History History and The plot of the film skillfully mixes passages from the struggle between Rome and other towns ( Vision is subtitled historical century BC) with an adventure story in which involving the Roman Fulvio, your server Maciste (in his first appearance before his own series) and another set of characters, the boarding or rescue, as appropriate, of Cabiria, a child and young.
In the years of the Second Punic War, the girl Cabiria and her family suffer the consequences of the eruption of Mount Etna. Cabiria manages to be saved by his nurse, Croessa, and gather a few survivors who fall into the Phoenician pirates networks. The priest Karthala Cabiria purchase market Carthage to be sacrificed to the god Moloch. Croessa refuses to be carried Cabiria, is whipped and left for dead, he decides to seek help from the patrician Fulvio Axilla and its server, the strongman Maciste, to save the girl. During the sacrifice of children to Moloch, Maciste and rescue Fulvio Cabiria. Hosted by Bodastoret, owner of a tavern, he prepared an ambush them with the Phoenicians. Fulvio manages to escape by jumping off a cliff into the sea, while Maciste and the child moves through the gardens of Sofonisba, daughter of General Hasdrubal, in the time in Hannibal is moving to Rome. Sofonisba is a sophisticated woman, who has a pet tiger as principal and as a man Massinissa Nubian king dreamed. Cabiria makes it into his palace as a servant and ordered that Maciste is chained to a rock where he will spend ten years doing hard labor, while the Roman fleet was burned and buried in Syracuse. After those ten years, King Sílax, an ally of the Romans, has overthrown the kingdom of Nubia Massinissa and do they give you in marriage to Sofonisba. Meanwhile, Fulvio, incognito, breaks into Maciste Carthage and helps him escape. Massinissa beats Cabiria Sílax and allows service to discharge its Sofonisba, who demanded by Scipio as prisoner kills himself with poison. Fulvio and Cabiria, and a young lady, view together the victory of Rome.
a viewer's gaze
late I know a viewer of this film. Of course, the first time, not long ago, I had the privilege of seeing on the big screen in a restored print, with original music by Ildebrando Pizzetti and indeed in all its glory. But I read some things about her, enough to activate the series of prejudices and expectations that arise from certain phrases of a critic or, above all, of what can lead one to believe a series of isolated images of the film. Before entering the film had in mind the temple of Moloch and some quotes from the grand texts by Gabriele D'Annunzio, with which my expectations were directed to a thesis film. Also reference was that Griffith had been present for Cabiria Intolerance , a title not exactly easy digestion. The first surprise of a spectator "prior informed" (something not always advisable) was found with a main story of adventure, certainly entertaining, and that beyond Griffith had clear references in the subsequent film (the same jobs forced to undergo Maciste will be submitting to Conan the Barbarian, decades later, the temple of Moloch and the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom is sure to have a lot to do with each other, and the opening passages of King Kong).
However, this viewer was trying to get rid of the historical importance of the film and looked like "one more title, he could see two serious problems that affected his relationship with his narrative: the lack of pace and credibility in the passage of time in history. Regarding the former, it is clear that D'Annunzio labels about now, much as they were a commercial and label claim at the time. On at grand, but mostly because they are a drag on the pace of certain passages, when the shares are sufficient by itself. The other problem is the lack of credibility of the latter part of the tape. Thus, in the passage of the final liberation of Cabiria and Maciste, this, after ten years, has gone from girl to woman, but for the rest of the characters has not spent the time, neither his mistress Sofonisba, or the stout Maciste nor, above all, Fulvio, a middle-aged man, who without winning a cane as a lover is going to conquer the girl was in much of the footage Cabiria, which is not without its touch pernicious.
The historical importance of Cabiria
But many films must be seen in context. Cabiria born in a moment of clear consolidation of Italian cinema, favored not only by its technical and aesthetic (it has many of the best coaches in Europe and a remarkable prestige), but the situation in industry: Cabiria is filmed in 1913 but opens in 1914 (incidentally, 18 April), the year that many European film industries are affected by the Great War, leaving a fairly desolate area initially neutral than others such as Italy, are made with the market and take advantage of a few years of rage, before the end of the war will lead to decline against the U.S. opportunism.
Cabiria, maximum reference of what has been called the kolossal , brings together the ingredients that Italians sought to impose on market: historical recreation, adventure, passion diva (Sofonisba is performed by one of the great divas: Italia Almirante Manzini), exotic ... but also had Gabriele D'Annunzio, who, despite not do more than those labels so annoying, it was sold as an author all the work: he wrote and directed, designed his sets and clothing, he thought about the effects of lighting and photography ... To sell, could have played Maciste said or even own a wig Cabiria. Hype aside, the fact is that the tape has long been a movie, "D'Annunzio." It has been said that part of the Italian silent film was a glorification of the grandeur and history that anticipates fascism. And to a large extent, this interpretation is supported by partnerships such as D'Annunzio, writer and intellectual to be a reference to Mussolini, the world of cinema. Moreover, the film served its subject matter to promote the political interests of its present, colonialism Italian Africa, emulating the Roman invasion of yesteryear. Therefore, Cabiria, in the commercial and political, figures prominently in the history of propaganda. 
Commercial operation that leads to use D'Annunzio as the ultimate authority is the work of Giovanni Pastrone, the man who took the major decisions in the Itala Film, hidden here under the pseudonym Piero Fosco, with a will "shadow man", but not both. If for a long time D'Annunzio claimed an address corresponding to Pastrone, this one for decades in many interviews, he boasted of technical contributions of his films, especially CARELLO , a moving mechanism that helped to move the camera, was a cart with pneumatic wheels and the main reason to use it, in his words, was to show the full extent of the decor, to really see that size was not a model (although there were differences, especially in the scenes of urban destruction and landslides). It is true that the movement characteristic of CARELLO served along the tape to those interests, especially in lateral movements, but many more examples where the movement is inward, like a zoom, which helps prevent statism of plans and more dynamic composition, a success, no doubt, even more, because this movement is smooth wisely, which gives a very natural to something that continues to be an artifact. Later historiography has been shifting responsibility for these contributions, among others, Chomón Second, who also spoke at some trick, like the dream scene Sofonisba (with advanced procedures overlay), and participated in the sets and some models, but above all, he points out as the main lighting issues in the famous passage from the temple of Moloch, the chiaroscuro work really hard. 
If Cabiria does not dominate the time (the rhythm of the film is quite flawed) self dominates the space, both in the physical construction of the arena on the exterior shot in the Alps, Sicily and Tunisia ( where Carthage was located) and the sets built in Turin (the cardboard monumental stone temple of Moloch, the sumptuousness of palaces), as construction film, made with the composition and camera approaches. But along with the decorations, we should emphasize the decorative costumes, especially the one carrying the Phoenicians or Sofonisba, which shows geometric elements connecting with avant-garde films as Thais, let's see here. Give a conception of the past and ornamentation also be present, for example, The Nibelungen: the geometries of the costumes have continuity in spaces that are present and also in the case of Cabiria , add a touch of exoticism. The lira and a quarter million were invested in the film were recovered in international distribution, with a great response and great influence, both within and outside the country. This overproduction is considered the best of Italian silent cinema. I could not tell if that's true or not but I hope that readers of this blog, with what is said here and the presentation of other films are not as well known but well done, can rule on their own and choose your favorite, who is also a way to critical. Some, like Fellini, the name of Cabiria only served to other views and stories.
