Lu Tempu di li pisci spata

Italy

1954

9 Min

Color

Italian

Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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PROD Vittorio De Seta, Alfredo Marganiello

Between April and August, swordfish deposit their eggs in the water that separates Sicily from Calabria. The fishermen await the fish in this stretch of water to kill them. The wait is long and tiring but, once the chase begins, the fishermen’s voices broken by breathlessness and the whispered orders bear witness to the men’s anxiousness and the drama of the wounded prey, which try to free themselves from the harpoons by rubbing their backs against the rocks.

Director

Vittorio De Seta

Came from an aristocratic family. After studying architecture in Rome for some time, he began his film career in 1953, working as a second assistant director to Mario Chiari for an episode of the film Loves of half a century. In 1954 he became assistant director to Jean The Paul-Chanois in Wonderful Time. Later he worked as a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker.

He started realizing documentaries in the 1950’s. They were set mainly in Sicily and Sardinia, using powerful expressiveness to describe the ways of living of the proletariat Southern and the harsh living conditions of Sicilian fishermen and miners that worked sulfur mines. Among these films, the documentary Island of Fire, set in the Aeolian Islands, was named best documentary at the Cannes Festival in 1955.

In 1961 he made his debut with the film Bandits Orgosolo, written with his wife Vera Gherarducci, a film stylistically dry and enriched by neo-realism. The film won the Best First Feature Award at the Venice… read more

Came from an aristocratic family. After studying architecture in Rome for some time, he began his film career in 1953, working as a second assistant director to Mario Chiari for an episode of the film Loves of half a century. In 1954 he became assistant director to Jean The Paul-Chanois in Wonderful Time. Later he worked as a screenwriter and documentary filmmaker.

He started realizing documentaries in the 1950’s. They were set mainly in Sicily and Sardinia, using powerful expressiveness to describe the ways of living of the proletariat Southern and the harsh living conditions of Sicilian fishermen and miners that worked sulfur mines. Among these films, the documentary Island of Fire, set in the Aeolian Islands, was named best documentary at the Cannes Festival in 1955.

In 1961 he made his debut with the film Bandits Orgosolo, written with his wife Vera Gherarducci, a film stylistically dry and enriched by neo-realism. The film won the Best First Feature Award at the Venice Film Festival and the Silver Ribbon for Best Cinematography.

In 1966 he made Half a Man, an analysis into the key psychoanalytic crisis of an intellectual in respect of its social commitment. Between 1969 and early 1970, he moved to France to turn the invitation. The film, although apperzzato by Alberto Moravia and Pier Paolo Pasolini, will be greeted coldly. ²

In 1972, De Seta returns to the themes of his early years with a television miniseries produced by RAI, Diary of a master, a document in a difficult learning experience conducted in a Roman town. The film is very well received by the public, this success starts long partnership with RAI.

In the eighties he produced documentaries for television and moved to the seal nursery of Sellia Marina in the province of Catanzaro.

His deep connection with Calabria, the birthplace of his mother, is explored in the documentary In Calabria, in 1993.

In 2000 he participated as an actor (as himself) to medium-length film of Eugene 49/99 Melissa and John Attanasio Scarfò. In the same year, with the photographer Angel Franco Asche, he participated as an actor in a video created by Leandro Manuel Emed with music by Giacomo Data.

In 2006, he directed Letters from the Sahara, which follows the life of an African migrant in Italy. The film stands out competition at the Venice Film Festival.

In the last years of his life he retired to Calabria, where he died at the age of 88 years.

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