Click here to learn the story.
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Click here to learn the story. |
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| Lorenzo Nistri’s poster design (Reproduced courtesy of the Painted Cinema) |
After a wait of 33 long years I have finally been able to see this movie.
It’s quite difficult to sum up.
It uses an enormous amount of footage from other films, mostly newsreels,
to make a point about civilization, namely, that civilization is based upon violence,
and that we need to rethink everything if in the future we decide to be helpful rather than destructive.
It opens with a space flight, with the narrator saying that it is easier for humans to go to the moon than to overcome injustice.
That’s a sad statement, but arguably true.
It accords with anthropologist Stanley Diamond’s assessment that
“Civilization begins with conquest abroad and repression at home.”
It accords with Oriani Fallaci’s statement that
“Whether it comes from a despotic sovereign or an elected president,
from a murderous general or a beloved leader,
I see power as an inhuman and hateful phenomenon....
I have always looked on disobedience toward the oppressive
as the only way to use the miracle of having been born.”
And now that, after a
I must say that this movie contains more harrowing images than I wish to count.
The executions and mutilated corpses that fill half the running time can be too much for many people to take.
What makes it even more disturbing is that it borrows Abel Gance’s editing style,
which was a
This movie began while Tinto Brass was working on Roberto Rossellini’s
Il Generale della Rovere.
Rossellini had hired Tinto as an assistant director,
but tempers on set were so volatile that Tinto offered instead to do research at the Cinémathèque Française
to locate suitable archival footage for intercuts and optical backgrounds.
He was surprised to discover that the Cinémathèque had a wealth of footage on numerous wars from 1900 on,
most of it unknown and unseen.
He approached producer Moris Ergas
about making a feature on twentieth-century revolutions.
Ergas agreed, and Brass hired the
“Current Credits of Italo Directors,” Variety, Wednesday, 29 April 1964, p 82:
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The New York Times (Friday, 28 August 1964, p 19):
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The New York Times, Sunday, 30 August 1964, Drama p 7:
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Vincent Canby, “Lincoln Center’s ‘Love Fest’: Industry Roots N.Y. Conclave,” Variety, Wednesday, 2 September 1964, pp 3, 16:
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Variety, Wednesday, 16 September 1964, p 22:
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The New York Times (Sunday, 20 September 1964, p X11):
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The New York Times (Tuesday, 22 September 1964, p 45):
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“Venice 1964,” Films in Review, October 1964, p 462: September 6. This was supposed to be a “day of rest” — there are no official screenings — but by eleven this morning an enormous crowd had queued in front of one of the Lido’s shoddier cinemas to see a feature-length documentary by the would-be Italian avantgardist, Tinto Bras, called Ca ira—il Fiume della Rivolta (River of Revolt). It is a skillful assemblage of newsreel and other stock footage, and clips from fiction films (e.g., Eisenstein’s), about the revolutions of the last 250 years. Some of the footage has not often been seen, and some of it is quite interesting. But the end result is spoiled by pro-Communist bias, excessive length, and a facetious commentary. (A “pro-Communist bias”? Where?
Anyway, despite frequent claims, Ça ira is anything but a documentary.
It uses archival footage, but that doesn’t make it a documentary at all.
It’s an editorial.
When you see it, you’ll know what I mean.) |
Daily Variety, Tuesday, 6 October 1964, p 6:
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“Inside Stuff — Pictures,” Variety, Wednesday, 14 October 1964, p 15:
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Esquire (February 1965): Ça Ira (Tinto Brass) : this two-hour mélange of stills, newsreel clips and excerpts from movies by Eisenstein and others was subtitled when I saw it last fall in Venice, “Il Fiume della Rivolta,” and it pretends to be a documentary about revolutions. In fact it is a sensationalistic exploitation of Congo massacres, Chinese butcheries, Algerian tortures, Nazi death camps, Latin-American executions and other horrors of our century, all botched together with a few stabs at arty montage and all very tedious unless one is a necrophile. The Mondo Cane of revolution. |
The movie seems finally to have been released in Italy on 3 December 1964,
maybe with some censor cuts, but I’m not sure.
