thisglimpse Everyone says the plot is convoluted, impossible to follow and boring, and that the only reason to watch this is for the costumes and set pieces. but I think they're missing something.The plot moves forward on two levels - the personal and the political, so the real theme behind this movie is how the political affects the personal, and vice versa. Especially by the end of the film, shifting political alliances, military victories and defeats are clearly and dramatically affecting the fates of our heroes. And then, ultimately, Cabiria is freed because of the personal effect of a political move: Scipio takes Sophonisba away from Massinissa to eliminate the threat of rebellion, and in doing so, takes away the queen's reason to live.Curiously, Cabiria, the center of the movie, is the most passive and perhaps least developed character in the film. She might as well be buried treasure. And yet she is the center of the movie, and sometimes we are reminded of her because the camera seems to forget her. Take the garden scene, when it is not at all clear what happens to her, and then we don't know for a good long time: she does not appear again literally for ten years, and then when she does reappear, it is with a different name, and we are not told it is her. She is there because she is not there; the fact that her fate is unresolved remains the central tension and dramatic force of the movie.Ultimately, I think this form of storytelling - both the "big world/little world" plot development and the "unresolved character" issue work better in literature/theater than on film, and that's probably why, in retrospect, we watch this movie mostly for the costumes. But what I see is the developing language of cinema, and an experiment tried by a director and screenwriter in 1914 that would never be considered today.Which adds up to a fascinating movie worth watching, in my book.

Cineanalyst "Cabiria" is the pinnacle of the early Italian spectacle, which helped push cinema into the age of feature-length pictures and introduced the epic to film. Reportedly, the film cost some 1 million lire (or $100,000) to make and was financially successful, although due to the war, perhaps, not as successful as was "Quo Vadis?" (1912). It had a direct influence on D.W. Griffith's production of "Intolerance". According to Griffith biographer Richard Schickel,Griffith insisted on including large elephant statues in the courtyard setting, even though his researchers could find no evidence that pachyderms were ever a significant part of Babylonian iconography, because Pastrone used them in "Cabiria".The film begins with grandeur; the explosion of Etna is the most impressive sequence in the film. Nurse Croessa (played by Gina Marangoni) kidnaps little Cabiria (played by Carolina Catena); then, Phoenician pirates abduct Croessa, Cabiria and the other runaway slaves. In Carthage, High Priest Karthalo (played by Dante Testa) buys the child and wants to sacrifice her at The Temple of Moloch. Magnificent sets and the horror of child sacrifice make it the second best sequence in the movie. Roman patrician Fulvius Axilla (played by Umberto Mozzato) and his loyal slave Maciste (played by Bartolomeo Pagano) enter the scene and we mostly follow them through the rest of the movie."Cabiria" gets rather boring after The Temple of Moloch escapade, as the film relies less on grand set design and special effects and more on a dull and confused plot and bad acting--historical facsimiles, such as Hannibal climbing the Alps, a crazed Archimedes raving his large magnifying glass invention on as it sets fire to the Roman fleet and other moments withstanding. The performances are overacted and histrionic--even Pagano, who would become something of a star from his performance here. I can see why: he's muscular, and it's somewhat interesting to watch him do various acrobatics. Italia Almirante-Manzini, who plays Sophonisba, is the hammiest of all. Besides the sets and special effects by Eugenio Bava and Sergundo de Chomón, there is some nice nighttime tinting and Pastrone's dolly shots help pass some of the time. Nevertheless, the film lacks much cinematic innovation and remains largely theatrical; there is only one close-up, a point-of-view shot of a ring.

jazzest The splendid set design back in 1914, which would obviously influence Griffith's Intolerance a few years later, is worth watching. Other than that, as a work in the dawn of film history, Cabiria inevitably suffers several flaws. Comprising exclusively medium and long shots (with absolutely no close-ups), the film should have relied on engaging storytelling, but it just progresses tediously. As a title role, Cabiria should have appeared on the screen more, but she serves as a catalyst and stays behind the scene for most time.Versatile solo piano on the soundtrack (which is, according to the credit of "1990 alternate version" I watched, "Piano Score recorded by Jacques Ganthier, based on the original 1914 score," which I assume is composed by Manlio Mazza) imitates Classical composers in various eras, from Bach to Beethoven to Schumann to Brahms to Debussy, and is quite enjoyable by itself.

Ron Oliver Kidnapped by Phoenician pirates from her Sicilian home, the infant CABIRIA grows to become involved in Rome's conflict with Carthage during the Second Punic War.Vast, intricate in plot & completely fascinating, here is one of the great silent epics which, fortunately, lives up to its legend. Full of daring rescues & breathless escapes, the film also features innovative camerawork & lighting techniques which would greatly influence D. W. Griffith & Cecil B. DeMille. (Some viewers may also see a strong resemblance between CABIRIA and the gigantic sets & bravado action highlighted in the Douglas Fairbanks swashbucklers of the 1920's.)Prolific director Giovanni Pastrone (1883-1959), using the pseudonym Piero Fosco, wrote the script and helped design the huge, elaborate sets, wanting to make his film the biggest, most thrilling epic ever produced. A million lira was budgeted for CABIRIA, a tremendous sum then, and location shooting was extended to Tunisia, Sicily & the Alps. The result was a tremendous success and ensured Pastrone's name would be enshrined in the history of world cinema. A true Renaissance Man, Pastrone left films in 1923 to devote himself to medical research.The acting is often rather ripe & sensationalized, but that was the prevailing style in Italian epics, which were doubtless influenced by Grand Opera's florid stage mannerisms. Special mention should be made of Umberto Mozzato as a heroic Roman spy, Bartolomeo Pagano as the muscular Maciste & Italia Almirante-Manzini playing a wicked Carthaginian queen.Sequences remain in the viewer's mind: the destructive eruption of Mount Etna; the truly terrifying scenes in the vile Temple of Moloch, with tiny naked children being thrown into the flames; and Hannibal's march - with elephants - over the mountains. Ancient Archimedes setting fire to the Roman fleet attacking Syracuse is unexpectedly amusing, while the movie climaxes with one of the most ostentatious suicides ever filmed.******************************There were three Punic Wars, which kept the ancient world embroiled from 264 BC until 146 BC while Rome & Carthage engaged in a death struggle to see who would emerge as the master of the Mediterranean. Battles raged in Europe & Africa, as well as on the Sea, but the last War ultimately ended with Rome's total victory and the complete & utter destruction of Carthage. The innocents sacrificed to the hideous Moloch were finally avenged.