The Forbidden Christ

1951 film

24 March 1951 (1951-03-24)

Running time

99 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

The Forbidden Christ (Italian: Il Cristo proibito) is a 1951 Italian drama film directed by Curzio Malaparte.

Plot

Bruno is a veteran of the Russian campaign who returned on foot to his Montepulciano. Unlike the other veterans, his happiness at returning home is clouded by the death of his brother, a partisan shot by the Germans because of the betrayal of a fellow villager. Determined to avenge his brother, he tries to get the name of the informer told, but the villagers, tired of the violence and the blood of the war, refused to reveal it. Mastro Antonio, a modest carpenter friend of Bruno, for fear that he might be guilty of the crime of an innocent person, makes him believe that the man he is looking for is him. At that confession Bruno takes a file and throws it at his heart. Before passing away, the carpenter admits that he lied and sacrificed himself in place of the culprit. Having found the real culprit, he offers himself to Bruno's machine gun shots, but the latter, mindful of his friend's words, does not have the strength to hit the culprit, since an innocent person has already paid for him.^[1]

Cast

Raf Vallone as Bruno Baldi
Rina Morelli as Mother Baldi
Alain Cuny as Antonio
Anna Maria Ferrero as Maria
Elena Varzi as Nella
Gino Cervi as The Sexton
Ernesta Rosmino as Assunta
Philippe Lemaire as Pinin
Luigi Tosi as Andrea
Gualtiero Tumiati as Bruno's Father

Awards

Wins

1st Berlin International Film Festival – Special Prize for an Excellent Film Achievement^[2]

Nominations

1951 Cannes Film Festival – Palme d'Or^[3]

References

^ "Il Cristo proibito". Cinematografo (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2022.
^ "1st Berlin International Film Festival: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^ "Festival de Cannes: The Forbidden Christ". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 11 January 2009.