I have not seen the boxoffice figures, but I am led to understand that it earned its money back and made a small profit.
It played at only a few venues, as far as I know, and only briefly.
This was clearly a source of deep frustration for Tinto.
I suspect that of all his films, this is probably his favorite.
And yet almost nobody ever saw it.
In later films he would
The story gets even more interesting in 1969 :
Variety, 26 March 1969, p 35:
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Variety, 10 September 1969, p 6:
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“New York Sound Track,” Variety (weekly, 16 September 1970):
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This calls for some comment. Altura was an independent New York-based film distributor founded by Clem Perry, who had been enamored of Brass’s film. Perry himself was an interesting character, who had released numerous foreign films, notably those of Luis Buñuél, but only after modifying them for American tastes. A friend of his emailed me and said that what many critics praised as Buñuél’s distinctive artistry was actually the work of Perry.
Though the proposed US title was Tell It Like Is Is, it was released as Thermidor.
It was a slightly modified edition of the movie. The narration was translated into English, with only the smallest changes here and there.
Normally I resent it when producers and distributors modify movies
(an exception to that rule, of course, is what Woody Allen did with
International Secret Police: Key of Keys, which he converted into What’s Up, Tiger Lily? —
which I understand has been considerably sanitized in recent years, unfortunately).
But I think I’d make an exception for Thermidor.
Clem Perry put a lot of love into making a US version.
Tinto is apparently not impressed with it, but I don’t think he’s upset either.
Anyway, just look at the folks who participated in making it:
French novelist/playwright Ursule Molinaro,
professor of Italian literature Letizia Brod,
poet and New York Quarterly founder William Packard,
publisher/reviewer/translator Harold Salemson,
actor/director Ben Gazzara,
actor/co-founder of the American Place Theater Michael Tolan,
prominent stage actress Irene Worth,
and actor/director/professor Al Freeman Jr.
This is not a typical producer/distributor’s botched rescue job.
(There are a few other names in the credits too.
For instance, Bernard Sznycer must be the Bernard W Sznycer who translated a Chekhoff play.
He was the husband of musical performer Katharine Sergava.
There’s also Lou Burdi. I couldn’t learn anything about him for the longest time,
but now his credits are on IMDb.
He did sound effects for the US-release editions of the softcore Greek
Hot Month of August
and Cambist’s
Interestingly, Thermidor was possibly the only one of Brass’s films that the Catholic Church ever praised, calling it “a powerful message on the side of peace” (Catholic Film Newsletter 36, no. 17, 15 September 1971, p 86). The Catholic Church has hardly been an advocate for peace. In its one thousand and seven hundred years of history it has been incessantly guilty of countless atrocities and genocides, and has been a full participant in wars of aggression. Any institution that regards American Indians as expendable nonhumans and that runs the Ustashe is not going to win my heart. But so be it. There are as many Catholicisms as there are Catholics, and since humans are human, it is inevitable that Catholic writers will in all sincerity praise peace, even as their leaders go to war. (Lest you think I’m singling out Catholicism, allow me to assure you that my opinion of most other religions is hardly any different. But that’s a suicidal discussion for another day.)
Thermidor premièred on 24 August 1971 at the 5th Avenue Cinema in Manhattan, and the advertisement was never more detailed than the one below. As you will see, it played at a Rugoff cinema, surely because Clem Perry was a Rugoff executive. It played for only one week and I know of no other commerical venues that presented it, ever. As with the original version, this new edition also received mixed comments.
The New York Times (Wednesday, 25 August 1971, p 45):
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Cue (28 August 1971): THERMIDOR (Altura) At the Fifth Avenue Cinema. Care to take a look at the devastation man has wrought in the 20th century? I find historical film clips fascinating even when they turn my stomach. Tinto Brass created a documentary in Italy stressing the unremitting violence of the last 70 years, and Clem Perry has produced an American version. You can watch history speed by, punctuated by executions, wars, extermination, assassinations, and atomic bombing. You may find brighter horizons at seeing Man shake his environment by landing on the moon. The narration is a glib, pompous concoction of commentary and poetry. Ben Gazzara, Irene Worth, Al Freeman, Jr., and Michael Tolan try to make it come to life, but the talk, straining to be profound, is merely precious. However, the sights and sounds are there, and so are the people—Villa, Rosa Luxemberg [sic], Franco, Hitler, Roosevelt, Einstein, Mao, et al. Thermidor is an intriguing cauldron of the world’s preoccupation with destruction. |
It’s amazing that Thermidor was so instantly forgotten, considering who narrated it!
