Directed by: Giovanni Pastrone
1916 | Italy | PG | Drama | Silent | Italian Intertitles | Sub. English | 78 min

A live cine-concert with Furio Di Castri on double bass and string quartet
conducted by Stefano Maccagno.

The film. Tigre Reale is a poem on the both vital and destructive power of love
and on the fragility of human nature, where the narration swings between the
obsession of guilt and uncontrollable passions: after her life as a diva sowing
passion and death, Countess Natka (Pina Menichelli, whose performance
marked the era of Italian silent cinema) redeems herself with a hurried happy
ending: the great fire in the hotel where she went to die at her lover’s side offers
her a symbolic rebirth from the flames of sin and providentially frees her from
her husband. Not only does the faithless dark lady escape being punished by
fate, but she also recovers from her misdeed and can bask in the joy of mutual
love. This ending may surprise those familiar with the Italian mentality of the
time, which usually celebrated the sacrificial role of women, whether bride or a
‘woman led astray’