Il Demonio
Directed by Brunello Rondi
Purif is distraught when her lover is betrothed to another. When she summons the old ways to curse him, her erratic behavior is interpreted as demonic possession, and the villagers turn against her. The second film by frequent Fellini collaborator Brunello Rondi, IL DEMONIO is a stunning story of obsessive love, set in a rural Southern Italian village where Christianity has integrated many of the old superstitious beliefs.
Purif is distraught when her lover is betrothed to another. When she summons the old ways to curse him, her erratic behavior is interpreted as demonic possession.
Cast: Daliah Lavi, Frank Wolff, Anna María Aveta, Tiziana Casetti, Dario Dolci
Member Reviews
Definitely NOT for everyone. . but if it IS up your alley? Sheeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiit
Beautiful and haunting. And yes, slow at times. Ultimately I read it as the impact of religion and superstition upon a rural community and the attempt of someone set apart to have power within that framework. Purif's passionate and uninhibited nature dooms her to otherness. She freely accepts it and attempts to use the powers of the framework into which she is thrust. In the end it is that power and it's absolute unacceptability that dooms her. She is a woman who's strength of passion denies the traditional roles open to her, who turns to the forbidden to exert her desires and is killed for it.
It was really slow, also didn’t really get it, was she possessed or just a witch?
gorgeous, despairing neo-realist horror? with daliah lavi in the lead? five stars. this is an amazing, sad film. loved it.
What a waste of a beautiful woman