

Comune di Rimini - Settore Cultura
Cineteca Comunale
Via Gambalunga, 27
Info cineteca@comune.rimini.it
Tel. +390541704496 +390541704302
The film opens with the liner “Gloria N.” ready to sail from Naples Harbor in July 1914. Orlando, an Italian journalist, tells viewers that the cruise is a funeral voyage to scatter opera singer Edmea Tetua’s ashes near the island of Erimo, her birthplace. Tetua – who is considered the greatest singer of all times - is celebrated for her goddess-like voice. The bumbling but lovable journalist entertains the passengers, who are mostly opera singers, conductors and Edmea’s fans. A jealous and bitter soprano named Ildebranda desperately tries to penetrate the secret behind Edmea Tetua’s unforgettable voice. An awful stench rises from the ship’s hold and soon it turns out that a love-sick rhino has been neglected by the ship’s crew. The beast is pulled up, washed on deck, and returned to the hold with fresh water and hay. Then the passengers discover a crowd of shipwrecked Serbians camped on the deck of the ship. Fleeing in rafts after the Sarajevo assassination, the refugees were taken on board by the captain the previous night. Edmea Tetua’s ashes are scattered near Erimo and the refugees board a lifeboat after the ceremony. A young Serb hurls a bomb at an Austro-Hungarian ship. The Austrian soldiers bombard the “Gloria N.” ship, that sinks while the Austro-Hungarian ship explodes and sinks. Orlando is on board a lifeboat while the rhino ruminates happily.