''The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''11 Settembre 1683'';

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Bitwa pod Wiedniem'', literally: "The Battle of Vienna"; also released as '' Siege Lord 2: Day of the Siege'') is a 2012 English-language Polish and Italian historical

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

based on the 1683

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...

and directed by

Renzo Martinelli Renzo Martinelli is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than ten films since 1994. Selected filmography References External links

* 1948 births Living people Italian film directors People_from_the_Province_ ...

. The film was released on 12 October 2012.

Plot

Beginning after the First Siege of Vienna the century before, the film brings viewers through the various conflicts between Catholic Christianity and Turkish Islam which led up to the events of 11 September 1683 and the Battle of Vienna. It shows the circumstances of the 2nd siege of Vienna and the assault of

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

led by

Kara Mustafa Kara Mustafa Pasha (; ; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and Grand Vizier, who was a central character in the Ottoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into both Centr ...

(

Enrico Lo Verso Enrico Lo Verso (born 18 January 1964) is an Italian actor. He studied acting at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia The (; CSC), also referred to as the (), is an Italian national film school headquartered in Rome, with satellite educa ...

) against the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

. The assault was stopped by King Jan III Sobieski (

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (; born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist, actor and painter. Beginning as a screenwriter for Andrzej Wajda's ''Innocent Sorcerers'' (1960), Skolimowski has made more than twenty films since his dire ...

), and curtailed Turkish expansion into central European

Christendom The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...

Cast

* F. Murray Abraham as

Marco d'Aviano Mark of Aviano (), born Carlo Domenico Cristofori (November 17, 1631 – August 13, 1699) was an Italian Capuchin friar. In 2003, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Life Carlo Domenico Cristofori was born in Aviano, a small community in ...

Jan III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

Alicja Bachleda Alicja is a Polish language given name that is equivalent to Alice in English. Notable people with the name include: * Alicja Bachleda-Curuś (born 1983), Polish actress and singer * Alicja Boratyn (born 1992), Polish singer * Alicja Derkowska ( ...

as Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland (Polish: Eleonora Habsburżanka) *

Isabella Orsini Princess Isabella Orsini de Ligne de La Trémoïlle (born 2 December 1974) is an Italian actress. By marriage, she is a member of the House of Ligne, a Belgian noble family. Biography Orsini was the daughter of a gallery owner and a court clerk, ...

as Leila *Andrea Iaia as Giovanni Cristofori *

Piotr Adamczyk Piotr Aleksander Adamczyk (; born March 21, 1972) is a Polish film, television, voice and theatre actor. He is known for portraying pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin in the biographical film '' Chopin: Desire for Love'' (2002), Pope John Paul ...

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; ; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia, and List of Bohemian monarchs, Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Rom ...

(Polish: Leopold I Habsburg) * Cristina Serafini as Rosa Cristofori *

Antonio Cupo Antonio Cupo is a Canadian film and television actor. Early life Born into a family of Italian immigrants who arrived in Canada in 1968, Cupo is the youngest of three children. His father Manlio is from Palomonte, a small town in the province o ...

as Charles V Duke of Lorraine *

Yorgo Voyagis Yorgo Voyagis ( ; born 6 December 1945) is a Greek actor. Career as an actor Voyagis' film debut was in Michael Cacoyannis's ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964). He reappeared three years later in the Italian Western ''Killer Kid''. Voyagis then starre ...

as Abu'l *

Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish people, Polish film actor, film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is bes ...

Marcin Kazimierz Kątski Marcin (Polish pronunciation: ) is a male given name or surname. It is the Polish equivalent of the English name Martin; the female version is Martyna. Notable people with the name Marcin include: Given name * Marcin Adamski (born 1975), Polish f ...

Borys Szyc Borys Michał Szyc-Michalak (Polish: ; born Borys Michalak; 4 September 1978) is a Polish film and theatre actor and musician. In 2010, he received the Polish Academy Award for Best Actor. Life and career He was born in Łódź, Poland. He grad ...

Mikołaj Sieniawski Mikołaj Sieniawski (c. 1489 – 1569) was a notable Poland, Polish magnate, military commander and a prominent politician of his times. He built stone Brzeżany Castle round which the modern town of Berezhany has developed. Since 1539 Miko ...

