''Povero Cristo'' is 1975 Italian film written and directed by

Pier Carpi Pier Carpi (16 January 1940 – 26 June 2000) was an Italian essayist, novelist, film director and screenwriter. He was born at Arceto di Scandiano. He directed such films as '' Povero Cristo'' and '' Satan's Wife''. References External li ...

Plot

A young man with aspirations of becoming a private investigator is approached by a stranger who promises 100 million lire if he obtains evidence of the existence of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Cast

Mino Reitano Beniamino "Mino" Reitano (December 7, 1944 – January 27, 2009) was an Italian singer, songwriter and actor. Reitano was born in Fiumara, a small village in Calabria. His father, an employee at the local railway station, was very passiona ...

as Giorgio Cavero / Jesus Christ * Rosemarie Dexter as Mara /

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

Raoul Grassilli Raoul Grassilli (25 October 1924 – 24 July 2010) was an Italian actor. Born in Bologna, Grassilli graduated from the Silvio d’Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1948, and started his career on stage with Ruggero Ruggeri. Active among others ...

as Commissioner Petra /

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

Curd Jürgens Curd Gustav Andreas Gottlieb Franz Jürgens (13 December 191518 June 1982) was a German-Austrian stage and film actor. He was usually billed in English-speaking films as Curt Jurgens. He was well known for playing Ernst Udet in ''Des Teufels Gener ...

as Stranger who hires Giorgio *

Edmund Purdom Edmund Cutlar Purdom (19 December 19261 January 2009)

as Man in a tailcoat /

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

Ida Galli Ida Galli (born 8 October 1939) is an Italian film actress best known for her roles in spaghetti Western and ''giallo'' films in the 1960s and 1970s. Galli has appeared under several pseudonyms, including Arianna, Evelyn Stewart and Isli Oberon. ...

as Giorgio's mother /

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

* Roberto Brivio as Basta /

Barabbas According to the New Testament, Barabbas () was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by the Judaea (Roman province), Roman occupation in Jerusalem, only to be chosen over Jesus by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governor Pontius ...

*Paolo Gozlino as Senior dancer /

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

* Giovanni Brusatori as Gavetta /

Judas Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of ...

Enrico Beruschi Enrico Beruschi (born 5 September 1941) is an Italian comedian, actor, singer and television personality. He studied at the Italian Liceo classico in Milan, having Cochi Ponzoni as his deskmate. Formerly employed in a food company, Beruschi beg ...

as Perota /

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Giancarlo Badessi Giancarlo Badessi (21 September 1928 – 6 December 2011) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Lecco, at the age of almost 40 Badessi gave up his daily job as an accountant to embrace the theatre, making his debut in a stage play direct ...

as Director / Herod *

Franco Ressel Franco Ressel (8 February 1925 – 30 April 1985) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1961 and 1985. Selected filmography * ''La cento chilometri'' (1959) – The Gay Race Walker (uncredited) * '' The Assa ...

as Convicted / Penitent thief *Saverio Mosca as Convicted /

Impenitent thief The impenitent thief is a man described in the New Testament account of the Crucifixion of Jesus. In the Gospel narrative, two bandits are crucified alongside Jesus. In the first two Gospels (Matthew and Mark), they both join the crowd in mockin ...

* Adolfo Lastretti as Policeman / Centurion *

Sonia Viviani Sonia Viviani is a retired Italian actress and glamour model who is foremost known for her appearances in the Italian exploitation cinema and two films of acclaim in Turkey in the 1970s. Film career Viviani met with cinema at an early age due t ...

Production

While credited to Pier Carpi, the actual director of the film was his assistant Gianni Siragusa, with Carpi only supervising the shootings. Announcing the film, Carpi described the film as "a religious

giallo In Italian cinema, (; : ; from , ) is a genre that often contains Slasher film, slasher, thriller (genre), thriller, psychological horror, psychological thriller, Sexploitation film, sexploitation, and, less frequently, supernatural, supernat ...

Release

The film premiered at the 34th

Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

, in the Spazio Aperto sidebar. It was released in Italian cinemas on January 1976.

References

External links

* 1976 films Italian fantasy films 1970s Italian-language films 1970s Italian films Italian-language fantasy films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub