Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 1. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Camillo De Riso and Francesca Bertini in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 2. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Camillo De Riso and two unidentified actors in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 3. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Unknown actress and possibly down, right Livio Pavanelli in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 4. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Francesca Bertini and Livio Pavanelli in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Genuinely looking and acting discretely, even in dramatic scenes
It is nine years since Octavio Fortis (Guido Trento) has left his natal village. He has enjoyed city life while becoming an energetic industrial engineer. When returning full of nostalgia to his village, he meets the beautiful but inert Bianca (Francesca Bertini), who has escaped her house, always peopled by the sleepy trio of her father, the pharmacist Fanelli, the village priest Alfonso Procacci (Camillo De Riso), and the majordomos of the local castle.
The two young people fall in love. Meanwhile, the priest is setting up a marriage between Bianca and Duke Luciano (Livio Pavanelli), the owner of the castle. Bianca first rebels but then gives in and marries the duke. She blames the duke's inertia on the castle and convinces him to move to the city to enjoy the high life there (to which the duke is insensible).
There she meets Manuel, Count of the Antilles, who impresses everyone with his fame and fortune. Yet, he proves to be a reckless womaniser. When also Octavio pursuits her, and the two meet again at a ball, rekindling their flame, Bianca fears for her marriage and wants to go back to the castle and the quiet countryside.
Yet, to Bianca's horror, the duke also invites his friend the count, who again starts to pursuit her, makes a deal with the majordomos and even gets the key to the house. He blackmails Bianca because of her talks to Octavio. He also challenges Octavio to a duel, but the latter refuses such nonsense. The count, therefore, sets a trap, warning the Duke his wife is about to commit adultery and pressing him to kill the rival.
When the two men catch the couple at Octavio's house, the inert duke has the first anger explosion of his life. Still, he cannot shoot people, so the count points at Octavio with his gun. Yet, the engineer throws himself on him. Only when disarming him, he accidentally shoots the duke. Bianca is in tears. Days after, she will reunite with Octavio, and find her true life.
The description above of L'accidia (1919) is based on the texts of the cromos. The plot in Vittorio Martinelli's Il cinema muto italiano 1919, is much shorter but adds that Octavio is planning to redevelop the village by use of hydroelectricity.
L'accidia was scripted by George Ruby, cinematographed by Giuseppe Filippa, while sets were by Alfredo Manzi. Other actors were Alberto Albertini, Luigi Cigoli, and Francesco Gennaro. The Roman premiere took place on 1 November 1919. The journal Cine-Fono judged the story and direction as okay, but praised Bertini, who "for once looked genuine, was acting discretely (even in dramatic scenes) and didn't twist her mouth for once".
I sette peccati capitali is based on the Eugène Sue novel series Les sept pêchés capitaux (1847-1852). The complete series consists of: L'orgoglio (pride), La gola (gluttony), L'ira (wrath) and L'avarizia (greed) (all 1918), L'Invidia (envy), L'accidia (acedia) and La lussuria (lust) (all 1919). Critics didn't like the series at the time but audiences flocked to see it. The film series was believed lost until found at the Prague Film Institute (Ceskoslovensky Filmovy Archiv). It was carefully restored including the original tinting. The first two restorations, L'avarizia and L'orgoglio, were shown at the festival Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna in 1991 and the complete series was shown there in 2003.
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 5. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Francesca Bertini, Livio Pavanelli and Guido Trento in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 6. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Camillo de Riso and unknown actor in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 7. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Francesca Bertini in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 9. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Francesca Bertini in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Spanish cromo by Chocolate Imperial in the Series 'Los siete pecados capitales' (The Seven Capital Sins), no. 10. Photo: Caesar Film / Spanish distr. J. Gurgui, Barcelona. Francesca Bertini in L'accidia/Acedia (Alfredo De Antoni, 1919).
Sources: Vittorio Martinelli (Il cinema muto italiano 1919. I film del dopoguerra - Italian), and IMDb.
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