If the Italian early cinema is known for its epic antique spectacles, Assunta Spina means a nice change. But it is obvious that it's not the only different film compared to the mainstream in the era. The Italian early cinema took a lot of influences from literature and people started to describe the lives of the common people; workers and lovers. Assunta Spina is one of these film and a very good one. In 1914 World War I begun in Europe, at first Italy didn't take part in it, but in May 1915 it joined the Allied Powers. One of the consequences of WWI for cinema was that Italy and France lost their places as the leading developers of it and the United States started making more and more films. Italian early cinema is part of the era when Italy was among the biggest cinema countries in the world and Assunta Spina is one of its most well known products.
Assunta Spina is basically a love triangle story. Assunta is a young woman, who is married with Michele but also loved by Raffaele. Love, hatred and jealousy culminate in tragical consequences. As said before the story is very simple and the narrative is minimalistic. But the gestures and expressive behaviour is magnificent. The gestures used in cinema were already very well known; to beckon, fists held high, hands on face etc. Assunta Spina is naturalistic realism and the expressions feel very natural or if not natural at least touching, beautiful and far away from exaggerating, which is common for many Hollywood silent films.
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