Andrzej Seweryn Andrzej Teodor Seweryn (Polish pronunciation: ; born 25 April 1946) is a Polish actor and Theatre director, director. Regarded as one of the most successful Polish theatre actors, he starred in over 50 films, mostly in Poland, France, and Germa ...

Jan Andrzej Morsztyn Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621–1693) was a Polish poet, member of the landed nobility, and official in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was ''starosta'' of Zawichost, Tymbark and Kowal. He was also pantler of Sandomierz (1647–58), Roya ...

* Krzysztof Kwiatkowski as

John George III Johann George III (20 June 1647 – 12 September 1691) was Elector of Saxony from 1680 to 1691. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin. Early life Johann Georg III was born in Dresden, the only son of Johann George II and M ...

*Marius Chivu as Cosma *Giorgio Lupano as Count

Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg (12 January 1638 – 4 January 1701) was military governor of Vienna from 1680, the city's defender during the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Holy Roman Empire, Imperial general during the Great Turkish War, an ...

*Marcin Walewski as Jakub "Fanfan" Sobieski *Wojciech Mecwaldowski as

Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki of the Sas coat of arms (, ; 1640 – 19 February 1694) was a Polish nobleman, diplomat, and spy during the Great Turkish War of Ruthenian origin. For his actions at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, when he managed to ge ...

* Ștefan Iancu as Kara Mustafa's son *Matteo Branciamore as

Prince Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

*Dan Cogalniceanu

Production

It took ten years to raise the film's $13,000,000 budget. In addition to the theatrical version, the filmmakers have prepared a longer version to be released on television as a

mini-series In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

. Filming began in April 2011, with support from backers in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Poland and Italy, with

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

supporting with 5.8 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

, and another million euro from the

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

region. "Ich will dabei helfen, zu verstehen, wo die Wurzeln für den 11. September 2001 zu suchen sind" (I wish viewers to understand the roots of the September 2001 attacks). The title's allusion to the

11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

is intentional. Director Martinelli explained that while that date is associated with the attacks on the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, few people know that the date also marks the historical events of 1683 when 300,000 soldiers moved from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

with an intent to capture

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, ...

and turn

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. In reality, though, the

(Schlacht am Kahlenberg) took place on 12 September 1683. During production in June, it was first revealed that with a planned-for 13-week shooting schedule, the film would be using over 100 actors from Poland, the United States, Italy,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, over 10,000 extras and 3,000 horses in the battle scenes. Filmmakers were unable to acquire permissions to use castle structures in Poland, and although interiors of

Wilanów Palace Wilanów Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1677 and 1696 for the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania John III Sobieski according to a design by architect Augustyn ...

were eventually used, castle exteriors were shot at

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, to represent that of King Jan III Sobieski. The film was shot entirely in English with intention for worldwide distribution.

Reception

While complaining that the film's special effects graphics resembled those of a low-resolution video game, ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. It had a circulation of 95,300 during 2021. ''Polityka'' has a slightly intellectual, socially liberal profile, setting it apart from the more conservative ''Wprost ...

'' noted that while based in the times and location of the Battle of Vienna, the film is not strictly historical, but is instead a fictional drama, like any other historical movie.

Home media

On 22 July 2014, Phase 4 Films released the film on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

. On 3 August 2022, the American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

publishing house

Ignatius Press Ignatius Press is a Catholic theological publishing house based in San Francisco, California, in the United States. It was founded in 1978 by Father Joseph Fessio, a former pupil of both Henri de Lubac and Pope Benedict XVI. Named after Ignatiu ...

announced they would be releasing a DVD for the film on 1 September 2022, under the English title ''The Siege of Vienna: September 11, 1683''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day Of The Siege, The: September Eleven 1683 2010s adventure drama films 2012 independent films 2012 war drama films 2012 films English-language Italian films Films set in 1683 Films shot in Italy Films shot in France Films shot in Poland Films shot in Romania War epic films War drama films based on actual events Polish historical films Polish war drama films Films set in 17th-century Ottoman Empire Italian historical films Italian war drama films Films directed by Renzo Martinelli Siege films

Films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

Films set in Belgrade Films set in Vienna Films set in Istanbul 2012 drama films 2010s English-language films English-language independent films English-language war drama films English-language adventure drama films