The Mandrake Root
Encyclopedia
The Mandrake Root is a 2008
comedy drama film
adapted and directed by Malachi Bogdanov
as his first feature film
. The film was produced by Simon M. Woods as the first film release of European Drama Network
.
Based on the play La Mandragola (The Mandrake)
written by Niccolò Machiavelli
in 1518, the film was nominated for the Best Drama 2008 by the Royal Television Society Awards Midland
.
, on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia
. The movie crew was from both the UK
and Italy, with lead cast from the UK.
While the original play La Mandragola was set in Florence, Italy in 1504, the film relocates the story to Sassari in Sardinia, Italy, in a similar period. The action takes place over a period of 24 hours. The comedy’s main theme is the use of deceit and the interplay among the characters who think they are shrewder than the next. The opening prologue was written by Machiavelli and is read at the start of the film, just as it is in the play. The script is largely faithful to the original play.
), a priest of low morals, to aid in convincing Lucrezia of the necessity of the plan. After finally sleeping with Lucrezia, Callimaco confesses everything. Lucrezia gives thought to the duplicity of her husband, her mother, and her confessor, and decides that she now wants Callimaco as a lover forever. Callimaco gets what he had desired and everyone else continues to believe that each had outwitted the others.
theatrical debut in June 2008, and its Europe
an/Italian
theatrical debut in August 2008, at the Sardinia Film Festival and was made available on DVD
and VOD
internationally online in Europe from European Drama Network
and in North America from Reframe http://reframecollection.org/films/film?Id=1378.
Reframe Collection http://reframecollection.org/films/film?Id=1378
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
comedy 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...
adapted and directed by Malachi Bogdanov
Malachi Bogdanov
Associate Director of the English Shakespeare Company Malachi Bogdanov directed international tours of productions including A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Threepenny Opera, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Titus Andronicus and an award winning production of Richard the Third...
as his first feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
. The film was produced by Simon M. Woods as the first film release of European Drama Network
European Drama Network
European Drama Network is a producer and online distributor of modern movies of classic plays and texts. Founded by producer Simon M. Woods in 2007, it first film was The Mandrake Root, based on the play The Mandrake by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1518, and directed by Malachi Bogdanov...
.
Based on the play La Mandragola (The Mandrake)
The Mandrake
The Mandrake is a satirical play by Italian Renaissance writer Niccolò Machiavelli. Its tale of the corruption of Italian society was written while Machiavelli was in exile, allegedly having plotted against the Medici...
written by Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
in 1518, the film was nominated for the Best Drama 2008 by the Royal Television Society Awards Midland
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
.
Production
The Mandrake Root was shot in 14 days in SassariSassari
Sassari is an Italian city. It is the second-largest city of Sardinia in terms of population with about 130,000 inhabitants, or about 300,000 including the greater metropolitan area...
, on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The movie crew was from both the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Italy, with lead cast from the UK.
While the original play La Mandragola was set in Florence, Italy in 1504, the film relocates the story to Sassari in Sardinia, Italy, in a similar period. The action takes place over a period of 24 hours. The comedy’s main theme is the use of deceit and the interplay among the characters who think they are shrewder than the next. The opening prologue was written by Machiavelli and is read at the start of the film, just as it is in the play. The script is largely faithful to the original play.
Plot
Callimaco (Jason Nicoli) is taken by the beauty of Lucrezia (Chara Jackson), but she is the loyal wife of Nicia (Geoffrey Bateman), a rich and foolish lawyer. Callimaco hires the service of a shady 'fixer' named Ligurio (Mike Rogers) to aid in his quest to sleep with her. Lgurio informs Callimaco that Nicia and Lucrezia are anxious to have a child. With the fixer's help,. Callimaco masquerades as a doctor and convinces Nicia that the best way for Lucrezia to conceive a child is by her taking a potion made from the Mandrake Root. He lies and warns Nicia that the first man to sleep with Lucrezia after she has taken the potion will die within eight days. Together they devise a plan to kidnap a stranger to sleep with Lucrezia and draw out the poison. Callimaco then disguises himself and arranges to be the one who is kidnapped. Lucrezia is an honorable woman and does not at first agree to meet with the stranger. Nicia gets both Lucrezia's mother, a woman of ill repute, and her confessor Brother Timoteo (Jonathan OwenJonathan Owen
Jonathan Owen is a film and theatre actor.-Career:He has been a member of Equity, the British trade union for actors/actresses, since 1978.Owen appeared as Broter Timoteo in the comedy-drama film The Mandrake Root ....
), a priest of low morals, to aid in convincing Lucrezia of the necessity of the plan. After finally sleeping with Lucrezia, Callimaco confesses everything. Lucrezia gives thought to the duplicity of her husband, her mother, and her confessor, and decides that she now wants Callimaco as a lover forever. Callimaco gets what he had desired and everyone else continues to believe that each had outwitted the others.
Cast
- Jason Nicoli as Callimaco
- Chara Jackson as Lucrezia
- Geoffrey Bateman as Nicia
- Mike Rogers as Ligurio
- Jonathan OwenJonathan OwenJonathan Owen is a film and theatre actor.-Career:He has been a member of Equity, the British trade union for actors/actresses, since 1978.Owen appeared as Broter Timoteo in the comedy-drama film The Mandrake Root ....
as Broter Timeto - Emanuela Di Biase as The Lady
- Andrea Foddai as Road Sweeper
- Mario Olivieri as Road Sweeper
- Craig Painting as Siro
- Den Woods as Sostrata
Release
The film had its United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
theatrical debut in June 2008, and its Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an/Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
theatrical debut in August 2008, at the Sardinia Film Festival and was made available on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and VOD
VOD
VOD may stand for:*Velocity of detonation, the speed of a shock wave through a detonated explosive*Veno-occlusive disease, a complication of bone marrow transplantation*Versant Object Database, a database management system...
internationally online in Europe from European Drama Network
European Drama Network
European Drama Network is a producer and online distributor of modern movies of classic plays and texts. Founded by producer Simon M. Woods in 2007, it first film was The Mandrake Root, based on the play The Mandrake by Niccolò Machiavelli in 1518, and directed by Malachi Bogdanov...
and in North America from Reframe http://reframecollection.org/films/film?Id=1378.
Reception
While noting that it was getting an outdoor premiere prior to its home cinema release, Birmingham What's On wrote that "the first feature by award-winning stage director Malachi Bogdanov... ...makes the most of a low budget", "The cast have a nice line in sly humour and keep the pace brisk with some nice comic timing...", and "it is playful fun that, at 75 minutes, does the job without overstaying its welcome".External links
Reframe Collection http://reframecollection.org/films/film?Id=1378