As we can see from the credit listing, Altura was associated with Fleetwood Films:
Film Facts (1971, p 515):
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Altura has long been defunct, but its associated company, Fleetwood Films, which took presentation credit, was owned by Crowell Collier and Macmillan, as we learn from this article:
The New York Times (Monday, 15 July 1968, p 45):
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Hence the license for Thermidor went to Macmillan/Audio-Brandon:
A photocopy of a page from an undated Macmillan/Audio-Brandon 16mm Film Catalogue:
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A page from the 1978/1979 Audio-Brandon 16mm Film Catalogue:
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When Macmillan/Audio-Brandon closed shop, its library went to Films Incorporated (5547 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago IL 60640; defunct URL: http://www.publicmedia.com/fientertainment/index.html):
This is one of those invaluable resources that would bore the skin off your teeth: James L Limbacher, compiler, Feature Films: A Directory of Feature Films on 16mm and Videotape Available for Rental, Sale, and Lease, 8th ed (New York &: London: R R Bowker Company, 1985):
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In 1997 Films Inc got out of the film business and switched exclusively to video, and all of its remaining film materials went to Kit Parker, but by that time Films Inc no longer retained its license to Thermidor. (Kit Parker shortly afterwards likewise abandoned film in favor of video, and many of the remaining prints ended up at the New York Public Library, where, last I heard, the massive job of cataloguing the collection had years yet to go.)
What must have happened is that the film was never even once rented to anybody. The prints were discarded or misplaced, and the listings continued only because the proofreaders never caught the discrepancy. Once the US license expired, whenever that was, and it could have been any time between 1972 and 1997, all the known materials were packed up back to Italy. But where in Italy?
We are offering a bounty for a good video of Thermidor. If you know where we can get one, or if you know where the prints and/or materials are located, write to us. Thanks!
Incidentally, clips from Ça ira are included in several subsequent Brass films: In capo al mondo, Il tempo lavorativo and Il tempo libero, NEROSUBIANCO, L’urlo, and Salon Kitty.
GIANCARLO FUSCO, the noted author and boxer, wrote the commentary for the film. He and Brass would team up five more times over the next 17 years. Once their collaborations ended, Brass’s films would never be the same again.
 Once upon a time, a site called Il pacifico, located at http://www.memoriale.com/1974mem.htm, posted this photo of Giancarlo Fusco, who looks rather like a certain American president, yes? But I don’t think this is our Giancarlo Fusco. (If you know who this really is, and/or if you know who owns the rights to this photo, please contact me. Thanks!) |
On the other hand, I think this is truly the Giancarlo Fusco in question. |
WELL, IT’S DEAD, BUT ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS WORTH A LOOK:
http://www.icast.com/movies/1,1524,606-141716,00.html
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The unreleased soundtrack LP, RCA SP 8004. It seems that only a few were pressed for a select few VIPs. Nonetheless, tracks from this LP reappeared on other LPs, as we can see from this interesting web site: http://masasaruyoppitako.web.infoseek.co.jp/RCA_SP10000.html. |
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN THE FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY HYMN “ÇA IRA”
(SUNG BY EDITH PIAF, NO LESS!), TUNE IN TO:
Modern History Sourcebook
And here’s “La ninna nanna de la guerra” sung by Edmonda Aldini (I have trouble enough with standard Italian; this is the Roman dialect, which makes my head spin):
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Ninna nanna, pija sonno ché se dormi nun vedrai tante infamie e tanti guai che succedeno ner monno fra le spade e li fucili de li popoli civili de la gente che se scanna per un matto che commanna; che se scanna e che s’ammazza a vantaggio de la razza e a profitto de una fede per un Dio che nun se vede, ma che serve da riparo ar Sovrano macellaro. Ché quer covo dassassini che c’insanguina la terra sa benone che la guerra è un gran giro de quatrini che prepara le risorse pe li ladri de le Borse. Fa la ninna, cocco bello, finché dura sto macello: fa la ninna, ché domani rivedremo li sovrani che se scambieno la stima boni amichi come prima. So cuggini e fra parenti nun se fanno comprimenti: torneranno più cordiali li rapporti personali. E riuniti fra de loro senza l’ombra del rimorso, ce faranno un bel discorso su la Pace e sul Lavoro pe quer popolo cojone risparmiato dar cannone! |
