Video Details
An influential Italian epic that paved the way for the elaborate costume drama,
The Last Days of Pompeii romanticizes the final hours of those ill-fated souls living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. In this rendition of Edward Bulwer's classic novel, set in 79 A.D., the lives of prominent statesmen, a beautiful woman, a pagan priest, a spiteful witch and a blind beggar girl are carefully interwoven. The intrigues that connect them are brought to a climax in the gladiatorial arena... at the moment the sleeping mountain unleashes its molten fury.
The Last Days of Pompeii is among the last of the great tableaux films, in which most scenes are explained by a title, then dramatized within a single wide shot, a presentational style whose origins are more theatrical and literary than cinematic. Within a few short months, this technique would be forever outmoded, due to such films as D.W. Griffith's
The Birth of a Nation and Giovanni Pastrone's
Cabiria, which helped rewrite the laws of cinematic expression.
Synopsis
Previously adapted for the screen in 1908, Bullwer-Lytton's novel The Last Days of Pompeii was remade in Italy in 1913. Directing this opulent "spectacular" was Mario Caserini, who'd previously helmed such cinemadaptations as Othello, Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth and Siegfried. The film was distributed in America by the entrepreneurial George Kleine, who unlike many of his contemporaries believed in the marketability of multi-reel "feature" films. Highlighted by a thrilling chariot race and an outsized volcanic eruption, The Last Days of Pompeii was screened at New York's Regent Theater with a specially commissioned musical score, utilizing themes from Aida and Lohengrin, among many others. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
