Il vetturale del San Gottardo

Found by chance in the archives of the Cineteca Italiana in Milan, Il vetturale del San Gottardo is the result of a mugging. In 1940, the Swiss producers of Der letzte Postillon vom Sankt Gotthard by Edmund Heuberger (see related file) sent their script to Rome proposing a collaboration. With no news, the Swiss shot their film in Ticino and in German-speaking Switzerland, unaware that, copying the same story, the Italians shot another version in the Gran Sasso d'Abruzzo region and in the FERT studios in Turin where they rebuilt Airolo or the federal offices in Bern. The story is that of Favre, a brilliant engineer, who wins the competition to build the first railway tunnel of St. Gotthard in 1871. He had to face the hostility of the mountain dwellers and coachmen, who were opposed to the work, as well as a hostile environment. Essentially ignored by all official filmographies, the film, in addition to its artistic merits, is an important testimony to Italy's desire to open up to Europe during the Fascist era. On the credits, Ivo Illuminati appears as the director of the film, when in reality it was directed by Hans Hinrich, a German of Jewish origin who, who due to race laws, could not register his work. Starting from the negative of the time that has been preserved, the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, in collaboration with Cinémathèque suisse, carried out the restoration at the l'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in Bologna.

Frédéric Maire, Director Cinémathèque Suisse