It tells the story of Dante Alighieri's love to Beatrice Portinari, loosely based on Dante's poetry.
Acting
Francesca Bertini's face does ALL the work—no dialogue needed, queen.
Cinematography
Shadowy, painterly frames that literally look like Pre-Raphaelite fan art.
Costume
Florentine drip so authentic you'll forget it's 1919 not 1290.
Director
Herbert Brenon
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Francesca Bertini was Italian cinema's first major diva and reportedly controlled every aspect of production—basically the 1919 equivalent of running your own production company.
This film dropped right when D.W. Griffith was dominating globally, making it part of Italy's attempt to claim 'art cinema' before that was even a term. They invented film bros arguing about 'real cinema.'
IT
