The Assisi Underground is a 1985 American-Italian historical drama film, written and directed by Alexander Ramati. It is an adaptation of Ramati's 1978 novel The Assisi Underground: The Priest who Rescued Jews, which is based on the true-life account of Father Rufino Niccacci concerning the events of the Assisi Network — an effort to hide approximately 300 Jews in the town of Assisi, Italy, during World War II.
Production Details
The film was produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan under the Golan-Globus Productions banner. It stars Ben Cross as Father Rufino Niccacci, alongside Irene Papas, Maximilian Schell, Karlheinz Hackl, and James Mason in one of his final film roles (Mason died in July 1984; his last feature film role was in The Shooting Party). The cinematography was handled by Giuseppe Rotunno, editing by Michael J. Duthie, and the musical score was composed by Dov Seltzer. The film has a running time of 115 minutes.
Plot
Set in 1943, the film follows Franciscan priest Rufino Niccacci, who is asked by the Bishop of Assisi, Giuseppe Placido Nicolini (played by James Mason), to covertly rescue Italian Jews from the Nazis. Niccacci accomplishes this by hiding refugees in the monasteries and convents of Assisi and disguising them as Roman Catholic friars and nuns, even teaching them Christian prayers in Latin. He also befriends the Wehrmacht's chief medical officer in Assisi, a devout Catholic who surreptitiously supplies medicines. The film implies that the German colonel either did not know of Niccacci's activities or chose to remain silent about them. At one point, the colonel uses his influence with the Wehrmacht general commanding the district to save Niccacci from an SS firing squad. The end credits provide a short summary of what became of each principal historical character.
Cast
- Ben Cross as Rufino Niccacci
- James Mason as Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Nicolini, Bishop of Assisi
- Irene Papas as Mother Giuseppina
- Maximilian Schell as Colonel Valentin Müller
- Karlheinz Hackl as Captain von Velden
- Geoffrey Copleston as Chief of Police Bertolucci
- Riccardo Cucciolla as Luigi Brizi
- Angelo Infanti as Giorgio Kropf
- Delia Boccardo as Countess Cristina
- Paolo Malco as Paolo Josza
- Roberto Bisacco as Professor Rieti
- Edmund Purdom as Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa
- Venantino Venantini as Pietro
- Maurice Poli as Vito
- Giancarlo Prete as Col. Gay
- Alessandra Mussolini as Sister Beata
- Riccardo Salvino as Otto Maionica
- Greta Vayan as Rita Maionica
- Alfredo Pea as Gino Bartali
Critical Response
The film received a poor response from critics.
Historical Context
In April 1974, Yad Vashem in Israel named Father Rufino Niccacci as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. In 1998, The New York Times published an article about an Assisi resident who had come there as a refugee. On October 5, 2012, The National Catholic Register published a two-part article tied to the opening of a new exhibition based on 25 years of research into the city's role in saving thousands of refugees, including approximately 300 Jews.
