Ferdinando and Carolina

Ferdinando and Carolina
Ferdinando and Carolina
Directed by	Lina Wertmüller
Written by	Lina Wertmüller; Raffaele La Capria
Produced by	Edwige Fenech
Cinematography	Blasco Giurato

Ferdinando and Carolina (Italian: Ferdinando e Carolina) is a 1999 Italian historical comedy film directed by Lina Wertmüller.^[1]^[2]

Plot

In the 1820s, Italy's aging King Ferdinando I falls ill in Naples and, on his deathbed, reminisces about the early years of his reign. After a rambunctious and impetuous childhood, he is poised to assume the throne at the age of 16. Although the lusty young prince already has a lover, the Princess of Medina, a marriage is arranged with 16-year-old Princess Maria Teresa of Austria.

The princess dies of smallpox before the wedding can take place. Her sister is proposed as a suitable wife, but she dies as well. When a third sister, Maria Carolina, is presented, Ferdinand is decidedly unenthusiastic, but his advisors and Carolina's mother, the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, push him into the marriage. He discovers on their honeymoon that he and Carolina get along famously in the bedroom, if nowhere else.

While Ferdinand is never cured of his roving eye, the ambitious Carolina soon has the King under her spell, and her political power comes to rival his own. Obsessed with the pleasures of the flesh, the spoiled sovereigns seem oblivious to the revolutions threatening to consume France and, eventually, the whole of Europe. Amid dazzling palace settings, the arrogant king casually threatens to behead those who displease him, threats that are sometimes carried out. The royals travel to the ruins of Pompeii and undertake hunting parties, but political intrigue intrudes into their lives.

Cast

Sergio Assisi as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Gabriella Pession as Maria Carolina of Austria
Nicole Grimaudo as Princess of Medina
Adriano Pantaleo as Young Ferdinand I
Mario Scaccia as Old Ferdinand I
Lola Pagnani as Sara Goudar
Carlo Caprioli as Joseph II
Moira Grassi as the Countess of San Marco
Lucilla Vacondìo as Lady Stratfordshire
Leo Benvenuti as Bernardo Tanucci
Elio Pandolfi as Galiani
Armando Pugliese as the Prince of Sansevero
Isa Danieli as Fravulella
Silvana De Santis as Maria Theresa
Gianni Bonagura as the Austrian Ambassador
Elena Presti as Lucia Migliaccio
Gerardo Gargiulo as Charles III
Lea Gramsdorff as Maria Amalia of Saxony

References

^ Paolo Mereghetti (2010). "Ferdinando e Carolina". Il Mereghetti. B.C. Dalai Editore. ISBN 978-8860736260.
^ Deborah Young (April 12, 1999). "Review: 'Ferdinand and Carolina'". Variety. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

External links

Ferdinando and Carolina at IMDb

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[Mereghetti-1] Paolo Mereghetti (2010). "Ferdinando e Carolina". Il Mereghetti. B.C. Dalai Editore. ISBN 978-8860736260.

[2] Deborah Young (April 12, 1999). "Review: 'Ferdinand and Carolina'". Variety. Retrieved 4 March 2014.

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