The stuff of dreams: Pastrone paved the way for the modern epic

From: Chicago Sun-Times | Date: July 2, 2006| Author: Roger Ebert | Copyright information

A 1914 black-and-white silent film directed by Giovanni Pastrone. Intertitles written by Pastrone and Gabriele D'Annunzio. No MPAA rating.

Starring: Lidia Quaranta, Italia Almirante Manzini, Umberto Mozzato, Gina Marangoni, Bartolomeo Pagano, Dante Testa and Carolina Catena.

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On my last night at Cannes 2006, I climbed to the fifth floor of the Palais du Cinema to see a 180-minute silent epic made in 1914. Giovanni Pastrone's "Cabiria" was famous in its day, a gl...

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