‘Fiorile’ By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer April 08, 1994

Director: Paolo Taviani; Vittorio Taviani Cast: Lino Capolicchio; Constanze Englebrecht; Michael Vartan; Galatea Raniz; Claudio Bigagli; Giovanni Guidelli Children under 13 should be accompanied by a parent Compare prices for this movie Find local video stores More movie shopping Save money with NextCard Visa

The Tavianis, who visited Pirandello's Sicily in "Kaos" and Griffith's California in "Good Morning Babylon," are clearly intoxicated with the sights and sounds of homecoming. And they've managed, with the help of their attractive cast, to decant some of that bubbly feeling into "Fiorile."

An episodic screenplay written by the Tavianis, who also produced the picture (and probably milked the goats if necessary), concerns the poor but honorable Benedettis (the blessed), a family who came to be known as the Maledettis (the cursed) among the local villagers. The story spans 200 years of Italian history, but begins in the present as Luigi Benedetti (Lino Capolicchio), accompanied by his wife (Constanze Englebrecht) and their two children, drives toward his father's farmhouse in rural Tuscany.

To prepare his kids for their first visit with their reclusive grandfather, Luigi regales them with a series of spooky family anecdotes, beginning with Napoleon's invasion of Italy in the late 18th century. The children, spellbound by their father's voice, are not in the least surprised to find French calvarymen riding along the shoulder. Two centuries fall away as naturally as milkweed spores on the wind as the tale of Jean's (Michael Vartan) tragic love for Elisabetta Benedetti (Galatea Raniz) begins.

Jean, an idealistic young lieutenant, sees his soul mate in Elisabetta, a beguiling farmer's daughter who is injured in a skirmish between the French and the Italian nobles in their pursuit. While Jean and Elisabetta are occupied with each other, her brother (Claudio Bigagli) steals a chest of gold that the regiment had trusted to Jean's care. When it is not returned after 24 hours, Jean is executed by firing squad. Elisabetta swears venegance on the thief, but dies in childbirth before learning that her family's greed cost her lover's life.

Jean, a gorgeous, sensitive ghost, continues to haunt the film and his progeny, although his death is not avenged until a century later when the Benedettis have grown enormously wealthy on Jean's blood money. Elisabetta and her brother appear to have been reincarnated as Elisa (Raniz) and Alessandro Benedetti (Bigagli), an ambitious politician who secretly prevents his sister from marrying her hunky peasant lover (Giovanni Guidelli).

Elisa, who sees Elisabetta's reflection in a woodland pool, wreaks vengeance on Alessandro and, coincidentally, on her younger brother by feeding them poison mushrooms. A few months later, she dies giving birth to a son who passes the family curse on to Massimo (Vartan), who grows into Luigi's lunatic of a father.

And so it continues, though Massimo is saved from a Fascist firing squad thanks to his family name. Yet as a member of the Resistance, he had longed to die, like Jean, for the cause of freedom. Instead, Massimo's fiancee, an imprisoned member of the Resistance, dies giving birth to Luigi, now pulling into his father's driveway. Luigi's kids, a boy and a girl, are not made welcome by old Massimo, who argues with Luigi for bringing them there. Indeed, the kids' overnight stay in the ancient farmhouse does not bode well for their future -- that is if you believe curses are transmitted like a metaphysical form of AIDS. Knock wood.

"Fiorile," in Italian with English subtitles, is rated PG-13.

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