Screening of “Il Gigante delle Dolomiti” by Guido Brignone (Italy, 1926)

Expert mountain-guide Maciste lives in the Dolomites at the Three Crosses Pass; he dotes on his young nephew Hans, the illegitimate son of his sister, who died of a broken heart for the dishonour of being seduced and abandoned. Maciste’s bitter rival is the sinister Schultz, a smuggler in search of easy money who teams up with two adventurers: Müller and the mysterious Vanna Dardos. Schultz’s plan is to steal the design for a revolutionary aviation project that engineer Riccardo Ewert is finishing in the peace and quiet of his mountain chalet. Vanna, however, is not the only woman who is interested in the engineer, as he has also caught the attention of beautiful English painter Maud Fair, who is holidaying in a luxury hotel and is secretly in love with him. Absorbed in her attempt to seduce the engineer, Vanna fails to notice that a police inspector is on her trail. Ewert is devastated when he finds out that the alluring woman being investigated for espionage is none other than the wife who had an affair and left him years before. In the meantime, Maud, aided by Maciste, manages to fend off Müller’s violent advances. Alerted by the inspector, Ewert pretends to fall into Vanna’s trap so that she can be arrested. Seeing all is lost, Müller and Schultz try to escape along Giant Pass, but they die in a blizzard; Vanna is forced to flee. At long last, Maud can be with the man she loves.
 
Importance Of The Film’s Restoration
Il Gigante delle Dolomiti was made in 1926, produced by Turin’s Società Anonima Pittaluga and directed by Guido Brignone. It is an important film for a number of reasons, mainly because it features one of the last screen performances of actor Bartolomeo Pagano in the role of Maciste, but it was also one of Pittaluga Film’s biggest productions. This was the first time a film had successfully captured the breathtaking beauty of the Alpine Dolomites, which overlooked that most stunning of Alpine flowers, Cortina d’Ampezzo. For the scenes in the Dolomites, director Guido Brignone took perfect shots of the Alps, thus capturing the natural backdrop in all of its magnificence.
The recovery and restoration of this film, which is now over eighty years old, was an important, much-needed step as there is only one fireproof negative in the world, and it is stored at Milan’s Fondazione Cineteca Italiana. The restoration serves both a historical and documental purpose because it restores some splendid 1920s’ photography of the Dolomites; the main purpose of the restoration, however, is the film itself. Contemporary reviews were extremely complimentary of Brignone’s work: “Stunning photography, including the outdoor shots taken in the most picturesque sites in Italy’s Alps. Società Anonima Pittaluga can be proud of its new masterpiece.” (“Cine-gazzettino”, a. II, n. 4, 22.1.1927).
Il gigante delle Dolomiti is a key chapter in the saga of Maciste; it is also important because of its rarity, which is yet another reason to rediscover it. Permission to use of the original captions has been kindly granted by the National Cinema Museum of Turin; during the restoration, the captions were re-mastered into the film by the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana.  

Director Guido Brignone (Milan 1866 - Rome 1959)
One of the most famous Italian directors of his day, Guido Brignone (born Milan 6 December 1886, died Rome 6 March 1959) came from a family of artists: his father Giuseppe and sister Mercedes were two of Italy’s biggest contemporary silent-film stars. Brignone married Lola Visconti, who was also a famous silent-film actress. In 1915 Brignone made his debut as director with Odette. His film career, however, extended beyond Italy as he also directed a range of films in France and Germany. During the Fascist era, Brignone made films typical of the period that celebrated the hulking action-hero of the day. That hero was unquestionably Maciste, a character created by Gabriele D’Annunzio for Cabiria in 1914. Maciste was also to feature in a host of other films including Maciste Alpino (1916), Maciste Atleta (1918), Maciste all’inferno (1925) and Il gigante delle Dolomiti (1926); the latter two films were directed by Brignone. With the arrival of sound, Brignone made box-office hits such as Teresa Confalonieri (1934), a film that enabled him to become the first Italian director to win the Venice Film Festival in the “Best Italian Film” category. His work as a director continued after the war, with him making films in genres such as feuilleton, mythology, period dramas and comedies.
Original music and arrangements by Carlo Casillo
The soundtrack of Il Gigante delle Dolomiti is a combination of tracks inspired by traditional Tyrolean folk music (waltz, polka and yodelling) and played by a small orchestra of traditional instruments; the music also dips into electronic and contemporary music to include rock, pop and techno. The approach is not philological, though it does take into account that the film was made in 1926. Instead it is an evocative hybrid of traditional and contemporary music that sets the film to a relentless pace, especially during the action scenes; it also reconciles the film’s suspense with the humour of its characters and situations. In the tradition of soundtracks of the day, each character has their own leitmotiv and arrangements adapt to the situations. The Miscele d'Aria sextet will be playing live on the evening of 4 May 2010.
 
Miscele d'Aria sextet
Carlo Casillo: guitars, live computers, virtual instruments
Emiliano Tamanini: trumpet
Gigi Grata: trombone
Roberto Caberlotto: accordion
Irene Fornasa: double-bass, vocals
Lisa Bergamo: vocals

>> Il Gigante delle Dolomiti - trailer