Thaïs (1917 Italian film)

Thaïs
Thaïs
	A scene from the movie
Directed by	Anton Giulio Bragaglia
Written by	Riccardo Cassano
Starring	Thaïs Galitzky
Release date	1917
Running time	105 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Silent

Thaïs is a 1917 Italian silent film directed by Anton Giulio Bragaglia. The movie is the sole surviving Italian Futurist film, and currently kept at the Cinémathèque Française. It is not based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France.

Plot[edit]

The plot is fairly conventional and refers to the love stories of turbid "diva-film" typical of the period.

The beautiful Slavic countess Vera Preobrajenska (played by Thaïs Galitzy) is a seductress of married men, dragging them to the brink of ruin. Vera resolves to seduce Count San Remo, the lover of her best friend, the Countess Bianca Stagno-Bellincioni (played by Ileana Leonidoff). Bianca, in the midst of depression, falls off her horse and dies. Vera feels guilty and commits suicide.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Characteristics[edit]

The film sets are characteristic of the Futurist movement. They were designed by Enrico Prampolini who used geometric shapes based on a strong black/white contrast: spiral, diamond, chess, symbolic figures (cats, masks spewing smoke). Painted scenes often interact with the characters, creating a world of illusions where it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. As the film progresses, it becomes more and more abstract to reflect Vera's increasing confusion.

The oppressive and anti naturalistic visions can be seen as a preamble to the German expressionist cinema, which was notably inspired by the style of Prampolini.

Gallery[edit]

A scene from Thaïs
A scene from Thaïs
A lattice of pointed poles
A scene with real smoke

References[edit]

^ Review, synopsis and link to watch the film: "A cinema history". Retrieved 5 June 2014.
^ Paulicelli, Eugenia (2016). Italian Style: Fashion & Film from Early Cinema to the Digital Age. New York, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-62356-661-6.
^ Marcus, Millicent (1996). "Anton Giulio Bragaglia's "Thaïs"; or, The Death of the Diva + The Rise of the Scenoplastica = The Birth of Futurist Cinema". South Central Review. 13 (2/3): 63–81. doi:10.2307/3190372. JSTOR 3190372.

Bibliography[edit]

Sandro Bernardi, L'avventura del cinematografo, Marsilio Editori, Venezia 2007. ISBN 978-88-317-9297-4
G. Aristarco, Teoria futurista e film d'avanguardia, ne «La Biennale di Venezia» n. 36/37 Luglio- Dicembre, Venezia, 1959
A. Bernardini, Cinema muto italiano, 3 vol., Laterza, Bari-Roma, 1980/81
R. Campari, Il fantasma del bello: iconologia del cinema italiano, Marsilio, Venezia, 1994
G. Lista, Cinema e fotografia futurista, Skira, Milano, 2001
M. Macola, Prima mostra di scenotecnica futurista, in «Il Secolo XIX», Genova, 11 febbraio 1933
F. T. Marinetti, Anton Giulio Bragaglia, in «Futurismo», n. 9, 6 novembre 1931
C. Tisdall e A. Bozzolla, Futurismo, Skira, Milano, 2003
M. Verdone e AAVV, La casa d’arte Bragaglia, Bulzoni, Roma, 1992
M. Verdone, Cinema e letteratura del futurismo, Manfrini, Calliano, Trento, 1990

External links[edit]

Thaïs at IMDb
Thaïs at celluloidbreakfast.com

This article related to an Italian silent film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Review, synopsis and link to watch the film: "A cinema history". Retrieved 5 June 2014.

[2] Paulicelli, Eugenia (2016). Italian Style: Fashion & Film from Early Cinema to the Digital Age. New York, New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-62356-661-6.

[3] Marcus, Millicent (1996). "Anton Giulio Bragaglia's "Thaïs"; or, The Death of the Diva + The Rise of the Scenoplastica = The Birth of Futurist Cinema". South Central Review. 13 (2/3): 63–81. doi:10.2307/3190372. JSTOR 3190372.

