The film is a historical evidence of what happened by the end of 60s in Vajont Valley with the construction of a large dam. The sequences of the plot are well given as well as problems and the ethics of constructors in the discussions and dialogues. Good photography and good acting from outstanding actors, such as Daniel Auteuil, Michel Serrault and Jorge Perugorría, who is probably the second Cuban actor in Italian films (the first was Tomas Milian). Perugorría gave the special touch to the film with his acting as a person who lost his wife and son during the mortal avalanche. Guilty engineers and geologists showed their cowardice at the crucial moment. They were just condemned to five years prison, and some were set free before that period.
7 Reviews
A good portrayal weakend by poor special effects at the end.
jason-21027 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I admire films that dare to deal with specialised subjects like this. On the whole I think the film's portrayal of the lives of those involved in the Vajont disaster -- and of the events leading up to it -- was good. However, there are quite a few technical inaccuracies and some of the characters are partially fictionalised.
The film twists the facts a bit to follow a more stereotypical disaster movie plot & build up the tension, portraying the engineers as worried and afraid when in fact they were calm and confident that they were in control of the situation right until the end. The film makes a drama about the water level, and that the water level was slightly over the critical 700m mark when the landslide took place, suggesting this was the cause of the disaster. In reality the engineers had already taken the water down to SADE's critical level - 25m blow the dam crest. However, the problem was that the "critical" level simply didn't apply - the flood was caused by the speed of the landslide when if finally happened, which no-one had predicted correctly.
The special effects are best when they are subtle - for example in visualisations of the dam and the village of Longerone during the first ninety minutes or so of the movie. However, in the finale, they failed to convey a sense of the awesome power this flood really had. We are talking about a 150m high wave of solid water coming over the top of the dam, then being funnelled down the narrow gorge beyond at 140 km/h. In the film it initially looked like buckets of water being thrown at a model in slow motion. The spray particles were too large, and there was no dark mass of water behind the spray. The only time it looked frightening was when we were given a glimpse of the wave racing down the narrow gorge, preceded by an enormous, howling rush of air tearing the valley sides apart and carrying debris along with it. This air blast was also depicted arriving in the village below, like a sudden hurricane falling upon the bewildered villagers. Another nice touch was the blue flashes seen by the villages up in the valley at night, at the moment of the landslide, caused by the collapse of power lines. This was a frightening premonition of the destruction that followed.
The film twists the facts a bit to follow a more stereotypical disaster movie plot & build up the tension, portraying the engineers as worried and afraid when in fact they were calm and confident that they were in control of the situation right until the end. The film makes a drama about the water level, and that the water level was slightly over the critical 700m mark when the landslide took place, suggesting this was the cause of the disaster. In reality the engineers had already taken the water down to SADE's critical level - 25m blow the dam crest. However, the problem was that the "critical" level simply didn't apply - the flood was caused by the speed of the landslide when if finally happened, which no-one had predicted correctly.
The special effects are best when they are subtle - for example in visualisations of the dam and the village of Longerone during the first ninety minutes or so of the movie. However, in the finale, they failed to convey a sense of the awesome power this flood really had. We are talking about a 150m high wave of solid water coming over the top of the dam, then being funnelled down the narrow gorge beyond at 140 km/h. In the film it initially looked like buckets of water being thrown at a model in slow motion. The spray particles were too large, and there was no dark mass of water behind the spray. The only time it looked frightening was when we were given a glimpse of the wave racing down the narrow gorge, preceded by an enormous, howling rush of air tearing the valley sides apart and carrying debris along with it. This air blast was also depicted arriving in the village below, like a sudden hurricane falling upon the bewildered villagers. Another nice touch was the blue flashes seen by the villages up in the valley at night, at the moment of the landslide, caused by the collapse of power lines. This was a frightening premonition of the destruction that followed.
