Almost all of the next film by Steven Spielberg. From Tuscany to Campania, passing through Lazio and Umbria. These are the main locations of the film The kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, with release scheduled for 2018. But what will this film tell?
Edgardo Mortara: the child kidnapped by the Church
Steven Spielberg's film centers on the case of Edgardo mortara, the Jewish child stolen from his parents by the Church in 1858. This abduction, as well as all the details that emerged later, caused quite a few repercussions in Italy and in the world. But how did the facts go?
On June 23, 1858, the Papal State police came to the home of the Jewish Mortara family with orders to take little Edgardo into custody. Unbeknownst to the parents, the son had been baptized by their maid in his first year of life. And, according to the laws of the Church, Edgardo was entitled to a Catholic education. At the age of six he was then taken to Rome against his will and that of his parents to begin his Catholic studies.
The case made all the front pages of the newspapers, with the Holy See accused of real kidnapping. The Kingdom of Sardinia took advantage of this to denigrate the Papal State, especially with a view to unifying the country. While the rest of the world began to wonder what were the true limits of the Church.
From the Royal Palace to Viterbo: the locations of Steven Spielberg
Initially the film was to be shot in Bologna (city of Mortara), but in recent days the director has changed plans. The external shots will be made in different regions of Central Italy (Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio). This is for the small towns, villages and panoramas that refer to XNUMXth century Italy, such as Viterbo and Tuscania. Obviously there will be Rome, as the capital of the Papal State. The internal shots will instead be made almost all inside the Palace of Caserta. The ancient and elegant rooms of the Royal Palace are the ideal location to reconstruct the ecclesiastical environment. They have also been used in the past by great Hollywood directors. A few examples? George Lucas for Star Wars Episodes I and II. But also Ron Howard (Angels and Demons) and JJ Abrams (Mission Impossible III) to always reconstruct the interior of the Vatican.
