La falena is a 1916 silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 Italian drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Carmine Gallone

Carmine Gallone

Carmine Gallone was an early acclaimed Italian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Considered one of Italian cinema's top early directors, he directed over 120 films in his fifty year career between 1913 and 1963.-Filmography:*Il bacio di Cirano *La donna nuda *Senza colpa! *Fior di...

. The film is considered to be lost

Lost film

A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

, with only a fragment surviving in the film archive of the Cineteca Italiana.

Plot

Thea (Borelli) is sculptress who is diagnosed with phthisis before she marries Filippo (Habay). After abandoning him, her health begins to decline. She organises a final party, inviting along her estranged husband. He fails to show, as he's now married to another woman. Thea appears naked in front of her guests, before she kills herself.

Cast

• Lyda Borelli
  Lyda Borelli
  Lyda Borelli was an Italian actress of cinema and theatre. She was born in Genoa, and died in Rome.-Filmography:* Ma l'amor mio non muore * La memoria dell'altro * La donna nuda...
  
   as Thea di Marlievo
• Andrea Habay as Filippo
• Francesco Cacace as Lignères
• Giulia Cassini-Rizzotto as Principessa Maria
• Nella Montagna as La madre di Thea
• Lina Dax as Allegra
• Alfonso Cassini as Il maestro di Thea