Mario Parpagnoli

The beautiful Thaïs Galitzy plays Vera, a Slavic countess, a seductress who drags married men to the brink of ruin. When she seduces the husband of her best friend, all involved meet a nasty fate.

Based on the famous historical novel by Alessandro Manzoni, and set between 1628 and 1630 in Lombardy, Northern Italy, during the Spanish domination, the film displays the marriage between two young textile workers, Renzo and Lucia. The 1922 version is one of the most ambitious and spectacular films in all Italian silent cinema, with remarkable mass scenes and some images that sparked controversy.