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:

12 - Reels - 12 (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 is the earliest film included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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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 , 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

Featured in Baarìa (2009)

User Reviews

whole lotta lava

1914 was quite a year. Charlie Chaplin made his film debut, WWI began -- and set the stage for a lot of what happened in the 20th century -- and my great-grandparents immigrated to the United States (sorry, I couldn't resist adding that last one).

But that year also saw the release of Giovanni Pastrone's "Cabiria". This epic depicts the kidnapping of a Sicilian girl following an eruption of Mt. Etna, her sale into slavery in Carthage, and a Roman nobleman's quest to rescue her. It's like nothing that you've ever seen before.

The movie has drawn controversy due to its depiction of the Romans as pure and the Carthaginians as monstrous (thereby glorifying the idea of Italian supremacy). To be certain, producer Gabriele d'Annunzio's ideology influenced Benito Mussolini, although d'Annunzio had no actual association with Il Duce.

Regardless of that, the movie is still a fun -- and visually breathtaking -- romp. Maciste got his own series of movies. The ones immediately after "Cabiria" starred Bartolomeo Pagano, and then there was a new series in the 1960s.

Anyway, really cool!