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Waiting for the Martyrdom
Like all the Italia dramas I have seen from this period, this is a beautifully produced film. Set design, costuming and photography are all top notch, and there is a diagonal composition used in a couple of shots that is very dramatic. Even the print is excellent: beautifully tinted and with no sign of wear or decomposition.
Nonetheless, this is a bad movie for 1911, and the problem lies in the obvious padding that goes on. Everyone walks very slowly. People hold long conversations with the details of what they are saying indicated by broad gesture and a short title every minute or two. This quickly turns into one of those epics -- even though it is only one reel in length -- in which you wait for the big event: the dead guy on the horse in EL CID is my personal example. Choose another if you like that particular movie. Here you're waiting for Saint Sebastian's martyrdom by arrows and the print stops just after the order is given.
I have no doubt that these issues would not be apparent to a Catholic a century ago. The intended audience would know the story of Saint Sebastian in detail. Nonetheless, this attitude led the film makers to make this incomplete work of art.
Nonetheless, this is a bad movie for 1911, and the problem lies in the obvious padding that goes on. Everyone walks very slowly. People hold long conversations with the details of what they are saying indicated by broad gesture and a short title every minute or two. This quickly turns into one of those epics -- even though it is only one reel in length -- in which you wait for the big event: the dead guy on the horse in EL CID is my personal example. Choose another if you like that particular movie. Here you're waiting for Saint Sebastian's martyrdom by arrows and the print stops just after the order is given.
I have no doubt that these issues would not be apparent to a Catholic a century ago. The intended audience would know the story of Saint Sebastian in detail. Nonetheless, this attitude led the film makers to make this incomplete work of art.
helpful•10
- boblipton
- Sep 13, 2013
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- By Order of the Emperor
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- Runtime9 minutes
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- 1.33 : 1
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