Les derniers jours de Pompei

The eruption of Vesuvius plays only a minor part in this lurid tale of murder, blackmail, insanity, witches, unrequited love, gladiators, imprisonment and blindness. However, as this was made in 1913, it's all done in the best possible taste, and The Last Days of Pompeii is one of the figureheads of early Italian cinema as it's an epic feature-length movie from a time when other countries were still making small-scale 20-minute shorts. Hugely influential, then - Griffith, whose own feature-length epic was still two years off was a fan - but kind of camp.

This amazing Italian silent epic, featuring a cast of millions, will blow your mind as thoroughly as Mt. Vesuvius blew up Pompeii. Breathtaking special effects, an excitingly melodramatic plot, stunning settings, and gorgeous cinematography combine to make this one of the first great feature films.

The cinematography is very different to what we are used to today - the camera does not move at all - but the shots are so well lit that it hardly seems to matter. And the genuine beauty of the final shot makes the scene very moving indeed.

This is an unmissable masterpiece of cinema.

The romance of Glaucus and Ione (called Jone here) plus the hopeless love of blind Nidia, intertwine with the nefarious machinations of an Egyptian priest, to make up most of the story. For its time, this was a new departure in cinema, but today it will strike most viewers as too tame. There is no camera movement. Title cards carry little or no dialog. And most evidently the cast was not chosen for physical attractiveness, men or women. Still the story gets told, and rather catches one up, especially the portion of the plot involving blind Nidia. The special effects depicting the eruption of Vesuvius are not bad for 1913, but don't expect anything like the documentaries of the eruption of Hawaiian volcanoes!

I am so sorry to say, even though this film adaption of "Last Days of Pompeii" (Gli Ultimi Giorni di Pompeii) is suppose to be very serious, but as I watched it back in my old High School history class, I just could not help but break out into fits of laughter.

Is it me, or does most of the people who acted in this film look like they had their overdosage of sugar and caffeine? Yeah, I wonder that too, because everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in this film looks like they are way too hyperactive to be in this film. But hey, at least it was a SILENT film, right folk? Right. There is even a few scenes in the film where the actress who played Nydia was trying to hold back her laughter.

If you see this film in a history class, or if you plan to rent the film, be prepaired to hold back laughing at something that is suppose to be serious.

WARNING: Do not watch this film after having intense facial surgery or an operation on your body.

A young blind woman and her general misery provide the focus for this 1913 silent film. Her story is set against everyday life in Pompeii, just before the eruption of the famous volcano.

Visually, the film consists of staged sets, rather like modern stage plays. There is no camera movement. Actors mouth words we can't hear. The only sound is the music of a piano, provided on behalf of DVD viewers. The music varies in tone with tonal variations in the story. Alternating with the play and to assist the visuals, title cards convey a verbal sense of what will happen in the next scene.

Acting is very, very theatrical. When they move, the players don't walk, so much as they tiptoe across the stage, in a self-conscious and stagy manner. When there's conflict, the players overact, exaggerating both body movements and facial expressions. But that was how it was done back then. Costumes are elaborate, and at times ornate.

Vesuvius erupts in the final few minutes of the film. Lots of smoke, some soot, a change in the film's tint to reddish, falling pillars, and predictable histrionics of the players comprise the special effects.

Even aside from the simplicity of the special effects and the absence of sound, the film is not likely to appeal to modern audiences, if their purpose in watching films is to be entertained. For one thing, the film's pacing is very slow. Also, there's lots of filler material, like scenes wherein characters sit around feeding pigeons. And I found it hard to identify with any of the characters. They seem too thinly drawn and remote.

In its time, "The Last Days Of Pompeii" must have seemed like a grand spectacle. We are fortunate to have the film now, as a benchmark from which to compare contemporary films. Ergo, for those interested in the history of the cinema, and for those who want some perspective on modern film-making, this film is a fine choice.