Julian the Apostate (1919)

Giuliano l'apostata

Highly stylised biopic of the last Pagan Roman-Byzantine Emperor, Julian the Philosopher, known to Christians as 'the Apostate'. Orphaned by his cousin Constantius (Costanzo), and narrowly escaping death himself as a child, Julian is brought up on the Greek classics by his faithful tutor Mardonius.

Date of release
1919-01-02
Runtime
1h 42m
Director
Ugo Falena

Casting

Interesting facts

Giuliano l'Apostata is a 1919 Italian historical drama film directed by Ugo Falena, starring Guido Graziosi and Ileana Leonidoff. Set in the 4th century, it is a biographical film about the Roman Emperor Julian, known as Julian the Apostate for his rejection of Christianity.

Production

Giuliano l'Apostata was produced by Bernini Film and directed by the company's general manager, Ugo Falena. Falena was best known for his film adaptations of theatrical works, especially operas. Like many of his other works, Giuliano l'Apostata is connected to the musical world, and it was written in close collaboration with the composer Luigi Mancinelli.

The sets and costumes were created by Duilio Cambellotti, who was Italy's most famous Art Nouveau artist and first had collaborated with Falena in 1906. Some of the inspiration for his designs came from ancient mosaics in Ravenna. Some of the image compositions and actor postures were inspired by 19th-century representations of the ancient world by painters such as Lawrence Alma-Tadema, John William Godward and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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