Sleep my little one and I will sleep and then we will not see all the evil and the violence that is sweeping across our world Sharp cold bayonets on rifles which civilised people stick into their choking victims at the whim of their mad leaders Those who choke and those who kill have sold out on their rich past they profit from a blind fate a god whom no one sees why try to fight back why try to resist what these assassins are doing spilling our blood on our soil Everyone knows that war is a game played with money all our precious possessions are wasted by these pickpockets Be still my little one while all this killing goes on be still and we may wake to a saner world tomorrow And if things get better and we still have our friends among cousins and parents one can always be kind Then everything will be happier friendships will be warmer There will be love among people there will be no more sadness That is a good plan for life to live in peace and decent work and as for the evil leaders we will take away their guns |
| AS SUNG IN THE RECORDING | TRANSLATION | AS IT IS EDITED IN THE MOVIE | US SUBTITLES |
| Messieurs qu’on nomme Grands Je vous fais une lettre Que vous lirez peut-être Si vous avez le temps |
You men with great names! This is a letter That maybe you will read If you can spare the time. |
Signori dai grandi nomi Vi scrivo una lettera Che forse leggerete Se ne avrete il tempo |
You men with great names! this is a letter to you which maybe you will read If you can spare the time. |
| Je viens de recevoir Mes papiers militaires Pour aller à la guerre Avant mercredi soir |
I’ve just received My call-up papers To leave for the front Before Wednesday night. |
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| Messieurs qu’on nomme Grands Je ne veux pas la faire Je ne suis pas sur terre Pour tuer des pauvres gens |
You men with great names! I do not want to go I am not on this earth To kill poor people. |
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| C’est pas pour vous fâcher Il faut que je vous dise Les guerres sont des bêtises Le monde en a assez |
I do not wish to offend you, But I must tell you Your wars are criminal And the world has had enough. |
Non per offendervi ma bisogna che vi dica La guerre son bestialità il mondo ne ha abbastanza |
I do not wish to offend you, but I must tell you your wars are criminal and the world has had enough. |
| Depuis que je suis né J’ai vu mourir des pères J’ai vu partir des frères Et pleurer des enfants |
Since I was born I have seen brothers die, I have seen fathers leave, I have seen children cry. |
Da quando sono nato ho visto morire dei fratelli ho visto partire dei padri e piangere dei bambini |
Since I was born I have seen some brothers die, I have seen some fathers live [sic], I have seen some children cry — |
| Des mères ont tant souffert Et d’autres se gobergent Et vivent à leur aise Malgré la boue le sang |
Mothers have suffered so much And others are mocking And living at ease Despite the mud the blood |
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| Il y a des prisonniers On a vole leur âme On a vole leur femme Et tout leur cher passé |
There are prisoners We steal their souls We steal their wives And all their cherished past |
Ci sono i prigionieri son state rubate le loro anime son state rubate le loro donne e tutto il loro caro passato |
and I have seen the prisoners, you have taken away their souls, you have taken away their women, you have taken away their birthright. |
| Demain de bon matin Je fermerai ma porte Au nez des années mortes J’irai par les chemins |
Tomorrow at daybreak I will lock my door. In the face of the dead years. I will go onto the roads. |
Domani di primo mattino chiuderò la mia porta siamo delle anime morte e me ne andrò per le strade |
Tomorrow at daybreak I will lock my door. Our souls are all dead. I will go out onto the roads |
| Je mendirai ma vie Sur la terre et sur l’onde Du Vieux au Nouveau Monde Et je dirai aux gens: |
