Fabiola (1949) - Salgister

FABIOLA (1949)

This Italian movie is sometimes thought to be the first peplum or sword-and-sandal movie. In my humble opinion, I would say that peplum movies were already in existence in the early years of the cinema, examples being Ben Hur (1907,1929, 1959), Quo Vadis? (1902,1951) Maciste in Hell (1925, 1960) and other spectacular movies such as Scipione l'Africano  - which was released in the mid-30's to glorify Mussolini when Italy was invading Ethiopia. Of course there are other movies, but let's limit ourselves to the Roman Era, the basis of most of the peplum movies.

Fabiola (1949), which was also made in 1913 and 1918, and then in 1960 as the The Revolt of the Slaves also know as La Rivolta degli Schiavi -  which in itself is a poor remake - is a budget war movie. But this should not deter anyone from watching it as it is truly spectacular. It stands on its own without any of today's special effects, cgi and what not. The story, in itself, is absorbing and, in a way, it's also a thriller. It revolves around the love of two people: a gladiator and girl, from a rich family, with the titular name: Fabiola. All this is enveloped by the background of Christian plight during Roman times.

Fabiola comes in two versions: the US version - the one I saw when I was still a child - and Fabiola, the Italian version, which has a running time of 156 minutes. If you can watch both versions you'll notice there is quite a difference. In the US version, the movie is turned into a thriller and adventure movie, with some Christian insights thrown in to flesh it out. But the soul of the movie is lost. The inter-relationships between the central characters are contracted, which leaves the viewer unaware of the torment they're undergoing because of the political turmoil that is boiling just under the surface. Here ambition and the thirst for power leads to murder upon murder, ending up with the Christians as scapegoats in a spectacular finale worthy of a De Mille.

The gladiatorial fights reminded me of Demetrius and the Gladiators. And such a scene is found in the movie. Of course I won't spoil it for you: you have to see it for yourselves to appreciate it.

Quo Vadis? (1951) excelled in the depiction of the martyrdom of the Christians. Graphic violence was, as yet, non-existence, or minimal. In Fabiola there are full-frontal scenes of graphic violence that make you wince every time. I winced quite a few times! The scenes of martyrdom were so realistic that you could feel the pain!

Another piece of trivia. I noticed that in the Ben Hur version of 1929, there are scenes of nudity. Of course the Hays Code wasn't yet applied until 4 years later. In Fabiola, there is some nudity too. Not of the sexual kind, but essential to the story. In Ben Hur, the nudes scenes happened during a ceremonial march with nubile, semi-nude, dancing girls, and in Fabiola during the persecution of the Christians. Of course in Italy, nudity was nothing new. Two years before Fabiola was shot, a movie called Quando gli Angeli Dormono showed Amadeo Nazzari pulling off the bed covers to reveal a nude Clara Calamai underneath. But then something changed, on a cinema level, that caused frontal nudity in European cinema to almost disappear till the late 60's ... where it erupted and returned with a vengeance, like some explosion of pent-up frustration.

The actors in this movie are top notch to say the least. Gino Cervi, as a soldier returned home from battle; Louis Salou as the scheming politician; Michele Morgan as Fabiola; Henri Vidal as the slave-turned-gladiator, Rual, and many other actors and actress give their best in this movie.

This is really a star of movie-making. It keeps you hooked on and watching the story unfold to its predestined end. Truly a movie to watch!