Video id 44734

Cesarina Rupert, a modern day Messalina, is Claudio’s wife, a patriot and a brilliant inventor of war vehicles for France. Between personal drama and spy intrigues, this mismatched couple is destined for a tragic end. Pina Menichelli demonstrates her impressive and expressive range in her role as Dumas’ dark heroine “the evil woman who undermines society, breaks up families, dismembers the mother country, challenges man, dishonors the woman she is impersonating, and destroys those who do not crush her”. The result is a performance that captures the excesses but also the hypnotic and erotic power of what Dalì defined as “hysterical cinema”. Even if local critics snubbed the film, not only because of the excesses of the female lead but also the un-original storyline, it is remarkable to see advanced social and political themes of the times addressed, such as abortion and the aspirations of the Jewish people for a national state.
Stella Dagna, “Catalogue Il Cinema Ritrovato 2012”.

Film restored in collaboration with Museo del Cinema di Torino.