Cabiria (Full Frame)

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Inspired by grand opera and Italy's imperialist victory in the Libyan War (1911-12), the Italian movie industry produced dozens of historical epics in the period just before World War I. The most influential and successful of these was "Cabiria", the visually spectacular film which set the standard for big-budget feature-length movies around the world and opened the way for D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. De Mille. The story concerns a girl - Cabiria - who is separated from her parents during the Punic Wars in the Third Century B.C. In her odyssey through the world of ancient Rome, she encounters the eruption of Mt. Edna, capture by pirates, the barbaric splendor of Carthage, human sacrifice and Hannibal crossing the Alps. With meticulous care given to costume and set design, "Cabiria" was shot in North Africa, Sicily and the Italian Alps. The Kino on Video edition was mastered from a premiere quality 35mm print at the correct projection speed. The piano soundtrack, performed by Jacques Gauthier, is adapted from the original 1914 score.