Il prato macchiato di rosso (lit. 'The Red-stained lawn[1]') is a 1973 Italian film directed by Riccardo Ghione.[3][page needed]
| Il prato macchiato di rosso | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Riccardo Ghione |
| Screenplay by | Riccardo Ghione[2] |
| Story by | Riccardo Ghione[2] |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Romolo Garroni[2] |
| Edited by | Cleofe Conversi[2] |
| Music by | Teo Usuelli[2] |
Production company | Canguro Cinematografica[1] |
| Distributed by | Variety Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes[1] |
| Country | Italy[1] |
| Box office | ₤56.364 million |
In the film, two hippies are offered hospitality in a villa, unaware that their host is after their blood. The host uses a robot to drain blood from humans, and placing them into wine bottles from his winery.
Plot
editEmilia-Romagna, Italy, early 1970s. A Unesco agent discovers that blood is contained in a bottle of wine produced by a well-known Italian winery. A couple of hippies in their wanderings come across Antonio who accompanies them to the villa where he lives with his sister and brother-in-law.
In the sumptuous house the two young men meet strange characters: a gypsy woman, a prostitute and a disquieting drunkard. The landlord, Michelino Croci, reassures them by saying that he is only a wine producer and loves to host strange people. In reality, Mr. Antonio is a madman who created a mechanism, a sort of robot capable of sucking blood from human bodies.
Cast
edit- Marina Malfatti as Nina Genovese
- Enzo Tarascio as Dr. Antonio Genovese
- Nino Castelnuovo as the UNESCO Agent
- Lucio Dalla as the tramp
- Barbara Marzano as the gypsy
- Dominique Boschero as the prostitute
Style
editItalian film critic and historian Roberto Curti described the film as mixing elements from the gothic genre, the thriller and a little bit of science fiction.[1]
Production
editShortly after the release of director Riccardo Ghione's previous film A cuore freddo, Ghione was working on his next film titled Vampiro 2000 which was shot in the village of Fiorenzuola d'Arda.[4] Ghione announced a different film during this period, an adaptation of Il male oscuro, a novel by Giuseppe Berto, which never came to fruition.[5] Vampiro 2000 eventually became retitled as Il pratto macchiato di rosso.[5]
Release
editIl pratto macchiato di rosso was distributed theatrically in Italy by Drago Film and had its premiere on 2 March 1973 in Fiorenzuola d'Arda.[1][6] The film grossed a total of 56,364,000 Italian lire domestically on its initial release.[1] According to Curti, after the film's release it vanished into obscurity to only be brought back to attention on a home video release around 2017.[6]
Reception
editCurti declared that Il prato macchiato di rosso retained a small level of notoriety in the village of Fiorenzuola where the memory of the shooting of the film remained vivid still in 2018.[7]
See also
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h Curti 2017, p. 100.
- ^ a b c d e Curti 2017, p. 99.
- ^ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN 8876059695.
- ^ Curti 2018, p. 77.
- ^ a b Curti 2018, p. 78.
- ^ a b Curti 2017, p. 102.
- ^ Curti 2018, p. 80.
References
edit- Curti, Roberto (2017). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970–1979. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476629605.
- Curti, Roberto (2018). Mavericks of Italian Cinema: Eight Unorthodox Filmmakers, 1940s–2000s. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-7242-7.
External links
edit
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