Fantaghirò 4
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| Fantaghirò 4 | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Lamberto Bava |
| Produced by | Lamberto Bava Andrea Piazzesi |
| Written by | Gianni Romoli |
| Starring | Alessandra Martines Brigitte Nielsen Horst Buchholz |
| Music by | Amedeo Minghi |
| Cinematography | Romano Albani |
| Editing by | Piero Bozza |
| Release date(s) | 1994 |
| Country | Italy |
| Language | Italian |
| Preceded by | Fantaghirò 3 |
| Followed by | Fantaghirò 5 |
| IMDb profile | |
Fantaghirò 4 (alternately titled as The Cave of the Golden Rose 4) is the fourth film from the Fantaghirò series. It is directed by Lamberto Bava and stars Alessandra Martines as the title character. The film was released on television as a two-parter, as in known in some releases as Fantaghirò 7 and Fantaghirò 8. This film featured very few returning characters from the previous films, and most notable is that Kim Rossi Stuart, the hero of the previous films, did not return at all. In order to circumvent this, his character was written to accommodate a different actor, and footage of the first film was re-used for the finale.
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[edit] Synopsis
A mysterious black cloud is travelling across the land, bringing death and destruction wherever it goes. Fantaghirò is helping the people of her kingdom escape to safety when she crosses paths with young Prince Parsel. Parsel is chasing the black cloud because it took his castle, and he is trying to find a way to get it back. When the black cloud passes over Fantaghirò's castle, it too disappears, so she joins with Parsel to search for the origins of the black cloud.
They travel to the kingdom of Tohor where they discover that Tarabas, the reformed dark wizard, has been imprisoned and accused of conjuring the black cloud. Fantaghirò, who knows that he has renounced his evil ways, helps him escape. Fantaghirò, Tarabas, Parsel and Princess Angelica of Tohor (who has fallen in love with Tarabas) leave Tohor to track down the black cloud, which they discover is conjured by a powerful dark magician named Darken.
Elsewhere, the Dark Witch is struggling to revive her magical powers which have become weak after she'd helped Fantaghirò in the previous film. She needs help, so she decides to revive Xellesia, and together the two witches travel to find Tarabas and prevent him from discovering the origins of the dark cloud.
Fantaghirò and her group have tracked the black cloud to a kingdom beneath a dormant volcano. There they encounter a deformed man named Fiodor who tells them that the kingdom is ruled by Darken. Darken then emerges from Parsel's body, where he has been hiding from the very beginning. A fight ensues, and Fantaghirò is killed. An enraged Tarabas is about kill Darken when Xellesia arrives and stops him. It is then revealed that Darken is Tarabas' father, and the black cloud was part of an elaborate plot to bring Tarabas back to his evil ways.
Darken promises to bring Fantaghirò back to life if Tarabas will embrace his dark side again. Tarabas is reluctant, but Fiodor talks him into it. It is revealed that Fiodor is actually Romualdo, transformed by Darken into a hideous monster in order to taunt him with never being able to return to Fantaghirò. Fiodor also makes Tarabas promise to take care of Fantaghirò.
Tarabas finally agrees to become evil again if it means that Fantaghirò can live, and Darken revives her. While Tarabas tries to convince Darken of his evil "honesty", Fantaghirò conspires with Fiodor, Angelica and a revived Parsel to rescue the stolen castles from Darken's collection and escape from the underground kingdom. After Darken is temporarily subdued, Tarabas, Xellesia and a reluctant Dark Witch join the group in escaping from Darken's kingdom. Along the way, Xellesia sacrifices herself so her son will be safe.
Darken follows the group, and another fight ensues. In the end, Darken is defeated and Fantaghirò's castle is restored to its full glory. Fantaghirò has also realised that Fiodor is her beloved Romualdo. Fiodor tries to escape, embarrassed by his new form, but Fantaghirò insists that she does not love him for his looks. Tarabas is touched by Fantaghirò's devotion to Romualdo, and decides to move on with his life, promising Angelica that he will learn to love her.
In the end, Fiodor transforms back into Romualdo (using edited footage from the first film), and the pair are reunited.
[edit] Cast
- Alessandra Martines as Fantaghirò
- Nicholas Rogers as Tarabas
- Horst Buchholz as Darken
- Ursula Andress as Xellesia
- Brigitte Nielsen as Dark Witch
- Marc de Jonge as Tohor
- Riccardo Serventi Longhi as Fiodor
- Agathe de La Fontaine as Angelica
- Gaia Bulferi Bulferetti as Parsel
- Oreste Guidi as Rufus
[edit] Production
The scenes that took place in the fictional kingdom of Tohor were filmed in Thailand.
