''The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683'' ( Italian: ''11 Settembre 1683'';

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

: ''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 based on the 1683

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...

and directed by Renzo Martinelli. 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 alleged circumstances of the 2nd siege of Vienna and the assault of

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

led by

Kara Mustafa Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha ( ota, مرزيفونلى قره مصطفى پاشا, tr, Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Paşa; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous of Merzifon"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and G ...

(

Enrico Lo Verso Enrico Lo Verso (born 18 January 1964) is an Italian actor. He studied acting at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and ''INDA, Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico''. Filmography * ''Atto di dolore'' (1990) * '' A Season of Giants'' (1990) ...

) against the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

. The assault was stopped by King Jan III Sobieski (

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (, born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist and actor. A graduate of the prestigious National Film School in Łódź, Skolimowski has directed more than twenty films since his 1960 début ''Oko wykol' ...

), and curtailed Turkish expansion into European Christendom.

Cast

F. Murray Abraham F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film ''Amadeus (film), Amadeus'' (1984) ...

as Marco d'Aviano *

as Jan III Sobieski * Alicja Bachleda as

Eleanor of Austria, Queen of Poland Eleonore Maria Josefa of Austria (21 May 1653 – 17 December 1697) was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania by marriage to King Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, and subsequently Duchess of Lorraine by her second marriage to Charles ...

(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 Daughter of a gallery owner and a court clerk, after graduati ...

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 Pau ...

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...

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

Antonio Cupo Antonio Cupo (born January 10, 1978) is a Canadian film and television actor. Early life Born in Vancouver on January 10, 1978, into a family of Italian immigrants who arrived in Canada in 1968, Antonio Cupo is the youngest of three children. Hi ...

Charles V Duke of Lorraine Charles V, Duke of Lorraine and Bar (french: Charles Léopold Nicolas Sixte; german: Karl V Leopold; 3 April 1643 – 18 April 1690) succeeded his uncle Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine as titular Duke of Lorraine and Bar in 1675; both duchies we ...

Yorgo Voyagis Yorgo Voyagis ( el, Γιώργος Βογιατζής, Giorgos Vogiadzis ; 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 ...

as Abu'l * Daniel Olbrychski as Marcin Kazimierz Kątski *

Borys Szyc Borys Michał Szyc-Michalak (; born Borys Michalak; 4 September 1978) is a Polish film and theatre actor and musician. Life and career He was born in Łódź, Poland. He graduated from High School No. 26 in Łódź. In 2001, he graduated from Wa ...

as Mikołaj Sieniawski * Andrzej Seweryn as Jan Andrzej Morsztyn *

Krzysztof Kwiatkowski Krzysztof Kwiatkowski (born 14 May 1971, in Zgierz) is a Polish lawyer, politician and government official who served as the Minister of Justice of Poland in Cabinet of Donald Tusk from 2009 until 2011, Public Prosecutor General from 2009 un ...

as John George III *Marius Chivu as Cosma *Giorgio Lupano as Count Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg *Marcin Walewski as Jakub "Fanfan" Sobieski *Wojciech Mecwaldowski as

Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki Jerzy Franciszek Kulczycki of the Sas coat of arms (german: Georg Franz Kolschitzky, uk, Юрій-Франц Кульчицький, translit=Yurii-Frants Kulchytskyi; 1640 – February 19, 1694) was a Polish nobleman, diplomat, and spy during t ...

* 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 Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty during the 17th a ...

*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 A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

. Filming began in April 2011, with support from backers in Austria, Poland and Italy, with RAI supporting with 5.8 million euro, and another million euro from the Friuli 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, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

is intentional. Director Martinelli explained that while that date is associated with the attacks on the United States, few people know that the date also marks the historical events of 1683 when 300,000 soldiers moved from Constantinople to Vienna with an intent to capture Rome and turn St. Peter's Basilica into a mosque. 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, Turkey, Greece, Spain, and France, 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 ( pl, Pałac w Wilanowie, ) is a former royal palace located in the Wilanów district of Warsaw, Poland. Wilanów Palace survived Poland's partitions and both World Wars, and so serves as a reminder of the culture of the Polish ...

were eventually used, castle exteriors were shot at Mantua,

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, 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'' 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. On 3 August 2022, the American Catholic publishing house Ignatius Press 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 Drama films based on actual events Films set in 1683 Films shot in Italy Films shot in France Films shot in Poland Films shot in Romania War epic films 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 called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

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