The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)

What a strange movie The Secret of Santa Vittoria is. Just, well, strange. That's the only word I can think to describe it.

When Mussolini is gone, the citizens of the small Italian wine-making village place the inept drunken coward, Italo Bombolini (Anthony Quinn) into the office of Mayor. When they discover that the German army is occupying villages, soon to be including theirs, they devise a scheme to protect their *1.3 million* bottles of vino from the pillaging Nazis. Yes, that many!

They manage to pull it off, and when the Germans arrive, they find only about a fifth of that, and are at a loss to provide the rest. The German officer-in-charge, Captain von Prum (Hardy Kruger), continues to the end to get Bombolini to reveal the cache of drink, but to no avail.

What's strange about the film is just how strange it is. The villagers, and in fact the entire village seems to be a parody of sorts. Of what I'm not exactly sure, maybe some invented Italian stereotype or something. If the intent was to be "cute" about it, they could have found a better looking bunch of folks, as the whole lot of them is quite ugly! Including the well-to-do Contessa Matatesta (Virna Lisi), sorry, I just had to go there. The whole time I felt like I was in a Weird Al version of West Side Story, only without the singing and dancing.

Throw into the mix the myriad of subplots, like the Contessa's romance with the deserting Italian soldier, the fascist prisoners, Bombolini's wife.... and it just gets, well, stranger by the minute.

Quinn is the only real shining star here, trying to make the best of a comedic role that I'm not sure really fits him. At times you can almost feel his pain as he tries his best. Kruger is equally fulfilling as the German Captain, but he's got a "good nature" about him that also doesn't seem to befit his character. Have to mention the brief appearance of Nazi-typecast Karl Otto-Alberty as well!

The intent I think was to deliver a cute comedy set in wartime Italy, with a bit of romance thrown in, on top of the overarching theme of the village not caving into the Nazis, and maintaining the identity in the face of crisis. Yeah, I guess you could say that "Bumble-ini" redeems himself in the end as well, but the final scene of him dancing and acting like the fool he starts off as sort of negates it all.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria just didn't do it for me. I did laugh a few times, scratched my head a few more times, and rolled my eyes a few more than that. If you happen to catch it on the tube, then sure, if there's nothing else to see, why not?

(Sorry, its in Italian I think...)

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Description

When German soldiers approaching a small Italian town during World War II threaten to rob the village of its cache of vintage wine, ineffectual mayor Anthony Quinn rises to the occasion and leads the townspeople in an elaborate operation to hide a million bottles in a nearby cave. Director Stanley Kramer's charming comedy also stars Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Hardy Kruger. 140 min. Widescreen; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital stereo, Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish.

The bestseller from The Great Impostor's Robert Crichton inspired this leisurely serio-comedy, which takes up where Bernardo Bertolucci's The Conformist left off--with the death of Benito Mussolini. The dictator's departure should come as good news for the hilltop town of Santa Vittoria, but new problems lay ahead (Federico Fellini favorite Giuseppe Rotunno shot the sun-drenched movie in Italy). Feeling betrayed by Il Duce, wine merchant Italo Bombolini (La Strada's Anthony Quinn) drinks his disappointment away to the consternation of his rolling pin-wielding wife, Rosa (The Rose Tattoo's Anna Magnani). Nonetheless, the townspeople like the "drunken, stupid clown," as Rosa calls him, enough that they appoint Bombolini mayor. To prepare him for duty, the college-educated Fabio (Swept Away's Giancarlo Giannini) introduces the new civic leader to Machiavelli, who wrote, "Things are never what they seem." When Fabio brings news that the Nazis plan to raid their wine reserves, Bombolini and Tufa (Sergio Franchi), a former soldier, heed those words and arrange to hide one million bottles in a Roman cave. Capt. Von Prum (Hardy Krüger) suspects subterfuge, and orders a search of every nook and cranny, while attempting to woo war widow Contessa Caterina (Queen Margot’s Virna Lisi). At 139 minutes, Judgment at Nuremberg producer/director Stanley Kramer’s Golden Globe-winning picture seems longer than necessary, but Quinn, Magnani, and Krüger provide just enough nuance to prevent their characters from slipping into caricature, and the film’s celebration of solidarity lends it an enduring appeal. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

DVD Information

Binding: DVD
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Brand: Sony
Manufacturer: United Artists
Original Release Date:
Actors:

• Anthony Quinn
• Anna Magnani
• Virna Lisi
• Hardy Krüger
• Sergio Franchi

Reviews

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8. Sahara (1943)

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 6:20 am and is filed under 1960s, Reviews, World War II Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.