Goodbye , Kira! is a1942 film directed by Goffredo Alessandrini , the second part of the adaptation of the novel We the Living , published in 1936 by Ayn Rand .
Presented as a single film at the Venice Film Festival in 1942, it was then, given its length (over four hours), marketed by Scalera in two separate films, of which the first kept the original title of the novel , while the second was given this title.
The two films were made without the author's approval, but were later revised and approved by Rand in 1980 , and released as a single feature film under the title We the Living in 1986 .
Plot
After being treated in a Crimean sanatorium for tuberculosis contracted during a failed escape attempt, Leo returns to St. Petersburg with Kira , cured. However, he has changed profoundly after meeting Antonina, the lover of a high-ranking Communist official, who has drawn him into speculative and illegal activities. With the protection of a high-ranking bureaucrat, Leo opens a grocery store that makes extensive use of the "black market." This business, in which many party leaders are complicit, Leo becomes wealthy.
Meanwhile, Andrei, still in love with Kira, investigates Leo's activities and uncovers corruption, even within the party of which he is an honest and loyal official. When he finally arrests Leo, it is once again Kira who intercedes with him, and once again Andrei's feelings prevail over his sense of duty. This behavior gives his corrupt superiors, eager to get rid of him, the opportunity to investigate him. Meanwhile, Kira reveals to Andrei that she doesn't love him and that she only gave herself to him to save Leo.
Faced with disappointment in both his political ideals and his love life, Andrei commits suicide. Leo, freed, accuses Kira of her affair with Andrei and leaves her, failing to acknowledge that she only did it to save him. Desperate and alone, Kira attempts to flee again, but upon reaching the border, with freedom now within reach, she is killed by a sentry.
Making of the film
The film is taken «illegally and without authorization» [ 1 ] from the novel by Ayn Rand, published in 1936, which the film followed almost entirely and without changes. It was produced by Scalera Film in its Roman studios, where the production, which began in mid-June 1942, [ 2 ] continued throughout the summer. Scalera's intention was to present the film at the Venice Film Festival, but for several weeks there were doubts as to whether it would be possible to complete it in time.
Reception
Contrary to expectations, Alessandrini managed to recover the delays, and the film, an unusually long 6,000 meters and a total runtime of nearly four hours, arrived at the 1942 Venice Film Festival in extremis , where it was presented in its entirety on September 15, the final day of the event. Despite the wartime and propaganda context, the film failed to convince all commentators, who emphasized the film's excessive verbosity rather than its artistic merit. The diptych did, however, manage to win an award, albeit a minor one: the Biennale Prize, alongside four other works, both Italian and foreign. The coveted Coppa Mussolini was in fact awarded to Augusto Genina 's Bengasi .
Goodbye Kira! was released about a month after We the Living . Almost all the commentators, who had already reported on the film both at the time of its presentation in Venice and when the first part of the diptych was shown in theaters, confirmed their respective opinions, in some cases emphasizing the doubts. According to the Corriere della Sera , in fact, «this second part preserves and accentuates the merits and defects of the first. And it allows us to ask the question that had to be asked: whether the novel deserved a cinematographic translation of such caliber and such obsequious fidelity». [ 3 ]
At the time Addio Kira! was appearing on the screens, Alessandrini's film was already causing annoyance to the fascist authorities. Although it was considered, despite the director later denying this, [ 4 ] as a work of anti-communist propaganda welcomed by the Regime, at a time when Italian troops were fighting in Russia, it was subsequently opposed and opposed. According to the historian JA Gili, it was a sensational «oversight by the censorship. It had not realised that the film described a dictatorial atmosphere more similar to fascist Italy than to Soviet Russia». [ 5 ]
Commercial result
Despite the critics' doubts and the late intervention of the Regime, Scalera's film was a great success with the public and commercially. In fact, on the basis of available data [ 6 ] the diptych directed by Alessandrini was, with a takings of over 20 million lire of the time, the most seen and "richest" film of 1942. Addio Kira! contributed to this record by grossing over 8 and a half million.
Subsequent comments
As time went by, Alessandrini's diptych remained in the comments as a work of propaganda. [ 7 ] More recently, Mereghetti gave a less negative view of it: «Although overall monotonous and verbose, at the time it enjoyed a bad reputation, but revisited today it is not without interest. It could be considered the prototype of the Italian soap opera».
Awards
- Venice Film Festival 1942
- Biennale Award
