Beatrice Cenci (1969)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Lucio Fulci

Writers:

Lucio Fulci (screenplay)
Lucio Fulci (story)

Release Date:

September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A young Italian noblewoman plots with her lover and her family to murder her abusive father leading to an uproar in the community and the Roman Catholic church set in 16th Century Italy.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Italy | 16th Century | Castle | Told In Flashback

Cast

Tomas Milian	...	Olimpo Calvetti
Adrienne Larussa	...	Beatrice Cenci
Georges Wilson	...	Francesco Cenci (as George Wilson)
Mavie	...	Lucrezia, Beatrice's Stepmother (as Mavi)
Antonio Casagrande	...	Don Giacomo Cenci
Ignazio Spalla	...	Catalano (as Pedro Sanchez)
Max Steffen Zacharias	...	Prospero Fadinacco
Raymond Pellegrin	...	Cardinal Lanciani
Massimo Sarchielli	...	Gasparro
Mirko Ellis	...	3rd Excellency
John Bartha	...	2nd Excellency
Calogero Micciche'
Gustavo D'Arpe
Umberto D'Orsi	...	Inspector
Alfio Petrini

Also Known As:

La vera storià di Beatrice Cenci (Italy) (working title)
Perversion Story (UK)
The Conspiracy of Torture (USA)

Runtime:

99 min | USA:84 min | France:89 min (DVD version)

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | France:-16 (DVD rating) | Italy:T (VHS rating) | Italy:VM18 | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Filmena

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fulci Talks: The Movies (2007)

Fulci's Best Non Horror Movie

A terrificly executed period piece from the Godfather of Gore, Beatrice Cenci(1969) is a masterpiece of tragic beauty. This movie is a contradiction to the accusation of Fulci as a misogynist from his later films. Adrienne LaRussa does a nice job in conveying the almost gentle nature of the female protagonist. George Wilson as the father does a good job in portraying someone truly evil. Cries of death to the director were shouted in a theatre due to the film's anti-catholic nature.

The Catholic church is presented in the film with absolute disdain. In fact, they are seen as greedy and hypocritical. Beatrice Cenci(1969), along with The Witchfinder General(1968) are probably the best films dealing with the late middle ages. The direction is nearly perfect, and the story is well done. The film revolves around a labyrinth of flashbacks in the style of Reservoir Dogs(1992). The main source of influence seems to been The play version of The Cenci by Artoud, Antonin as well as the five act play by Percelly Shelly.

There are two films that Beatrice Cenci(1969) compares with. One film is Don't Torture A Duckling(1972) which also deals with Catholic repression. Another film is The Devil's Honey(1986) which deals deals with a woman's urge to be an independant woman. Beatrice Cenci(1969) is not only overlooked by Fulci supporters but by Fulci distractors as well. This movie shows that Fulci was capable of more ambigious and personal films then the many ones that he direct in his career(Its too bad as he had the talent that would have made him one of the best directors of his generation in Italy).