Allonsanfàn

Overview

The film is set in early 19th-century Italy and stars Marcello Mastroianni as Fulvio Imbriani, an Italian middle-aged aristocrat-turned-revolutionary, losing his commitment to a secret revolutionary society. The title of the film is the name of a young member of the society (portrayed by Stanko Molnar) playing fatal role in Fulvio's life, which is derived from the first words (Allons enfants) of La Marseillaise.

Plot

Against the backdrop of the Bourbon Restoration, Lombard aristocrat Fulvio Imbriani, a former political extremist who once served under Napoleon, is finally released from an Austrian jail, after a lengthy sentence for his part in the secret Sublime Brotherhood. He strives to resume normal family life, but his Hungarian lover, Charlotte, together with his ex-comrades, succeeds in convincing him to take part in a revolutionary cause in the south. In fact, Fulvio considers the effort futile and fails to stop his sister Esther from reporting the conspirators. But the trap fails to catch the intended prey and, evading arrest, the comrades meet and bury Charlotte, who was killed in an exchange of fire with the gendarmerie.

Fulvio is still with them, despite repeated attempts to get out of what he was sure would be a fiasco. On arriving south, Fulvio goes ahead to scout the land where he betrays his red shirted comrades to a priest who tells the authorities. However Fulvio is tricked by the sole survivor of the party that the revolt has succeeded. He puts on his discarded red shirt to be killed alongside his comrades, massacred by the soldiers and peasants.

In popular culture

While the film itself is little known, one of its main musical themes, "Rabbia e Tarantella," is used during the closing credits of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009).