''In the Name of the Sovereign People'' () is a 1990 Italian

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

comedy drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Luigi Magni Luigi Magni (21 March 1928 – 27 October 2013) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. Life and career Born in Rome, Italy, Magni started his career as a screenwriter, in 1956, with '' Tempo di villeggiatura''. In 1968 he collabo ...

. The film takes place during the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence (), part of the ''Risorgimento'' or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conse ...

. It won the

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello, bronze), David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (the Academy of Italian Cin ...

for best costumes.

Plot

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, in 1849,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

was forced to go to

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

, in exile because of the advent of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. A few months later, the French troops of General Oudinot and the Austrian troops try to retake Rome to impose the restoration of the temporal power, which sone of the citizens, especially the nobles, support. In the house of the ''

Marquis A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...

'' Arquati, a papal noble, live his son Eufemio, who is weak and shy, and his wife, Cristina, who had been forced by the family tomarry him; his daughter, Giacinta; and the servant-mistress, Rosetta. Cristina, a supporter of the republic, has become the lover of Captain

Giovanni Livraghi Giovanni Livraghi (1819 in Milan – 8 August 1849 in Bologna) was an Italian patriot, who took part in various enterprises of Giuseppe Garibaldi, being part of the Italian legion which he founded in Montevideo in 1843 and participating, as a ...

, a

Milanese Milanese (endonym in traditional orthography , ) is the central variety of the Western dialect of the Lombard language spoken in Milan, the rest of its metropolitan city, and the northernmost part of the province of Pavia. Milanese, due to t ...

revolutionary who rushed to the aid of the republicans and is a great friend of the

Barnabite The Barnabites (), officially named as the Clerics Regular of Saint Paul (), are a religious order of clerics regular founded in 1530 in the Catholic Church. They are associated with the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul and the members of the Bar ...

friar

Ugo Bassi Ugo Bassi (12 August 1800 – 8 August 1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and Italian nationalist. Bassi was born at Cento, Emilia-Romagna, and received his early education at University of Bologna. An unhappy love affair induced him to become a ...

, who opposes the temporal power and supports the rights of the people but is always faithful to his mission as a priest. Among the insurgent commoners is notably Angelo Brunetti, also known as "Ciceruacchio", accompanied by his 12-year-old son, Lorenzo. Meanwhile, ''Marquis'' Eufemio, who suddenly falls in love with his wife, whom he sees transfigured by his political passion and by that of Livraghi, is determined to kill his rival and so reaches him, while fighting on the

Janiculum The Janiculum (; ), occasionally known as the Janiculan Hill, is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although it is the second-tallest hill (the tallest being Monte Mario) in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the pro ...

, where he instead saves him by killing a Frenchman, who was about to hit him dead. After many clashes, the surviving republican patriots, defeated by foreign troops, leave Rome and head in disorder towards the north. Cristina tries to reach Giovanni, who left with Bassi to join

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

, but Bassi and Livraghi are arrested and sentenced to death, and the woman tries in vain to save her lover by begging for pardon from a powerful prelate, who is a friend. Before the execution, Ugo is denied the sacraments, and Giovanni chooses to confess to him. Meanwhile, Eufemio is still looking for his wife, whom he wants to kill to take revenge, but after Livraghi's death, he sees her again, and everything has then changed between them. Cristina now esteems him for his generous gesture on the Janiculum, which made him risk his life. The couple reunite, and she follows her husband, who decides to fight the Piedmonteses for the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

. Meanwhile, Ciceruacchio and his son are also shot, and Pope Pius IX returns to rule in Rome.

Cast

* Luca Barbareschi as

* Elena Sofia Ricci as Cristina Arquati *

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian, voice dubber, director, singer, composer and screenwriter. Sordi is considered one of the most important actors in the history of Italian cinema and one of the b ...

as ''

'' Arquati *

Nino Manfredi Saturnino "Nino" Manfredi (22 March 1921 – 4 June 2004) was an Italian actor, voice actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, comedian, singer, author, radio personality and television presenter. He was one of the most prominent Italian ac ...

as Angelo Brunetti, also known as "Ciceruacchio" *

Jacques Perrin Jacques Perrin (; born Jacques André Simonet ; 13 July 1941 – 21 April 2022) was a French actor and film producer. He was occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Early life Jacques André Simonet was born on the Boulevard Port-Royal in ...

* Massimo Wertmüller as Eufemio Arquati *

Carlo Croccolo Carlo Croccolo (9 April 1927 – 12 October 2019) was an Italian actor, voice artist, director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Croccolo began his acting career on the radio and appeared in more than 100 films since 1949. His debut ca ...

as Carlo Luciano Bonaparte *

Serena Grandi Serena Faggioli (Bologna, 23 March 1958), known professionally as Serena Grandi, is an Italian actress, famous as a sex symbol in Cinema of Italy, Italian cinema of the 1980s and 1990s. She was a popular pin-up model in Italy. During her film car ...

as Rosetta * Elena Berera as Giacinta Arquati *

Gianni Bonagura Gianfelice "Gianni" Bonagura (27 October 1925 – 8 October 2017) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Bonagura was active on film, stage, television and radio. He appeared in 40 films between 1950 and 2001. ...

Luigi De Filippo Luigi De Filippo (10 August 1930 – 31 March 2018) was an Italian actor, stage director and playwright. Born in Naples, the son of actors Peppino De Filippo and Adele Carloni, he studied literature at the university, leaving the studies on the ...

as Monsignor Bedini *

Roberto Herlitzka Roberto Herlitzka (2 October 1937 – 31 July 2024) was an Italian theatre and film actor. He has appeared in 38 films since 1973. In 2004 he won the David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor and Nastro d'Argento for Best Actor for his role i ...

Giuseppe Gioachino Belli Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Belli (7 September 1791 – 21 December 1863) was an Italian poet, famous for his sonnets in Romanesco, the dialect of Rome. Biography Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Maria Gioachino Raimondo Bell ...

Gianni Garko Gianni Garko (born Giovanni Garcovich; 15 July 1935) is a retired Croats of Italy, Croatian-Italian actor. He found fame as a leading man in 1960s Spaghetti Westerns, where he was often billed as John Garko and occasionally Gary Hudson. He is per ...

as General Nicolas Charles Victor Oudinot *Costantino Meloni as Lorenzo Brunetti *

Camillo Milli Camillo Migliori, best known as Camillo Milli (1 August 1929 – 20 January 2022) was an Italian stage, film and television actor. Life and career Born in Milan, Milli formed under Giorgio Strehler at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, where he d ...

as the Venetian priest * Lorenzo Flaherty as the French officer

References

External links

* 1990 films Commedia all'italiana Films directed by Luigi Magni Films scored by Nicola Piovani 1990s Italian films {{1990s-Italy-film-stub