Acting
Two episodes on the theme of love and death. In the first, set in nineteenth-century Russia, we have a vehement passion that a family feud turns into tragedy. The second is a Boccaccio comedy in contemporary Sicily.
When the eyewitness to a brutal murder decides not to testify, the actual murderer chooses to finger him as the murderer and claim eyewitness status for himself.
Directed by the Oscar-winning screenwriter Ennio De Concini, Daniele e Maria (1973) is the tale of a forbidden romance between a rich and reclusive boy and the poor girl whose kindness opens up his formerly sheltered life. As the familiar setup from Romeo and Juliet suggests, the romance can only have a tragic ending as Maria is whisked away from her love and is forced into a loveless marriage organized by the rich family sheltering Daniele…