Mildly entertaining but see it to watch DAniel Auteuil act
clotblaster12 July 2006
This film is more entertaining than I expected. Nevertheless, the reason to see it is to see Daniel Auteuil perform. He is without doubt the finest actor in the world (not just France) during the last 25 or so years. Unfortunately, I don't think it was released in the u.s. I saw it in France. Many of his films are not being released in America or u.k. with subtitles. But if you get a chance, this film will entertain and you can watch yet another fine performance by Mr. Auteuil. Ironically, very few people from the U.S. even know his name. Also, fewer and fewer foreign films, especially French, are being released in America, not just Mr. Auteuil's. Sad. I speak French and understand Italian pretty well, but to deprive the world of many good films and many good actors and actresses is a shame. The French should stop whining about the influx of American films and start exporting their films to the USA. People usually are afraid of subtitles, but people do get used to them.
Fine Docu-Drama of the Vajont Dam Disaster
gerrythree19 June 2002
Director Renzo Martinelli mixes the usual disaster movie ingredients in Vajont with one ingredient you don't usually see. In Vajont, the movie shows the top engineers at the construction company who are responsible for building the then tallest dam in the world as practical people whose main concern is to finish the dam and get the Italian government to pay for the construction costs. The newlywed couple (the husband an engineer at the dam construction company), the reporter out to expose the flawed dam and the eventual disaster are the type of characters and situation you can find in plenty of movies about things going wrong. But when the top engineers realize they have a bad problem with landslides, they try to figure out what to do to protect the company's investment while avoiding a disaster. Since the incident at Vajont is well known in Italy, the ending of the movie is a foregone conclusion. Martinelli does a fine job of showing the dam builders trying to find a way out of the trap they are in, with the dam creating a lake against the Toc, the name the townspeople give to the crumbly mountain that borders the lake. The Italian DVD that had this movie also included an extra showing before and after, the step by step creation of the visual effects. A real interesting extra
This movie reconstructs with good precision an italian tragedy happened in 1963.
Dolphin-2421 October 2001
Finally a good film about the true story of Vajont: a very big landslide fell into an artificial lake causing an enormous wave (about 200 m tall) that went on the opposite side of the valley and over the dam, wiping out the underlying town of Longarone and causing more than 2'000 casualties in few minutes. The movie shows very well the intrigues cynically played by the construction enterprise to hide the dangers pointed out by geologists, about an ancient landfall line that the water of the lake made unstable. Well recited by the actors, the movie has good scenes, clever special effects, and a sweet love story within. It deserves to be seen; vote 8.
VAJONT a fine movie
pywalkye225 September 2006
This movie shows in a very fine manner the corruption that is spread wide world in many fields. Renzo Martinelli made a movie plenty of secondary stories that enhace the main plot. All the characters are well displayed and specially Laura Morante in her character of the journalist Tina Merlin, also Anita Caprioli (Ancilla) and Jorge Perugorria (Olmo Montaner) are really in mood and give to they characters a very temperate resolution. I shall mention also Michel Serrault (Carlo Semenza), Antonio Fabbri (Prof. Ghetti), Federica Martinelli (Margherita) and in fact all who worked in this movie. You did it very well, really. The special effects are also a fine and dedicated work without exaggeration. The music well balanced and enhance the whole movie. Sound very good, and photography also fine. A very good work that deserve the acceptance of all kind of audience that like good, interesting, and well done movies. Finally I am going to watch it very carefully to see about the two goofs you mention.
A good disaster movie
dbdumonteil31 August 2005
Because it deals with real facts ,"Vajont" has almost nothing to do with the disaster movies which were thriving in the seventies.It does not feature the cardboard characters and the cast of thousands we used to find there.Outside Laura Morante ,all the actors give restrained performances .The film recreates the atmosphere of the tragedy of the drama in an almost documentary way.Only the young couple displays a storylike tendency,and even that is kept to a minimum level.
At its best ,the movie sometimes recalls the forties and fifties Italian neorealism.The color is actually close to black and white ,and two scenes are particularly memorable:the victims of the flooding,leaving their village ,while a crucifix Christ is floating on the waters;the surveyor,finding his rocking-chair in the mud.
At its best ,the movie sometimes recalls the forties and fifties Italian neorealism.The color is actually close to black and white ,and two scenes are particularly memorable:the victims of the flooding,leaving their village ,while a crucifix Christ is floating on the waters;the surveyor,finding his rocking-chair in the mud.
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