Roman emperor Nero is used to getting what he wants. He has grown tired of his wife Octavia, and has become infatuated with Poppea. He succeeds in making Poppea the new empress, but soon he faces opposition from an outraged populace. Informed of the danger of an imminent popular uprising, Nero orders to set fire to the city, which he watches from a terrace, rejoicing and playing his lyra.
Well-respected Pompeiian Glaucus performs an act of kindness by purchasing Nydia, a blind slave being mistreated by her owner. Nydia falls in love with her new master, but he only has eyes for Ione. Ione in turn is lusted after by Arbace, an Egyptian high priest of Isis. When Nydia beseeches Isis for help in capturing Glaucus' heart, Arbace gives her a "love" potion-- an elixir made to drive Glaucus mad, securing Ione for himself. Ultimately, Mount Vesuvius will end their lives and seal their fates in a terrible, glorious eruption.
The newly-settled city of Venice in the Sixth Century AD: A wandering people struggle to establish Christian Theocracy. Basiliola Faledro, an exotic dancer, wicked and cunning, arrives from faraway lands seeking to avenge her pagan lineage; Her father and brothers blinded and humilated by frenzied zealots. Her primary targets are the brothers Gràtico, both newly-elected to positions of power: One, Marco, an arbiter and tribune, the other, Sergio, a bishop. The title refers to a bold pronouncement made by Deaconess Ema Gràtico to her subjects the Venetians, a seafaring and desperate tribe-- That their native homeland is aboard a ship.
A man goes out on New Year's Day and is greeted by everyone with "Happy New Year", in the hope of getting a tip. The fellow is so annoyed that he runs into trouble with the law and almost loses his mind.
The Queen of Nineveh plots with Prince Canach to destroy the King. Hidden behind a curtain they see the King drink poisoned wine. The High Priest takes the King's young son Aznra, and hides him, and fifteen years later brings him forth and presents him to the populace, which greets him with acclamation and moves on the palace to avenge the death of the King. Prince Canach cravenly hides when the Queen bids him lead the royal guard against the mob, and she dons his armor and takes his place at the head of the troops. A sensational battle takes place .reaching its height on the steps of the palace. Azura singles out, as he thinks, Prince Canach and when his opponent falls mortally wounded he finds it was his own mother.
A grandfather recalls how he and his wife met and fell in love during the Second Italian War of Independence.
A fantasy film about the knight Parsifal, who has to protect the Holy Grail from wizards.
In this play on the symmetry of black and white, Robinet leaves home in his bright new suit for a stroll through a blackening industrial landscape. (MoMA)
Italian drama from the Società Anonima Ambrosio company.
Robinet brings down the house when he unleashes himself on Mimi Kratzfuss , an attractive opera singer, during a music hall performance.
The model Fede loves the writer Arte, but he is enmeshed by the beautiful Femmina. Fede takes comfort in the Faun, a mythological creature who becomes animated from the stone sculpted by Arte. The love story with the Faun represents a return to a dreamt wildness impossible by now, for the modern man, to reach and maintain.
An adaptation of Balzac's La Grande Bretêche
Short video showing the funeral of Don Michele Rua (1837-1910), the first Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco. Don Rua's funeral procession makes its way through the most important places of Salesians: the Basilica di Maria Ausiliatrice (Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians), the so-called Casa Madre of the Salesians and Valsalice, at the tomb of Don Bosco.
Pisa, 11th century. Spina, a young priestess daughter of Peter, is devoted to keeping a flame burning that illuminates the way back for those returning from the Crusade. But the Florentine knight Lamberto falls in love with her and the two young men fail in the vow of chastity that Spina committed. The shame for having betrayed the promise of purity made pushes Spina to suicide and Lamberto kills himself with her.
Tweedledum's attempts to master the bicycle lead him into situations both thrilling and comical, and the ride proves most adventurous. He barely escapes with his life, and causes a mad scramble on the part of pedestrians who cross his path.
Robinet disguises himself as a woman to get away from his girlfriend’s husband, and discovers the unexpected pleasures of public drag amidst mobs of flirtatious men. (MoMA)
The mighty King of Babylon falls in love with a beautiful girl, ruthlessly tears her away from her lover, who is left wounded upon the ground, and carries her to his palace, where he seeks to will her affections, showering her with gifts of precious stones from his treasure chests. The heart-broken girl repulses all his overtures and dashes the jewels to the floor, and the infuriated monarch, incensed at her refusal to share his throne, orders her cast into the lions' den. An immense throng of his court followers are invited to witness the execution, but the expectant throng is dumbfounded when the ferocious beasts, instead of rending the victim to pieces, fawn upon her. A wave of superstitious awe sweeps through the gathering, who regard the incident as a miracle and believe that the girl is under the protection of the gods. The King's guards are overpowered and the girl released, and the monarch, by this time imbued with fear, pays homage to the maiden, who is restored to her lover.
Italian short drama
