The World of Frederick II
Lagopesole Castle
2010
when the search
for an audiovisual language
for cultural heritage began
The World of Frederick II
Lagopesole Castle
2010
when the search
for an audiovisual language
for cultural heritage began
From a silent monument to a narrative museum
Writing about “Il Mondo di Federico II” fifteen years on is a way of taking stock: what was expected of a language-form specific to the digital revolution, and what the facts and international recognition have ultimately revealed. I am referring to the language-form that underpinned the technologies, not the technologies themselves — because fifteen years is a geological era, and almost nothing remains of those technical experiments. But the ways in which we sought to build knowledge starting from a narrative museum — those, indeed, remain to this day a field of research worth exploring. That is why I consider it the forerunner of everything that came after.
The subject matter was historical: the life and thought of the great medieval Italo-Germanic emperor, recounted at Lagopesole, one of his hunting lodges in the heart of the Empire, a few kilometres from Melfi. We immediately ruled out any notion of a conventional documentary, focusing instead on the history of ideas as a means of conveying the facts — and on quality. The working method was the most radical choice: history was not to be told, it was to be enacted. The castle could not house a traditional museum — it had to become the spectacle itself, the venue for the visitor’s cognitive experience. For this reason, we organised open auditions for the inhabitants of the village and neighbouring towns: not merely for marketing purposes, nor simply to give them the chance to act out their own history, but in the knowledge that something elusive had remained in their faces and in their movements. Men, women and children of all ages and social backgrounds took part, driven by the very same passion — they would put their daily activities on hold every Thursday at 3 pm for rehearsals in the small theatre in Lagopesole. Let’s take a look together at their expressions as they appeared on screen for the very first time
Once upon a time there was a community living in peace in a small village surrounded by forests. One day, newspaper articles and a small poster in the bar announced a cast selection for a film to repeople the Castle in the age of Frederick. The people queued to be selected to perform their own ancestors. They studied and rehearsed in their free time: it was a new, strange adventure.
More than 50 people from Lagopesole, pulled away from their daily work, acted on a stage playing the roles designed by the screenwriters. The entire village, with its shops, streets and market, was reconstructed inside the CINECITTÀ STUDIOS
Carpenters, artisans, nobles, soldiers, priests, vendors, rich and poor, nameless men and women who allowed the emperor to realize his dream — they all gave life to a performance that shows daily life in Lagopesole at the time of Frederick II.
Make-up artists and professional hairdressers made their contribution, working with local faces that were already ready for the camera. Proud of their identity, they were thrilled to give a new opportunity to their territory. Amateurs ........................
........ or professionals, for the designer as much as for the production it was a good chance to build the enthusiasm needed to launch a new service on the tourist market.
Costumes were designed for each actor individually. For most of them, it was the very first time on a real stage .........
..... and it may be the last.
It was an experience that has stayed with me: the way they carried themselves on stage influenced the way we filmed amongst the stalls of the medieval market reconstructed by Francesco Frigeri at Cinecittà. This is how history comes to life — transforming into a production where emotions and knowledge intertwine through multimedia shows, exhibitions and narrative journeys, of which I would like to show you a few excerpts.
Il ‘The World of Frederick II’ was the setting where scholars of medieval history, cinema and emerging digital technologies came together. I remember how, at the outset, the very ways of conceiving the narrative and the forms of communication clashed; this happened because everyone envisaged the production as a digital translation of their traditional way of working, rather than as a new language to be experimented with. It was only by working alongside the technical team at Unicity and the crew at Cinecittà Studios that it became clear how our wealth of experience and knowledge should be harnessed to create a new form of storytelling – an experience designed to help us better understand our past and, through that, understand ourselves today.
Some key figures in the project.
Raffaele Nigro — screenwriter
Huber Huben — scientific consultant
Francesco Frigeri — production designer
Antonio Grambone — director of photography
Sandro Di Stefano — music
Elena Del Guerra and Giuseppe Avallone — costumes
Featuring Remo Girone (Frederick II), Lorenza Indovina (Bianca Lancia), Antonio Manzini (Manfredi), Rodolfo Bianchi (the spy), and over 50 extras from Lagopesole and neighbouring villages.
Project Mapping
Show
a spy story in the time of Frederick II
Frederick II
narrative museum:
peopling the Castle
