original score by Manlio Mazza, and performed by Jacques Gauthier. Intertitles were translated by Charles Affron and Mirella Jona Affron. It was distributed by Kino Video and runs 125 minutes, but there is also a two-minute introduction.

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Connections

Referenced in Metropolis (1927)

User Reviews

Tremendously influential over-the-top spectacle

Silent films don't have much of an audience these days. Be that as it may, I would like to recommend this film as a hugely influential costume epic that had great influence over the likes of D.W. Griffith (who did Intolerence right after!), Cecil B. DeMille, and even Fritz Lang (when he did Metropolis). Sure, it's long and it's got one of those convuluted plotlines typical of the period and historically it's crap, but the sets and costumes have to be seen to be believed! The scale of things is just fantastic, with giant temples and houses, all sorts of huge rooms and decoration all over anything, and hundreds and hundreds of extras with fabulous costumes, all done in pastiche of styles that range from Egyptian to Babylonian to this whole weird Indian look, although it's all set in North Africa. Then there's the melodramatic acting, which really can't be judged by today's standards, as there are few subtitles of dialogue, only very grand and wordy intertitles summarzing the plot and offering odes to gods and goddesses. This movie is a must-see if you're studying the history of epic films, early full-length movie, Griffith, etc., and even if you're not, it's a hoot (at least until half-way through, at which point you may decide you've had enough of the plot and can guess the rest.)