Marco Bellocchio made his name with savage, satirical dramas about middle-class Italian family life. In his debut feature, Fists in the Pocket (1965), his gallery of grotesques included a blind mother and her crazy, epileptic children. His equally coruscating China is Near (1967), mocked the pretensions of a pair of wealthy, middle-class brothers who dabble in radical politics.
Il principe di Homburg (The Prince of Homburg), one of only two Italian films in competition, is markedly less caustic than Bellocchio's work of the 60s, but again explores the relationship between private behaviour and public responsibility. Loosely based on the verse drama by Heinrich Von Kleist, it is the story of a 19th Century prince who attempts to behave like a romantic hero - in a world in which heroic gestures count for less than rigid obedience. "I would not be far wrong," Bellocchio observes, "if I described it as a great love story between a young prince and an even younger princess set against the background of an atrocious war." The action begins on a sultry summer night, the eve of a battle between the Germans and the Swedes. The prince, who commands the German cavalry, is in the middle of a fitful, agitated dream. Sleepwalking, he has a strange encounter with the beautiful Natalia (Barbora Bobulova), niece of the Great Elector.Nick Thomas
Adapting classical literary texts for the screen is a delicate business: it is all too easy to lose sight of the original material beneath the periwigs and frock coats, or, conversely, to pay such slavish attention to the text that the film never takes wing. "My major challenge," Bellocchio admits, "was to transmute Kleist's words into images and to make them more spectacular - to make cinema."
Casting was crucial. "The young prince had to be a young actor, somebody who corresponded with the romantic image of the character in Kleist's book." In the end, Bellocchio chose Andrea Di Stefano, a relative newcomer who had studied at the Actors' Studio in the US. "Although Andrea was inexperienced, he was intelligent and strong enough to play this enormous role. He has the right sensibility."
The Prince of Homburg was shot on location in Italy and Bulgaria. Bellocchio and his cinematographer Giuseppe
Lanci were aiming for eerie, dream-like visuals which reflected the prince's perspective on the events around him. "I wanted to show the clash between the prince, who lives in the unknown, and everyday reality."
Bellocchio admits that the film has been ready for several months. There was speculation earlier this year that he had withdrawn it from the Berlin Film Festival because the prospect of a screening at the 50th Cannes was altogether more alluring. Bellocchio denies the rumours. "Yes, it's true that the selection committee in Berlin were interested in The Prince of Homburg, but it took them too long to make up their minds. As a producer, I had to make a decision and because they were being so hesitant, I went for Cannes. That's the truth."
The Prince of Homburg opens today in Italy as well as in Cannes. The director points out that although it is a costume drama set in the past, "there are a lot of references to the Italy of today." He already concedes that some of the impact will be lost on foreign audiences. "This is a film which demands emotional engagement. Inevitably, subtitling will make it seem rational and even dry, but that's what you get when films are shown abroad."
Geoffrey MacNab
Prod Co: Filmalbatross Prod: Pier Giorgio Bellocchio
Dir/Scr: Marco Bellocchio
Ph: Giuseppe Lanci
Art Dir: Giantito Burchiellaro
Cos: Francesca Sartori
Cast: Andrea Di Stefano, Barbora Bobulova, Toni Betorelli
Running time: 85 mins
Int sales: Sacis
