Lives of the Saints (miniseries)

Lives of the Saints
Directed by Jerry Ciccoritti
Produced by Gabriella Martinelli
Written by Malcolm MacRury
Based on Lives of the Saints
by Nino Ricci
Starring Sophia Loren
Cinematography Fabio Cianchetti
Edited by George Roulston
Release date
  • 20 September 2004 (2004-09-20) (Italy)
  • 2 January 2005 (2005-01-02) (Canada)
Country Canada
Italy
Language English
Italian

Lives of the Saints is a 2004 TV miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, written by Malcolm MacRury, and based on the 1990 novel, Lives of the Saints, by Nino Ricci. The film stars Sophia Loren, Fab Filippo and Jessica Paré.

Plot

Part 1

Told in flashbacks, Vittorio ‘Victor’ Innocente is a young boy living in the Italian village Valle del Sole (Valley of the Sun) during the 1950s. He is raised by his beautiful mother Cristina and paternal zia (aunt) Teresa, who both affectionately refer to him as Vito. Teresa is a widowed schoolteacher and strives to keep her family on the right moral path. She and Vittorio are shown to be very close. One day, she gifts him a book called The Lives of the Saints.

While her husband Mario is away, Cristina begins an affair with Matthew Bok, a Canadian wartime artist, whom Teresa disapproves of. Vittorio tells his friend Fabrizio, about catching Cristina and the ‘blue-eyed man’ in a stable and how Cristina was also bitten by a snake. This is seen as a bad omen. The townspeople discover Cristina’s affair after she becomes pregnant and shun her for her adulterous behaviour. Unaware of his wife’s indiscretion, Mario sends for his family, leaving Teresa behind temporarily. Before leaving, Cristina hints to Teresa that she is planning to start a new life with in Halifax and does not intend to meet up with Mario and his brother Alfredo. On board the ship, she dies giving birth to an illegitimate baby. Vittorio names the girl Rita, after Saint Rita from Teresa’s book.

In Toronto, Rita has blue eyes just like her father and her presence casts a shadow over the family as she is a constant reminder of Cristina’s affair. Vittorio becomes her protector as she is neglected and abused by Mario. Rita is close to her classmate Elena Amherst, whose WASP family eventually adopts her. Like Cristina, Rita is never mentioned in the Innocente household again.

Years later, Vittorio has a strained relationship with his father and lives in one of the Canadian territories with his girlfriend, Kate Townsend.

Mario finds Matthew's love letters to Cristina which Teresa had kept hidden. After angrily confronting his sister, Mario leaves to find and kill Rita. Unable to do it, he asks Rita to forgive him and ends up committing suicide in her driveway instead.

Part 2

Vittorio returns to the family tomato farm for Mario's funeral and reconnects with Rita. She has grown to be a passionate, yet troubled young woman, much like Cristina.

In his will, Mario leaves everything to Vittorio, which causes tension between him and Alfredo. Surprisingly, there are instructions for Vittorio to take care of Rita as well.

Vittorio and Rita become unnaturally close and Vittorio begins to get jealous when she flirts with other men. At the same time, Rita confides to Teresa that she has always wanted to know her father. Teresa lies that she does not know who he is. Moved by Rita's confession, Teresa gets in contact with Matthew who reveals his side of the affair with Cristina. Teresa leaves abruptly when she discovers Matthew had painted her after she was raped by soldiers years ago.

Rita meets with her father, but the meeting does not go well. Upset and confused, Rita returns home and sleeps with Vittorio. This results in Vittorio having a breakdown and he is comforted by Teresa. Teresa later tells Vittorio that Rita has patched things up with Matthew and will be going on a trip to Italy with his family. This angers Vittorio and he accuses Teresa of having an affair with Matthew after he sees the painting of her. In tears, she reveals the truth about her rape.

Vittorio follows Rita to Valle del Sole and is openly hostile towards Matthew. While rediscovering his old family home, he runs into a grown up Fabrizio. He grows increasingly obsessed with Rita, who brushes off their sexual encounter. At this point, Vittorio is ready to kill Matthew, whom he blames for his parents' deaths. Teresa tells him to let go of the past and reveals that she is his biological mother. This also means that he and Rita are not half-siblings like they had been led to believe. Angered, Vittorio drives away and ends up critically injured in an accident. He wakes up in the hospital and accepts Teresa as his mother.

In the epilogue, Teresa narrates that after Mario found out about her pregnancy out of wedlock, he and Cristina had raised Vittorio as their own. The family, including Rita, are seen eating around the dinner table. Vittorio has a son named Mario (after his late adoptive father and maternal uncle), and has married Kate who is heavily pregnant with their second child. Vittorio and Alfredo are running the family business Innocente and Sons, as Teresa reads the story of Saint Rita to Vittorio’s son.

Cast

Reception

Lives of the Saints received mostly mixed reviews from critics It holds a 42% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes.[1] The film won a DGC Craft Award for an Outstanding Achievement in Direction - Television Movie/Mini-Series.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lives_of_the_saints/


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