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01/21/2007 Archived Entry: "Quote from The Secret of Santa Vittoria"

I WAS JUST READING THAT MARVELOUS OLD NOVEL of resistance The Secret of Santa Vittoria. Came across this quote, which I think we can use in these bleak days:

The truth is this: If only one man among all of the rest will not break ... then all of them, all those who so despise men that they believe all men can be broken and all men can be bought, all of them have failed and all of them are defeated, because one alone destroys them and one alone can give heart to all other men.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria is about a Northern Italian hill village whose people conspire to hide their life's blood -- wine -- from a Nazi officer and his men who've been sent to confiscate it. Above all, it's a battle of wits between the ultra-confident, "racially superior" Nazi and the "Sicilian boob" Bombolini, whose philosophies are spelled out before the story even begins:

"In the long run, one life means nothing." -- Capt. Sepp von Prum

"In the end, nothing is more important than one life." -- Italo Bombolini

MGM made a movie of Secret with Anthony Quinn (perfect casting!) as Bombolini. Now, somebody's just got to persuade them to put it out on DVD ...

Posted by Claire @ 04:59 PM CST
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