Il Grido
| Il grido | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Produced by | Franco Cancellieri |
| Written by | Michelangelo Antonioni (also story) Elio Bartolini Ennio De Concini |
| Starring | Steve Cochran (as Aldo) Alida Valli (as Irma) Betsy Blair (as Elvia) Dorian Gray (as Virginia) |
| Music by | Giovanni Fusco |
| Cinematography | Gianni di Venanzo |
| Editing by | Eraldo Da Roma |
| Release date(s) | 1957 |
| Running time | 116 minutes |
| Country | Italy United States |
| Language | Italian |
Il grido is a 1957 Italian black-and-white drama film, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. It was originally released in the English-speaking world as The Cry. The DVD release uses the Italian title. The film stars American actor Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, Betsy Blair, and Dorian Gray. Several cast members have their parts dubbed; notably, future Antonioni star Monica Vitti lends her voice to the character of Virginia.
The film won the Golden Leopard at the eleventh Locarno International Film Festival in 1957. In 1958, Gianni di Venanzo won the Silver Ribbon for Best Cinematography.
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[edit] Plot
The film tells the story of Aldo (Steve Cochran), a worker at an Italian sugar refinery. His long-time lover Irma (Alida Valli) learns that her husband, who left for Australia in search of a job, died there. Aldo suggests that this may be a chance for them to marry, but Irma claims that she loves another man. Aldo leaves his town with their daughter and the two of them start desperately wandering all over the Po valley. He meets a former lover Elvire (Betsy Blair), who still loves him, and has a sensuous encounter with a woman called Virginia, who runs a gas station. However, he cannot forget Irma, and returns to his town, where a demonstration protests the building of a U.S. military airfield in place of the refinery. He finds Irma lives in a new home and, through a window, watches her with a baby. He mounts the refinery's high tower, the only vertical structure in a flat and barren landscape. Irma catches up to him, only to watch him fall to his death, causing her to let out what the screenplay describes as a "bloodcurdling scream."
[edit] Ending
Critics disagree about whether Aldo's death at the end is intentional or not. Seymour Chatman argues that Aldo is overcome with vertigo as he stands atop the tower, causing him to fall to his death. Chatman finds support in the original screenplay, which mentions that Aldo attempts to resist a sudden onset of vertigo as he looks down on the ground.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Chatman, Seymour (1985). Antonioni, or, The Surface of the World.
[edit] External links
- Il Grido: Modernising the Po. Senses of Cinema 3.
- Il Grido at the Internet Movie Database
- Il Grido at AllRovi
- Il grido Review by Dennis Schwartz (2004)
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