‘A Santanotte

Naples in the 1920s: Nanninella's father usurps her modest salary as a waitress to finance his alcohol addiction and makes her feel his violence on a daily basis. Two better-off men begin to take an interest in her - the start of a fierce competition that leads to a tragic spiral of emotional excesses. With her production company Dora-Film, Elvira Notari was probably the most productive Italian director of the silent film era. By filming on the streets, dispensing with established stars and taking an unembellished look at social conditions, she anticipated the approaches of neorealism. What is particularly remarkable about this work is the ‘criticism of the violence of a patriarchal culture’ (Monica Dall'Asta). (Bianca Jasmina Rauch)