The Night of San Lorenzo [La Notte di San Lorenzo] **** (1982, Omero Antonutti, Margarita Lozano, Claudio Bigagli) – Classic Movie Review 10,465

Italians try to survive as the Americans liberate a small town in Tuscany from the Germans in August 1944, in the moving 1981 Italian wartime drama film The Night of San Lorenzo from Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani.

Italians try to survive as the Americans liberate a small town in Tuscany from the nasty grip of the Germans in August 1944 in this moving Italian film from Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani.

The 1981 Italian wartime drama The Night of San Lorenzo [La Notte di San Lorenzo] is told in flashback from the perspective of a woman who was a child at the time. It stars Omero Antonutti, Margarita Lozano and Claudio Bigagli.

The Taviani Brothers build on their personal experiences as Tuscan teenagers during the war for an inspiring re-creation of an extreme, devastating, key event in their country’s troubled past.

The Night of San Lorenzo is also known as The Night of the Shooting Stars, an Italian folklore mystical special occasion when dreams can supposedly be realised.

The Night of San Lorenzo is a deserved winner of the Grand Prize of the Jury [Grand Prix du Jury] and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982, and was a nominee for the Palme d’Or. It won six awards at the 1983 David di Donatello Awards, including Best Film.

Also in the cast are Massimo Bonetti, Norma Martelli, Miriam Guidelli, Enrica Maria Modugno, Sabina Vannucchi, Giorgio Naddi and Renata Zamengo.

The Night of San Lorenzo [La Notte di San Lorenzo] [The Night of the Shooting Stars] is directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, runs 107 minutes, is made by RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana, Ager Cinematografica, SACIS and Istituto Luce Cinecittà, is released by Consorzio Italiano Distributori Indipendenti Film (CIDIF) (1982) (Italy), Premier Releasing (1982) (UK) and United Artists Classics (1983) (US), is written by Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Giuliani G De Negri and Tonino Guerra, is shot (Eastmancolor) by Franco Di Giacomo, is produced by Giuliani G De Negri, is scored by Nicola Piovani, and designed by Gianni Sbarra.

The church bombing scene on Piazza Farinata degli Uberti, where Germans bomb the church full of people, was filmed at Empoli, Tuscany, and is based on real life events at San Miniato, the Tavianis’ birthplace. When the case was reopened, it was discovered that the bomb belonged to the American army, and hit the church accidentally.

Vittorio (above left) and Paolo Taviani at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

The celebrated Italian writer-director Vittorio Taviani, winner of the Palme d’Or and Berlin Golden Bear, died in April 2018 aged 88 after a long illness.

Paolo Taviani was born on 8 November 1931 in San Miniato, Tuscany, and died on 29 February 2024 in Rome, aged 92.

The Taviani brothers won the Palme d’Or and the FIPRESCI prize for Padre Padrone at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977 and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 for La Notte di San Lorenzo.

In 2012 they won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Caesar Must Die.

Their notable works also include Kaos, Wondrous Boccaccio and Una Questione Privata.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,465

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