A cast of several dozens fill the screen in this lavish pre-WW1 spectacle from Enrico Guazzoni. The story is slight, but is also secondary to the visual splendours of Ancient Egypt
2 Reviews
La sposa del Nilo review
JoeytheBrit4 June 2020
The Rise of Italian Cinema
boblipton13 September 2013
The people of Egypt are terrified that the Nile will not flood and irrigate their fields. To appease the God, the Pharoah Raamses has his promised bride, Amebi, thrown into the river as a sacrifice.
This two-reeler from Italia shows clearly why Italy was the world leader in movie drama in the years before World War One. It has magnificent production values, not only in sets and costuming, but a cast that seems to number in the thousands in the crowd scenes. The acting is first rate and the sense of spectacle is maintained throughout by excellent cinematography enhanced by tinting and toning. This would lead to the regular production of features, including by the director of this picture, Enrico Guazzoni, whose directing career would stretch into the 1940s.
Toning is the process by which the silver salts in photography, which shows up as black, are replaced by other salts, which turns the darker areas colors. While the whites in a film remain white, the other parts can assume colors. Certain sulfides, for example, can produce a print that ranges from yellow to brown to black.
This two-reeler from Italia shows clearly why Italy was the world leader in movie drama in the years before World War One. It has magnificent production values, not only in sets and costuming, but a cast that seems to number in the thousands in the crowd scenes. The acting is first rate and the sense of spectacle is maintained throughout by excellent cinematography enhanced by tinting and toning. This would lead to the regular production of features, including by the director of this picture, Enrico Guazzoni, whose directing career would stretch into the 1940s.
Toning is the process by which the silver salts in photography, which shows up as black, are replaced by other salts, which turns the darker areas colors. While the whites in a film remain white, the other parts can assume colors. Certain sulfides, for example, can produce a print that ranges from yellow to brown to black.
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