Stromboli, the land of God

During the Second World War, a Lithuanian refugee Karin finds herself in an Italian prisoner of war camp, and there, in order to obtain citizenship and a residence permit, she marries a fisherman Antonio. Spouses go to live in the small homeland of Antonio, the island of Stromboli , but this place, remote from civilization, immediately disappoints Karin, who is used to the big cities - the cultural differences between her and the few local residents are too great. A woman tries to adapt to the new situation, makes repairs in the house, establishes friendships with the priest, but as a result of ignorance violates local customs and becomes a black sheep among the islanders, and her husband beats her in a fit of jealousy.

Having become pregnant, Karin by all means decides to escape from here and at night, on the advice of the lighthouse keeper, sets off on foot to the opposite part of the island, to the neighboring village, where there is sea communication with the continent. Nevertheless, the path runs through an erupting volcano, overcoming the mountain slopes gradually seems impossible to her, in desperation, a woman who previously considered herself an atheist, asks God for help and without consciousness loses consciousness. At dawn, Karin wakes up and is delighted with the mystery and beauty of these places, she asks God for strength to protect the child.

Initially, Rossellini was going to invite the actress Anna Magnani to the main role, but at the stage of preparing the script, he unexpectedly received a letter from the Swedish-American star Ingrid Bergman , in which she said that she loves the films " Rome, an open city " and " Paiza ", so in any time ready to come to act in Italy. On the set, a scandalous affair arose between the director and the actress, despite the fact that both at that time were married; later they got married.

Almost all the scenes were shot without scenery in the real village of Stromboli, and most of the people involved in the picture are local residents, including the performer of the role of husband Mario Vitale , who until that time was an ordinary fisherman. The only professional actors besides Bergman were Renzo Cesana and Mario Sponzo , who played a priest and a lighthouse keeper, respectively. Once on the island and getting acquainted with the life of local residents, Rossellini decided to add additional documentary scenes to the script, which include the evacuation of residents during a volcanic eruption and collective fishing with long nets, the so-called “ tonnar ”.

Due to the scandal caused by the love affair between Rossellini and Bergman, the film was criticized by many observers and did not enjoy much success with the audience. Especially negatively, these trends manifested themselves in the United States, where even authorities reproached the actress for promiscuity. The conflict between the director and the publisher RKO Pictures , whose representatives independently mounted Stromboli for the American release, also had a negative impact on the American distribution: in this version, the duration of the film was reduced by 37 minutes, some important scenes disappeared. If in the directorial version the finale remains open, then the voiceover says that Karin’s soul will find peace only after returning to her husband.

After the release of the film, the isolated island of Stromboli was visited by many tourists from Italy and other European countries. To this day, you can find commemorative information plates with photographs of the filming process, and the main local bar, located on the central square of the settlement, is called “Ingrid”.

The film was part of the competition program of the 11th Venice Film Festival , and in addition, in a restored digital format was shown at the 69th festival in 2012. Ingrid Bergman was awarded the Silver Ribbon Award to the best foreign actress in Italian film.

• “Stromboli, God's Land” on the Internet Movie Database   (Retrieved April 16, 2017)
• “Stromboli, God's Land” on the Rotten Tomatoes website   (Retrieved March 1, 2013)
• "Stromboli, the land of God" (English) on allmovie   (Retrieved April 16, 2017)