In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.
Directed by Ermanno Olmi
winter
italy
soldier
renaissance
16th century
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Cast
Christo Jivkov
Giovanni De' Medici
Sergio Grammatico
Federico II Gonzaga
Dimitar Ratchkov
Lucantonio Cuppano
Saša Vulićević
Pietro Aretino
Desislava Tenekedjieva
Caterina De' Medici
Sandra Ceccarelli
Nobildonna di Mantova
Aldo Toscano
Aloisio Gonzaga
Franco Palmieri
Paolo Giovio
Alessandro Genovesi
Ufficiale posto di guardia
Crew
Ermanno Olmi
Director
Ermanno Olmi
Writer
Fabio Vacchi
Original Music Composer
Roberto Cicutto
Producer
Cosimo Gomez
Art Direction
Pasquale Catalano
Special Effects Supervisor
Cosimo Gomez
Assistant Production Design
Popular Reviews
10 reviews
Mathias
5.0★ · 03/30/24
”Who created these horrible weapons? From there, the war and carnage started And the way to a cruel death was open. However, don't blame this miserable. We're the ones who don't know how to use what he gave us. To defend ourself from the wild animals.”Sopranos-reference!
Ermanno Olmi moves are beautiful and usually they’re very minimal in terms of drama. With movies like Il Posto or The Tree of Wooden Clogs that works to film’s advantage.. I’m sorry to say but this needed some more melodrama and some action, with exception to one scene I can’t say this film did much to keep me engaged.. the acting ain’t top-notch either.
Overall, Barely held my attention - just uninteresting, weird pacing, bad performances. It’s visually appealing, but that’s about it.
”Who created these horrible weapons? From there, the war and carnage started And the way to a cruel death was open. However, don't blame this miserable. We're the ones who don't know how to use what he gave us. To defend ourself from the wild animals.”Sopranos-reference!
Ermanno Olmi moves are beautiful and usually they’re very minimal in terms of drama. With movies like Il Posto or The Tree of Wooden Clogs that works to film’s advantage.. I’m sorry to say but this needed some more melodrama and some action, with exception to one scene I can’t say this film did much to keep me engaged.. the acting ain’t top-notch either.
Overall, Barely held my attention - just uninteresting, weird pacing, bad performances. It’s visually appealing, but that’s about it.
