This is a region-free DVD-R without case or artwork.
In French with English subtitles. Also known as
The Charterhouse of Parma.
Stendhal's epic historical novel
La Chartreuse de Parme receives a suitably epic treatment in this extravagant adaptation from director
Christian-Jaque. With production values to rival any Hollywood blockbuster of the time and a cast of exceptional caliber, the film serves as a prime example of the quality period drama that was highly popular in France in the 1940s and 50s. Released at a time of painful post-war austerity, the film offered a gargantuan dose of escapism, all for the price of a cinema ticket. It is no surprise that the film was a box office hit - attracting an audience of over six million, it was easily the most successful French film of 1948 (even more popular than Marcel Carné's
Les Enfants du Paradis, a similarly lavish period piece released a few years previously).
At the beginning of the 19th Century, the Marquis Fabrice del Dongo (
Gérard Philipe) returns to Parma, his home town, after having completed his studies in Naples. There he receives a warm welcome from the Duchess Sansévérina (María Casares)
, the aunt who brought him up. It soon becomes apparent to Fabrice that his aunt's feelings for him are no longer maternal but deeply amorous. Such is her love for her nephew that Sansévérina abandons the Count Mosca and spurns the advances of Prince Ernest, her most ardent admirer. In a bid to win Sansévérina for himself, the Prince has Fabrice arrested and thrown into jail for twenty years. In his cell, Fabrice falls in love with the governor's daughter (
Renée Faure)...
