Lin series History by Francesca Archibugi based on the novel Elsa Morante debuts tonight at 9.30pm on Rai 1 – it will continue for four evenings, always on Monday. The protagonists are the widow Ida Ramundo, the teenage son Nino and the little one Useppetaken after the woman is raped by a young German soldier.
The story – which takes place between 1938 and 1947during the Second World War and in the immediate post-war period – tells the nightmare of the conflict through the eyes of Ida, her children and the many people she meets along its tortuous path. A touching journey that addresses pain, brotherhood, hope, death and solidarity.
History: the plot of the first episode
Rome, 1938. The widow and primary school teacher Ida Ramundo (Jasmine Trinca) lives in the San Lorenzo neighborhood with his teenage son Nino (Fracensco Zenga). It all starts with speech by Benito Mussolini delivered in Trieste in 1938where he declares that Judaism is «enemy of Fascism”, a prelude to the racial laws. Nora, Ida’s mother, writes to her daughter to reveal her Jewish origins. From that moment the woman will carry with her a sort of “frightened awe”.
The horror is reinforced by the bombs that destroy the neighborhood in 1943 and by the rape that Ida suffers from a young German soldier on leave in Rome. After getting drunk in Remo’s tavern (Valerio Mastandrea) the soldier is looking for a “brothel” he spots the woman heading home: it will be in her bed that the man rapes her. Ida, who became pregnant, will give birth, thanks to a local midwife, the little one with the blue eyes Giuseppe Felice Angiolinofor his son Nino, a convinced fascist, it will be forever Useppe.
A symbiotic relationship will be established between the child and the sixteen-year-old who wishes to serve his country at the front, while the sirens force the inhabitants to take refuge in the basement. Ida is worried about Nino who encourages him to study. In 1943 San Lorenzo was razed to the ground by bombs. From here a new episode begins.
The series is based on the 1974 book by Elisa Morante
In 1974 Elsa Morante wrote History, one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. A book published in paperback version which sold a million copies when it was released in bookstores. He was attacked by critics, a it is the left-wing newspapers and also Pierpaolo Pasolini who are criticizing him.
«Then it was unacceptable that the poor people, the proletariat, lost – says Francesco Piccolo, one of the screenwriters of the series together with Ilaria Macchia and Giulia Calenda – there was a very violent attack against Morante’s book. The novel, on the other hand, looked beyond ideologies by telling reality”intercepts the future by talking about the past and transforms pain into poetry. History it was an innovative text.
Jasmine Trinca. (Rai press office)
Luigi Comencini signed the series in 1986 History with Claudia Cardinale
In 1986 Luigi ComenciniAfter The Adventures of Pinocchio And Heart signs another TV series based on History, with Claudia Cardinale in the role of Ida Ramundo, Mancuso’s widow. Francesca Comencini did not want to watch the product of the giant of Italian cinema: «My wrists were already trembling at the thought of dealing with a milestone like Morante’s text», comments the director.
Also Giulia Calenda, Comencini’s nieceshe preferred not to watch her grandfather’s series «so as not to be influenced – she declares – I remember, however, that my mother (Cristina Comenciniscreenwriter of the miniseries with Suso Cecchi D’Amico ed) he took me to the set.”
Jasmine Trinca and Valerio Mastandrea. (Rai press office)
Ida, a woman of “frightened awe”
The series Francesca Archibugiproduced by Picomedia in collaboration with Rai Fiction, in collaboration with Thalie Images, it’s a blockbuster costing 17 million euros. The San Lorenzo neighborhood was entirely rebuilt in the Lazio countryside and the director strongly wanted an all-Italian cast.
Jasmine Trinca plays Ida, the woman “of frightened awe”.: «I’ve been waiting for this role all my life», comments the actress who has stood out for The best youth and the Son’s room by Nanni Moretti, «History It’s my coming-of-age novel, I read it twice in high school and before filming. I knew Ida well: it brings with it the fear of being in the world, but also a certain ferocity and an innate childhood».
Jasmine Trinca. (Rai press office)
The cast of History
Francesco Zengamaking his debut as an actor, plays Ninoa teenager who shatters his mother’s dream by deciding not to study. He is a fascist who wants to serve his country. The war will transform him and push him to help the partisan fight. Her smile brings lightness to her mother’s life and little Useppe. Valerio Mastandrea is the innkeeper RemoWhile Asia Argento the prostitute and tarot reader Santinaa woman who brings good humor to the mare magnum of horror.
Elio Germano takes on the role of a partisan Eppetondo, that’s what Useppe calls him. Her registered name is Giuseppe Cucchiarelli, a marble worker who, after the bombing of San Lorenzo, evacuates to Pietralata together with Ida and Useppe. When he meets Nino, a partisan, he joins the armed struggle.
Carlo Vivaldi also joins them (Lorenzo Zurzolo). His real name is Davide Segre, a Jewish student from Mantua, escaped deportation who exterminated his family. After meeting Nino, Carlo is convinced to participate in the partisan fight, but the killing of a German soldier will lead to an internal conflict that will consume him.
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