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IMDbPro

The Ship Sails On

Original title: E la nave va
  • 19831983
  • PGPG
  • 2h 8m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
The Ship Sails On (1983)
DramaHistoryMusic
In 1914, a luxury ship leaves Italy in order to scatter the ashes of a famous opera singer. A lovable bumbling journalist chronicles the voyage and meets the singer's many eccentric friends ... Read allIn 1914, a luxury ship leaves Italy in order to scatter the ashes of a famous opera singer. A lovable bumbling journalist chronicles the voyage and meets the singer's many eccentric friends and admirers.In 1914, a luxury ship leaves Italy in order to scatter the ashes of a famous opera singer. A lovable bumbling journalist chronicles the voyage and meets the singer's many eccentric friends and admirers.
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
6.4K
YOUR RATING
    • Federico Fellini
    • Federico Fellini(story)
    • Tonino Guerra(story)
  • Stars
    • Freddie Jones
    • Barbara Jefford
    • Victor Poletti
    • Federico Fellini
    • Federico Fellini(story)
    • Tonino Guerra(story)
  • Stars
    • Freddie Jones
    • Barbara Jefford
    • Victor Poletti
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 28User reviews
    • 28Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Photos127

    Federico Fellini and Pierluigi Praturlon in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)
    Roger de Bellegarde and Fiorenzo Serra in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    Janet Suzman in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    Victor Poletti in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)
    Roger de Bellegarde and Fiorenzo Serra in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    Fiorenzo Serra in The Ship Sails On (1983)
    The Ship Sails On (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Freddie Jones
    Freddie Jones
    • Orlando
    Barbara Jefford
    Barbara Jefford
    • Ildebranda Cuffari
    Victor Poletti
    • Aureliano Fuciletto
    Peter Cellier
    Peter Cellier
    • Sir Reginald J. Dongby
    Elisa Mainardi
    Elisa Mainardi
    • Teresa Valegnani
    Norma West
    Norma West
    • Lady Violet Dongby Albertini
    Paolo Paoloni
    Paolo Paoloni
    • Il Maestro Albertini
    Sarah-Jane Varley
    • Dorotea
    Fiorenzo Serra
    • Il Granduca
    Pina Bausch
    Pina Bausch
    • La Principessa Lherimia
    Pasquale Zito
    • Il Conte di Bassano
    Linda Polan
    • Ines Ruffo Saltini
    Philip Locke
    Philip Locke
    • Il Primo Ministro
    Jonathan Cecil
    Jonathan Cecil
    • Ricotin
    Maurice Barrier
    Maurice Barrier
    • Ziloev
    Fred Williams
    Fred Williams
    • Sabatino Lepori
    Elisabeth Kaza
    Elisabeth Kaza
    • La produttrice
    Colin Higgins
    • Il capo della polizia
      • Federico Fellini
      • Federico Fellini(story) (screenplay)
      • Tonino Guerra(story) (screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The song "Rhinoceros", by Utah Saints on their album Two, contains a sample of Michael Stipe, the R.E.M. singer, detailing the scenario of this film .
    • Quotes

      Orlando: Pum pum? The mountain's mouth? But it's a volcano's mouth. We're sitting on a volcano's mouth. Now I understood the metaphor! A tragedy.

    • Connections
      Edited into Bellissimo: Immagini del cinema italiano (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      La donna è mobile
      from 'Rigoletto'

      Composed by Giuseppe Verdi

    User reviews28

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Bon voyage
    Everyone seemed to expect something special from Fellini later in life, as if all that had gone before was just preparation for a master oeuvre that would make us fall to our knees. In that sense, he kept disappointing, and with this film probably more than most. There's nothing here but quaintness and nostalgia, with a gentle, almost Tati-esquire humour – intellectually, he was going backwards, if anything. Twenty-odd years later, Fellini is now fully in context and it is easier to accept. This is what Fellini did – like it or not - the simple observation of harmless caricatures, which is actually engaging, enjoyable, even a little intriguing. Nobody is intrinsically good or bad; everyone is a set of circumstances, more or less fortunate or unfortunate; nobody harbours grudges – even here – especially here, on the eve of World War I, the end of a golden era of genteel innocence.

    The first time I watched this I took against Freddie Jones' MC character. This time I liked him, or rather sympathised with him – mainly on account of the fact that since then I used to live in the next village to him in Oxfordshire where he was a well-known and amiable local character. Still regrettable though that he was clearly directed here to copy Giuletta Masina's gestures and mannerisms as closely as possible. As a journalist following events, he introduces us to the passengers on a luxury liner taking a group of opera singers, impresarios and dignitaries – including the Austrian Grand Duke – to the funeral-at-sea of a beloved diva. All of them are eccentric or charming in their own way and a succession of quaint scenes ensues as the voyage progresses – including a hypnotised chicken, a sickly rhinoceros, and a memorable scene in which the singers perform for the stokers high above the boiler room (quite a bit of this was clearly parasitised by Tornatore in "The Legend of 1900").

    It all has a deliberate artificiality about it. The sea, rising and falling serenely behind the windows, is, on closer examination, made of plastic sheet. At the end, the camera pulls back to display the set and the crew – a simple indication that we are all part of some grander machination, that we are all a bunch of fools on a sinking ship, and if we all took life a little less seriously, we might enjoy it a good deal more. Once you've got in the right frame of mind, this is highly enjoyable.
    helpful•7
    2
    • federovsky
    • Apr 30, 2008

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 7, 1983 (Italy)
      • Italy
      • France
      • Italian
      • German
      • Serbian
      • Russian
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Rai 1
      • Vides Produzione
      • Gaumont
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 2 hours 8 minutes
      • Black and White
      • Mono

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