The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
Who else likes finding new-to-them stories about World War Two? I love it. I just saw The Secret of Santa Vittoria, which I knew nothing about before and which turned out to be a nice surprise.
The film is set in 1945 right after Benito Mussolini is killed, and Italo Bombolini (Anthony Quinn), once the biggest Mussolini fan of all, has gone up the water tower with a bottle of wine and a bucket of paint to atone for his sin (He painted “Mussolini Is Always Right” on it in big letters. The water tower, not the wine bottle).
Unfortunately, Bombolini gets too drunk once he’s up there to do anything and a local college student, Fabio has to come up and bail him out. Bombolini not only has to be talked down, but Fabio gets the crowd to cheer him down, and it energizes Bombolini so much he has the village carry him down to City Hall and arrest all the local fascists. They not only do so, but Bombalini is made the new mayor.
Also unfortunately, while the Nazis are retreating, they’re not defeated yet, and they’re grabbing everything they can. Santa Vittoria’s main source of income is its wine industry, and they don’t want the Nazis getting their hands on it. After talking about it, the village decides to wall up most of the wine in an old Roman cave so that it looks empty, and with the help of a marathon of a bucket brigade. the precious liquid is convincingly hidden.
The Nazis show up. Captain Von Prum, the company’s commanding officer pretends to be nice but drops the facade very quickly. He’s used to taking what he wants, and he wants to break the people of Santa Vittoria and get their wine. He’s not above torture and rape, either.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria might not be a one-man show but it sure feels like it because it’s Bombolini’s story. He starts out as a buffoon on the line of Homer Simpson only a little angrier and way more polite, but he isn’t allowed to stay that way. Bombolini’s wife, Rosa, wants her husband to be the vigorous young buck she married, even if he isn’t young anymore, and she watches her husband deal with the Nazis hoping he doesn’t crack.
And therein lies the satisfaction of Santa Vittoria. We not only see a man who has spent years alternating between complacency and despair begin to wake up and be his best self, even when the chips are down. We see a village that’s been so used to living under oppression that freedom has to be practically shoved in their faces, but once they snap out of their collective stupor, protecting themselves and what’s theirs becomes worth it.
Anthony Quinn is amazing as Bombolini, who is bombastic but also very sensitive, and he does a lot of nonverbal communication. We can see the grief on his face as he sees and hears the treatment of his people by the Nazis, which made me want him to start throwing punches or something, anything to fight back. On the other hand, it’s clear Bombolini has to hold himself in to help save his village and look for other ways to fight. Quinn’s face says it all.
He’s supported by a first-rate Italian cast and loads of extras, many of whom no doubt had firsthand memories of the Nazi occupation of Italy, and whose sadness and stoicism when the Nazis come in the film is probably not acting.
The film is also beautifully composed, with the actors’ faces so expressive that every shot could be a realist painting. I like that things have time to build and play out because it gives the viewer time to root for these wonderful, peppery Italians as they take on a seemingly insurmountable foe.
All in all, I wish I had heard of this movie sooner, but I’m so glad I found it and would visit Santa Vittoria again. It’s truly beautiful.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria is available to stream on Amazon Prime. Rating: PG-13.
My grade: A+
Principal cast: Anthony Quinn, Anna Magnani, Virna Lisi, Hardy Kruger, Giancarlo Giannini, Renaldo Rascel, Sergio Franchi
Directed by Stanley Kramer
Written by William Rose, Ben Maddow, and Robert Crichton (novel)