Piero Vivarelli (Siena, February 26, 1927 - Rome, September 7, 2010), director and writer is known for directing in 1970, the film IL DIO SERPENTE (aka The Sepent God) that became world famous thanks to the compelling music theme DJAMBALLA, taken from a soundtrack composed by Augusto Martelli. In 1972, this time in Africa, Vivarelli directed a second film in which he mixed eroticism and the wild nature: IL DECAMERONE NERO (aka The Black Decameron, aka Afrika Erotica). Among the black cast the actress and singer Beryl Cunningham already appeared in IL DIO SERPENTE and in L ISOLA DEGLI UOMINI PESCE (aka Screamers, aka Something Waits in the Dark, aka Island of Fishmen). The film was produced by Alfredo Bini, and it follows the narrative structure divided into different stories of the Decameron, but the setting is African and not Medieval and it is not based on the novels of Boccaccio, but on the anthology of Leo Frobenius, who wrote about the sexuality of black people understood as an alternative to sexuality of white people. Vivarelli chose a setting in Senegal and in Lucania, an area in the south of Italy near the city of Matera. A minstrel tells five stories: LA REINA BELLA (The Beautiful Queen) in which the queen chooses a king according to the sexual stamina of the suitors, GLI AMANTI PUNITI (Punished Lovers) in which a husband who pretends to be blind is healed after the alleged perpetrators are hunted away from the tribe, LA VECCHIA PROSTITUTA (The old whore) who wanted to avenge his brother who had been unjustly sentenced by the dignitaries of the village, LA RICERCA SENZA FINE (The never-ending quest) that does not end until a hunter discovers the perfect way to triumph as a winner on its prey; LA DONNA PAZZA (The crazy woman) whose disease is not really caused by her mind, but caused by her insatiable lust. The music of this soundtrack is of Luciano Michelini, a prolific composer of OST in the 70s (LA POLIZIA ACCUSA: IL SERVIZIO SEGRETO UCCIDE; LA CITTA GIOCA D AZZARDO; ANNA, QUEL PARTICOLARE PIACERE, L ISOLA DEGLI UOMINI PESCE). In 1972 RCA published a 33 rpm (OLS 12). The side A of the album contains the music of Michelini, including the song LA REINA BELLA, co-composed with director Vivarelli and the African musician Bana Sissokho and sung by Beryl Cunningham (this song was also recorded on the single RCA OC 29) and the side B includes the songs written by Bana Sissokho and some traditional pieces recorded live in Africa. In addition to the master in full stereo from the old album, this new complete edition on CD (total time 71:41) contains about thirty minutes of unpublished music of Master Michelini: the music of the master tapes in mono of the original session that represents fascinating variations of the themes LA REINA BELLA, TEMA DI DUVA, LA FORESTA DELL'AMORE, TEMA D'AMORE, sometimes with arrangements of modern flavor, where the atmosphere evoking myths and rituals, sacred and profane, erotism and taboo, tales and reality leads us deeply into magic and romantic Africa. |
