Silent Reels and Hidden Walls
Capelli Biondi Silent Film Reels Are Discovered in Ortigia.
Story by Christopher J. Davies / Photos supplied by Cineteca Dello Stretto
Do you know the expression, “if these walls could talk”?
The owners of Lanterne Magiche Ortigia combined three 17th- and 18th-century palaces in the alleyways of Ortigia’s historic Giudecca (Jewish) neighborhood into a single property of luxurious suites and apartments. During construction in 2022, workers found four 35mm print canisters containing the long-thought-lost 1919 Capelli Biondi silent Italian film. Cineteca dello Stretto has completely restored the film in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna.
The film’s subject comes from a novel by Salvatore Farina published in 1875. Today, both the novel and its author have mostly been forgotten, but in the decade between 1870 and 1880, Farina was, as Gaetano Mariani assures us in his Storia della Scapigliatura, “one of the most notable literary happenings of the decade.”
The film is set against the backdrop of lower-middle-class lifestyles with some forays into high society. It features gracefully depicted sentimental and passionate stories. It is hard to ignore a razor-sharp hint of fetishism and tortured love. The sculptural quality of the shots and avant-garde style make for an interesting glimpse into filmmaking techniques from a century ago.
https://cinetecadellostretto.it/capelli/