One of the films that marked the birth of neorealism, many of the locations immortalized in Ossessione (Obsession) feature a province in central Italy that no longer exists: an area extending from Bassa Padana and the harbour of Ancona all along a part of the River Po to the border between the Romagna and Veneto regions. The film was actually shot during WWII, between 1942-43, and many of the buildings that provide backgrounds to this dramatic story were later destroyed by bombing. The trattoria where Gino (Massimo Girotti) meets Giovanna (Chiara Calamai) for the first time, located on the SP40, a provincial road that runs alongside the river Po in the province of Rovigo, in the Canaro area, was destroyed several years after the end of the war. The Po Delta is also present, in the locations between Comacchio and Codigoro.
When Gino’s clandestine relationship with Giovanna, which unfolds in the residence she shares with her husband Giuseppe, becomes suffocating, he heads off to Ancona after she refuses to run away with him: he travels there by train and makes friends with “The Spaniard”, a wanderer with whom he will share part of his journey. Once they reach the city, the toss of a coin on the crosswalk of the train station decides their destination: a shot shows the harbour’s Santa Maria dock and busy quays with the two men sitting on a parapet staring out at the horizon, behind them the Cathedral of San Ciriaco in piazzale Duomo. Later on, Gino who has found work at the Fiera di Maggio, meets Giuseppe and his wife when they come to the city for a singing competition: as the three cross the Nappi stairs beneath the Cathedral in the ancient historical centre of Ancona, Giuseppe tells his wife Giovanna of his desire for a child. While the staircase still exists, many of the buildings from the time of the film have been destroyed: in particular Palazzo D’Avalos, next to the Church degli Scalzi in piazza del Senato, which was demolished by bombing on 1 November 1943.
A few scenes later, Gino is sitting on a bench in piazza della Repubblica in Ferrara: the ancient Church of St. Julian in the same square is recognisable and, later, the Estense Castle dominating the adjacent largo Castello. Giovanna waits for Gino at a bar in via Saraceno as he walks into the lodgings of Anita, a recently-met prostitute. Peeking out of the window, he realises that the police have cornered him and with help from the girl is able to escape, jumping aboard a lorry that is crossing the St. George bridge and heading out of town.
One of the films that marked the birth of neorealism, many of the locations immortalized in Ossessione (Obsession) feature a province in central Italy that no longer exists: an area extending from Bassa Padana and the harbour of Ancona all along a part of the River Po to the border between the Romagna and Veneto regions. The film was actually shot during WWII, between 1942-43, and many of the buildings that provide backgrounds to this dramatic story were later destroyed by bombing. The trattoria where Gino (Massimo Girotti) meets Giovanna (Chiara Calamai) for the first time, located on the SP40, a provincial road that runs alongside the river Po in the province of Rovigo, in the Canaro area, was destroyed several years after the end of the war. The Po Delta is also present, in the locations between Comacchio and Codigoro.
When Gino’s clandestine relationship with Giovanna, which unfolds in the residence she shares with her husband Giuseppe, becomes suffocating, he heads off to Ancona after she refuses to run away with him: he travels there by train and makes friends with “The Spaniard”, a wanderer with whom he will share part of his journey. Once they reach the city, the toss of a coin on the crosswalk of the train station decides their destination: a shot shows the harbour’s Santa Maria dock and busy quays with the two men sitting on a parapet staring out at the horizon, behind them the Cathedral of San Ciriaco in piazzale Duomo. Later on, Gino who has found work at the Fiera di Maggio, meets Giuseppe and his wife when they come to the city for a singing competition: as the three cross the Nappi stairs beneath the Cathedral in the ancient historical centre of Ancona, Giuseppe tells his wife Giovanna of his desire for a child. While the staircase still exists, many of the buildings from the time of the film have been destroyed: in particular Palazzo D’Avalos, next to the Church degli Scalzi in piazza del Senato, which was demolished by bombing on 1 November 1943.
A few scenes later, Gino is sitting on a bench in piazza della Repubblica in Ferrara: the ancient Church of St. Julian in the same square is recognisable and, later, the Estense Castle dominating the adjacent largo Castello. Giovanna waits for Gino at a bar in via Saraceno as he walks into the lodgings of Anita, a recently-met prostitute. Peeking out of the window, he realises that the police have cornered him and with help from the girl is able to escape, jumping aboard a lorry that is crossing the St. George bridge and heading out of town.
Copyright: Daniele Donà
Industrie Cinematografiche Italiane S.A.
Gino, a vagabond who lives hand to mouth, stops at a restaurant for travellers in the Bassa Padana area where he becomes the lover of Giovanna, wife of the owner, but finds the situation hard to accept.
