''The Gadfly'' () is a 1955

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 ...

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based on the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

by Ethel Lilian Voynich and directed by Aleksandr Faintsimmer. In 1955 the film was third in attendance in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, collecting 39.16 million ticket sales. The motion picture tells a story of the underground struggle of Italian patriots against the Austrian invaders for independence of their homeland. Against the background of these events is a tragic story of a man transformed from a pure heart and an enthusiastic young man to a ruthless revolutionary—the legendary and elusive Gadfly. The film adaptation is more ideological than the Voynich novel. The romantic subplot was significantly reduced; Arthur and Gemma are shown not as lovers but as party comrades and the jealousy between Arthur and Giovanni due to Gemma is not depicted.

Plot

Young student Arthur Burton says goodbye to his beloved teacher, the priest Montanelli, who is departing to Rome on the orders of the Pope. Arthur participates in activities of the organization "Young Italy". He is resentful of its leader, Giovanni Bolla; he experiences jealousy towards him regarding his girlfriend Gemma and confesses this to the priest, father Cardi. After the confession all revolutionaries end up arrested by the gendarmes. Arthur is walking through the prison courtyard and admits to Giovanni what he told in the confessional and Giovanni calls him a traitor. Arthur gets released from prison and tries to tell Gemma about what happened but she slaps him and runs away. Back home Arthur learns from his uncle Burton that his real father is Montanelli. Arthur's world falls apart before his eyes, he breaks his crucifix and runs out of his home. Everyone considers him dead. Many years later Arthur comes home adorned with scars which he received from revolutionary battles in South America. Under the pseudonym of Gadfly he joins the revolutionaries and leads an armed struggle in Italy and terrifies the Austrian invaders. To the revolutionary intellectuals he is known under the name Felice Rivarez. The Austrian emperor sends an additional military contingent to Italy and Cardi's father welcomes marching Austrian soldiers and their commander. Gadfly is involved in a secret weapons delivery but the police agents are on his tail. The

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of Secret society, secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Urugua ...

retreat from battle but Rivarez lowers his weapon as he hears the order of Montanelli and is taken prisoner. The death sentence has been predetermined for him. Compatriots give a file to the prisoner and he saws through the bars but falls unconscious in the prison yard. Before the execution Arthur admits to Montanelli that he is his son and offers his shocked father a choice between fighting for freedom or faith in Christ. The cardinal offers his son an escape but Arthur does not want to take life or become a servant of the church. Austrians shoot Gadfly at dawn and he commands his own execution. Montanelli screams in terror that there is no God.

Music

The film's score was composed by

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

, although it is better known in the suite arrangement made by the composer's friend, Levon Atovmyan. The complete original score was reconstructed by conductor Mark Fitz-Gerald and published in 2016 as Volume 138 of the DSCH New Collected Works edition. A recording was made with Fitz-Gerald conducting the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and published in 2017 by

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Cast

Oleg Strizhenov Oleg Aleksandrovich Strizhenov (; 10 August 1929 – 9 February 2025) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He was awarded People's Artist of the USSR in 1988. Biography Strizhenov was born in Blagoveshchensk in 1929. His family moved ...

as Arthur Burton / Felice Rivarez * Marianna Strizhenova as Gemma * Nikolai Simonov as Cardinal Montanelli * Vladimir Etush as Cesare Martini * Antoni Khodursky as Grassini * Vadim Medvedev as Giovanni Bolla * Grigory Shpigel as James Burton * Ruben Simonov as Father Cardi * Pavel Usovnichenko as Giuseppe * Yelena Yunger as Julia * Vladimir Chestnokov as Domenichino

References

External links

* *
Free streaming of The Gadfly
' on the official

Lenfilm Lenfilm (, acronym of Leningrad Films) is a Russian production and distribution company with its own film studio located in Saint Petersburg (the city was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, thus the name). It is a corporation with its stakes s ...

YouTube channel 1955 films 1950s historical action films 1950s historical drama films 1950s action drama films Films set in the 1840s Lenfilm films Films based on Irish novels Films directed by Aleksandr Faintsimmer Films scored by Dmitri Shostakovich Films critical of the Catholic Church 1950s Soviet films 1950s Russian-language films Soviet historical action films Soviet historical drama films Soviet action drama films Russian-language historical drama films Russian-language action drama films {{1950s-USSR-film-stub