The Gadfly is a 1955 Soviet feature film directed by Alexander Fainzimmer , based on the novel of the same name by Ethel Lilian Voynich . In 1955, the film took 3rd place among the leaders of the box office, collecting 39.16 million viewers.
| Gadfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | drama |
| Producer | Alexander Faynzimmer |
| Author script | Evgeny Gabrilovich |
| In the main cast | Oleg Strizhenov Marianna Strizhenova |
| Operator | Andrey Moskvin |
| Composer | Dmitry Shostakovich |
| Film company | Lenfilm |
| Duration | 96 minutes |
| A country |  the USSR |
| Tongue | |
| Year | 1955 |
| IMDb | ID 0048461 |
The film tells about the underground struggle of Italian patriots against the Austrian invaders for the independence of their homeland. Against the background of these events is the tragic story of a man who has turned from a pure soul and enthusiastic youth into an implacable revolutionary - the legendary and elusive Gadfly.
Story
A young student Arthur Burton says goodbye to his beloved teacher, the priest Montanelli, who is leaving for Rome on the orders of the pope. Arthur is involved in the activities of Young Italy. He envies her leader Giovanni Ball, jealous of his beloved Gemma, and confesses this to a confession to the priest's father Cardy, after which all revolutionaries are arrested by gendarmes. During a walk in the prison yard, Arthur confesses to Boll, about which he spoke in confession, and he calls him a traitor. Arthur goes free and tries to tell about what happened Gemma, but she gives him a slap in the face and runs away. Returning home, Arthur learns from his uncle Burton that his real father is Montanelli. Arthur is experiencing the collapse of his entire worldview, breaking his crucifix and fleeing the house. Everyone considers him dead.
Many years later, Arthur, crippled in the revolutionary battles in South America, returns home. Under the pseudonym Ovod, he adjoins the revolutionaries waging an armed struggle in Italy and terrifies the Austrian invaders. The revolutionary-minded intelligentsia, he is known as Rivares. The Austrian emperor introduces an additional military contingent to Italy, Cardi's father welcomes the marching Austrian soldiers and their commander. Gadfly is involved in the secret delivery of weapons, but he is being tracked by police agents. The carbonarians retreat in battle, but Rivares lowers his weapon upon hearing Montanelli's order, and he is taken prisoner. The death sentence is a foregone conclusion. The comrades give the prisoner a file, he cuts the grate, but falls unconscious in the prison yard. Before his execution, Arthur admits to Montanelli that he is his son, and offers a shocked father a choice between the struggle for freedom and faith in Christ. The cardinal offers his son an escape, but Arthur does not even want to accept life from the minister of the church. The Austrians shoot the Gadfly at dawn, he himself commands his execution. Montanelli screams in horror that there is no God.
Cast
- Oleg Strizhenov - Arthur Burton / Felice Rivares
- Marianna Strizhenova - Gemma
- Nikolay Simonov - Lorenzo Montanelli
- Vladimir Etush - Cesare Martini
- Semyon Svashenko - Giordano Marcone
- Pavel Usovnichenko - Giuseppe
- Vadim Medvedev - Giovanni Boll
- Vladimir Chestnokov - Dominikino
- Ruben Simonov - Cardi
- Anthony Khodursky - Grassini
- Anna Lisyanskaya - Grassini's wife
- Gregory Spiegel - James Burton, Arthur's stepbrother
- Elena Junger - Julia Burton, James Wife
- Boris Dmokhovsky - commandant of the city
- Yakov Malyutin - Colonel
- Yefim Kopelyan - head of the border post
- Konstantin Adashevsky - Austrian general
- Emanuel Geller - bacon
- George Millar - a beggar
- Pavel Pankov - officer
- Boris Ilyasov - gendarme
Links
- " Gadfly ” (English) on the Internet Movie Database
- Gadfly (1955) - Cinema- Theater.ru