I shall beg for the rest of my life, Through the earth and over the waves, From the old world to the new, And I will tell all the people |
Mendicherò la mia vita Sulla terra e sulle onde dal vecchio al nuovo mondo e dirò alla gente |
and beg for the rest of my life, through the earth and over the waves, from the old to the new world, and I will tell all the people |
| Profitez de la vie Éloignez la misère Nous sommes tous des frères Gens de tous les pays |
Enjoy Life Stay away from misery We are all brothers People from all countries |
approfiattate delle vite allontanate la miseria siamo tutti dei fratelli genti di tutti i paesi |
you are destroying their lives, we are all of us brothers, the people of all countries. |
| S’il faut verser le sang Allez verser le vôtre Messieurs les bon apôtres Messieurs qu’on nomme Grands |
If someone has to shed his blood, Why don’t you shed yours — Yes, all you great good apostles, Yes, all you men with great names. |
Se bisogna versare il sangue andate a versare il vostro signori buoni apostoli signori dai grandi nomi |
If someone has to shed his blood, why don’t you shed yours — yes, all you great good apostles, yes, all you men with great names. |
| Si vous me poursuivez Prévenez vos gendarmes Que je n’aurai pas d’armes Et qu’ils pourront tirer Et qu’ils pourront tirer... |
And if you chase me, Tell all your policemen That I do not have any weapons, And so they can shoot me, And so they can shoot me. |
se voi mi inseguite avvisate il vostri gendarmi che io non avrò armi e che essi potranno spararmi e che essi potranno spararmi |
And if you chase me, tell all your policemen that I do not have any weapons, and so they can kill me, and so they can kill me. |
There are several other archival songs included, such as “The Rising of the Moon,” and “Giovinezza,” but I can’t find the particular recordings used in the movie. The recording of “Inno dei giovanni fascisti” is on the Internet, though. I despise everything the fascists stood for, but their tunes were so bloody good and catchy. Why do talented composers write for mass murderers? There’s also a Spanish fandango that I haven’t a clue how to identify. Ditto for other archival recordings, such as a nationalist hymn that seems to be Spanish and another that seems to be Spanish Communist. Okay, call me a dunce, but I really don’t recognize them, except, of course, for “Le chant des partisans.”
DVD probably not forthcoming from
.
The announcement was quietly made at
Forum
Raro Video — Tinto Brass “d’Epoca”
ANICA — Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali
| You know, people get so mad at me — fuming, shouting, screaming mad — when I gripe about cropping. They have no idea what I’m talking about, they don’t see anything wrong, and they just want me to shut up already, for crying out loud. Cinema owners and managers evict me from their establishments when I mention the problem, and they threaten to call the police. Well, okay, once and for all, observe the table below. The original film image is on the left, and the result when shown at “widescreen” at a cinema is on the right. Look at it, and if you still don’t see anything wrong, please never talk to me as long as you live: | |
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| Directed and edited by | Tinto Brass (26 Mar 1933– ) |
| Commentary by | Giancarlo Fusco (18 Jun 1915–17 Sep 1984) |
| Produced by | Moris Ergas (10 Jul 1922–8 Feb 1995) for Debora Film and Zebra Film |
| Music | Romolo Grano (14 Aug 1929– ) |
| Research | Carla Cipriani (30 Mar 1930–11 Aug 2006) |
| Assistant director | Franco [“Kim”] Arcalli (18 Jul 1929–24 Feb 1978) |
| Assistant editor | Nadia Bonifazi (????–????) |
| Narrators | Sandra Milo (producer Ergas’s mistress at the time — if you want to increase your movie’s chances of success, you must hire the producer’s mistress, always) (11 Mar 1935– )
Tino Buazzelli (13 Sep 1922–20 Oct 1980) Enrico Maria Salerno (18 Sep 1926–28 Feb 1924) |
| Poems read by | Paul Éluard (14 Dec 1895 – 18 Nov 1952) |
| Archival recordings of | Edith Piaf (19 Dec 1915–11 Oct 1963)
Edmonda Aldini (15 Mar 1934– ) |
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Though I have never seen the US version, I have learned some things about it,
and these are the most significant differences between the Italian TV version and the US version that I know about:
• The US edition has an added prologue, in which Marianne Moore’s poem
“In
Distrust of Merits” is spoken.
