All language subtitles for Return to the Castle - Location visit with actor Alberto Farina (2024).English

He did it!

He's there, in front of the gate,
waiting for us!

Stop, Laster!

I'm filming something

about DANZA MACABRA.

It's a film where they shot a
scene right in front of this gate.

Let me just show you,
you might remember the film...

No, I...
Ah, yes...

This picture here, see?

The protagonist is outside
this gate, and at the end, he dies

because the gate closes.

Bang!

One of the spikes stabs
him in the neck.

My husband would remember
because he was already here

and I think he...

Do you live here?

Yes.

He's worked here forever.

Foster?!

Nobody ever survived the
Night of the Dead.

Did you stay behind for me, A/an?

Yes, Elisabeth!

I was about twenty years old
when the film was made.

I was working here in the building as a
laborer. We were restoring the roof.

I came here in 1962.

I was here because my aunts lived
in a section of the palace;

they were friends of
Prince Giovanni del Drago.

My cousin Maria Grazia and I were eager
to watch the filming of the movie.

I went to my aunts‘ house
with my cousin Maria Pace.

I was very excited because one of
the actors was Silvano Tranquilli,

who was very handsome and
pretty well-known back then

because he had worked in
many television productions.

My cousin and I were so excited.

We went to the aunts‘ place and peeked
at the set, very quietly of course.

We were standing
right back there.

When the crew arrived,
we went to snoop around.

I don't remember if the word
had spread around the village,

or if we had been tipped off by the
aunts or Prince Giovanni himself.

We were young girls of
thirteen or fourteen.

I was already working here in the
palace at the time of filming.

In 1963, I had caretaking duties.

I was living in the palace, and that's
how I came to know about the shoot.

- He found out directly that a movie
crew was coming. - Yes, yes, exactly.

I don't really remember how many
people the crew consisted of,

but it doesn't seem to
me that it was a lot.

We would watch them working,

and no outside person was
allowed to enter the building.

I remember that we
stood near a door,

and we could see the
graveyard set from above.

The tombstones were
perhaps made of wood,

and of course they were not in
the ground, but resting on it.

There were also crosses, to make
the location stand out even more.

They were filming, so we couldn't
get closer to get a better look.

We were quite shy, so we did
not dare to get closer.

I remember a curious anecdote
that has stuck with me

even though it
is very simple.

The crew was making a lot of
spider webs using a spray.

I was very intrigued by
such a web-making method!

It's just a little
anecdote I wanted to tell.

In the days when the crew
worked here at the building,

I remember some townspeople
were intrigued,

even by details like the fake,
spray-created cobwebs put on the gate.

I don't think anyone was particularly
perturbed by the events, though.

They used the actual gate, without
altering the spikes or anything.

I remember seeing the filming of
the carriage arriving at the gate,

and there was a crew member moving the
tree branches to give a sense of movement.

I recall the scene of a man getting
impaled by one of the spikes.

I remember the actress Barbara Steele,
who was extremely attractive.

Seeing her has stayed with me,

perhaps partly because dressed in black she
had a mysterious and fascinating allure.

The idea of this beautiful woman
among the spirits intrigued us.

The film was shot in
these surroundings.

The gate with the spikes and
cobwebs was a pivotal image.

To get to the entrance
you go through

a beautiful garden that
has changed since that time.

The palace can be
visited, by the way.

I don't think many rooms
are shown in the movie.

This place where we are now was not
there at the time of the movie.

The wall over there has been raised.

If we go down these stairs,
we find ourselves in an area

that was rebuilt for a
dance party, a birthday bash.

There on the left
was a laurel hedge.

It was over there, and here
was a small rose garden.

The pathway surface at
that time was much lower.

Let's go further.

Here is another recent
staircase, as you can see.

Let's go down the stairs.

The pathway was more central,
and the gate was left as it was.

This wall was built
later for the party.

The pathway surface in this
yard also has been raised.

You enter the garden from here.
At that time, these stairs were not here.

Here was the cemetery set.

Back then, this wall
was much lower.

As you can see, it is newly built.
The bricks look recent.

Here was a big cedar tree that
was cut down. It was right here.

Tombstones had been placed
here, around this spot.

Here was a cave, which can
be seen in the film.

As you can see, there are some new
walls that were not here at that time.

You can still notice the
archway made of bricks.

This cave was walled up during
some work on the garden.

Here is another
part of the garden.

Some work has been done in this
area as well, but not extensively.

Here was another cedar tree,

which was cut down because
it had become dangerous.

This wall has also been
raised a couple of meters;

it's easy to tell that it
was much lower years ago.

This is the door where

you see the two main
characters coming out.

It is the same door that was there at
the time, but it has been restored.

These stairs also
appear in the film.

The wall is the same
as in the movie,

both the one on the right
and the one on the left.

Only this gate has been put in,

so it doesn't
appear in the film.

If you carry on up the stairs

we find another raised wall.

This spot was slightly
lower in those days.

It was slightly lower, yes.

From here, you could go down
and into the other area.

This door has been changed.

So many years have passed
since the movie was made.

Now, this is a beautiful garden.

At that time, it was basically
a place to park cars.

It was the only place where the
people living here could park cars.

The staircase over there
was in a different spot,

and this staircase that leads to the
garden was slightly further to the left.

You can see the marble step
from the original location.

Now it is more to the right.

As I said, cars were parked here
back then; no flowers nor plants.

This is where you go to the
front door that we came out of.

That wall was not there,
as I said before.

Things have changed
a lot since then.

This is the main entrance, the
very same you see in the film.

The gate is original. Only that
metal grill has been changed.

I don't know if you can
see it in the movie,

but it was changed because
the prince didn't like it.

This is the palace of
the del Drago family.

It is a historic residence and also
important in terms of the urban layout.

It is located at the
foot of the fortress,

and part of this palace
was built in 1533.

This part where we are
now was built in 1561.

Different periods of
construction with a short break,

and this was the exit to the garden,
not the monumental entrance.

At the time of the film, this was
already the main entrance.

The garden we visited was not present;
it did not exist at that time.

There was the spot where
they built the cemetery set.

There were some old pine trees, but
nothing else. It was very different.

At that time, Bolsena was a tiny village.
Now, it is a small town of sorts.