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v t e Futurism
Italian Futurists	Giacomo Balla (list of works) "Barbara" Umberto Boccioni Anton Bragaglia Benedetta Cappa Carlo Carrà Franco Casavola Nikolay Diulgheroff Luigi De Giudici F. T. Marinetti Marisa Mori Bruno Munari Aldo Palazzeschi Ugo Piatti Francesco Balilla Pratella Antonio Russolo Luigi Russolo Antonio Sant'Elia Gino Severini Ardengo Soffici
Ego-Futurists	Graal Arelsky Vasilisk Gnedov Boris Gusman Georgy Ivanov Igor Severyanin Dmitri Kryuchkov Konstantin Olimpov Rurik Ivnev Pavel Shirokov
Russian Futurists and Cubo-Futurists	Alexander Archipenko Nikolai Aseev Vladimir Baranoff-Rossine Lilya Brik Osip Brik Alexander Bogomazov Kseniya Boguslavskaya David Burliuk Vladimir Burliuk Joseph Chaikov Aleksandra Ekster Nina Genke-Meller Natalia Goncharova Elena Guro Vasily Kamensky Velimir Khlebnikov Ivan Kliun Aleksei Kruchyonykh Nikolai Kulbin Mikhail Larionov Aristarkh Lentulov El Lissitzky Benedikt Livshits Kazimir Malevich Mikhail Matyushin Vladimir Mayakovsky Boris Pasternak Victor Palmov Lyubov Popova Ivan Puni Olga Rozanova Vadim Shershenevich Nadezhda Udaltsova Ilia Zdanevich (Iliazd)
Aeropittura	Giacomo Balla "Barbara" Benedetta Cappa Giuseppe Caselli Tullio Crali Fortunato Depero Gerardo Dottori Fillìa Sante Monachesi Marisa Mori Enrico Prampolini
Other Futurists	Alice Bailly Mina Loy José de Almada Negreiros C. R. W. Nevinson Emilio Pettoruti Valentine de Saint-Point Jules Schmalzigaug Mykhaylo Semenko Amadeo de Souza Cardoso Frances Simpson Stevens Mary Swanzy Růžena Zátková
Techniques, sub-genres and inventions	Anti-neutral suit Intonarumori Italian futurism in cinema Futurist architecture Futurist cooking Futurist literature Futurist music Noise music Zaum
Selected output	Abstract Speed + Sound Antigrazioso The Art of Noises BÏF§ZF+18 The City Rises Cyclist Development of a Bottle in Space Drama in the Futurists' Cabaret No. 13 Dyr bul shchyl Dynamism of a Car Dynamism of a Cyclist Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash Dynamism of a Human Body: Boxer Dynamism of a Soccer Player Dynamism of a Speeding Horse + Houses Futurist Painting: Technical Manifesto The Knifegrinder Girl Running on a Balcony The Hand of the Violinist Lacerba Manifesto of Futurism Manifesto of Futurist Musicians Mercury Passing Before the Sun The Poem of the End Poesia The Street Enters the House The Street Light Thaïs Tango with Cows Unique Forms of Continuity in Space Universal War Victory over the Sun Vladimir Mayakovsky Zangezi Zang Tumb Tumb
Associated people	Luisa, Marchesa Casati Gabriele D'Annunzio Sergei Diaghilev Benito Mussolini Wyndham Lewis Léonide Massine Igor Stravinsky
Groups influenced	Agitprop Agit-train Constructivism Dadaism Donkey's Tail Grosvenor School Jack of Diamonds Neo-Primitivism Oberiu Panfuturism Precisionism Rayonism Soyuz Molodyozhi Suprematism Supremus Vorticism
See also	0,10 Exhibition 5x5=25 Cubism Divisionism Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art Le Chahut Pointillism Primitivism Robert René Meyer-Sée Russian avant-garde Russian Ballet Sackville Gallery Ukrainian avant-garde Verbovka Village Folk Centre Zveno (art)