I don’t know if any visuals accompanied this, or if it was done against a blank screen.
• The underlined verses below are deleted from the US version:
LIBERTY On my exercise book On my desk and the trees On the sand on the snow I write your name On all the pages read On all the white pages Stone blood paper or ash I write your name On the golden images On the warriors’ arms On the kings’ crown I write your name On the jungle and the desert On the nest on the broom On the echo of my childhood I write your name On the wonders of the nights On the white bread of the days On the seasons engaged I write your name On all my rags of azure On the pond mildewed sun On the lake live moon I write your name On the fields on the horizon On the wings of the birds And on the mill of the shadows I write your name On every puff of dawn On the sea on the boats On the mad mountain I write your name On the moss of the clouds On the sweat of the storm On the rain thick and tasteless I write your name On the paths awakened On the roads spread out On the squares that overflow I write your name On the scintillating figure On the bells of the colors On the physical truth I write your name On the paths awake On the roads unfurled On the squares overflowing I write your name On the lamp that lights On the lamp that goes out On my houses reunited I write your name On the fruit cut in halves Of the mirror and of my room On my empty shell bed I write your name On my dog greedy and gentle On his ears cocked On his clumsy paw I write your name On the springboard of my door On the familiar objects On the flood of the blessed fire I write your name On any granted flesh On my friends’ brow On every hand held out I write your name On the window of the surprises On the attentive lips Well above the silence I write your name On my destroyed refuges On my collapsed lighthouses On the walls of my boredom I write your name On the absence without desire On naked solitude On the steps of death I write your name On health returned On the risk disappeared On hope without memory I write your name And by the power of a word I recommence my life I am born to know you To name you... Liberty.
• Beginning at about 1:03 (video speed) or 1:06 (cinema speed)
an archival recording of a Jewish lament about the extermination camps is replaced (or overlaid?)
by William Packard’s poem,
“The Warsaw Ghetto.”
(If you can identify the original lament, please write to me. Thanks!)
• A few phrases of the final lines of commentary are altered.
“Free even physiologically” is changed to “Free even psychologically.”
The following verse is shortened, as per the
To compensate for the loss, a superimposed title is added at the end:
• The end credits are no longer white letters against a black background,
but are instead against a split-screen montage.
Or, possibly, they are on a neutral background, while a montage occupies the other half of the screen.
• There seems to be an epilogue, possibly during the closing credits, or possibly afterwards,
consisting of brief quotations from Ralph Waldo Emerson, John B Watson, Aristotle, H.G. Wells,
Benjamin Franklin, and Booker T Washington. |
| English adaptation and postproduction | Clem Perry and Fleetwood Films |
| English translation | Ursule Molinaro (18 Apr 1916–10 Jul 2000) |
| Text contributors | Letizia Brod (1916–4 Sep 2006)
William Packard (2 Sep 1933–3 Nov 2002) Jean-Paul Renoir Harold Jason Salemson (30 Sep 1910–25 Aug 1988) Bernard Sznycer (1904–1970) |
| Poems | “The Warsaw Ghetto” by William Packard (2 Sep 1933–3 Nov 2002)
“In Distrust of Merits” by Marianne Moore (15 Nov 1887–5 Feb 1972) |
| Editor | Lou Burdi |
| Narrators | Ben Gazzara (28 Aug 1930–3 Feb 2012),
Michael Tolan (17 Nov 1925–31 Jan 2011), Irene Worth (23 Jun 1916–9 Mar 2002), Al Freeman, Jr. (21 Mar 1934–9 Aug 2012) |
