The Toronto Silent Film Festival originally published this piece in their 2020 program book. Due to the pandemic, their screening of FILIBUS (1915) was delayed until this month, March 2022.
Who is Filibus? asks an advertisement for this steampunkish crime caper. For characters in the film, the mystery of the air pirate’s identity propels the action. Questions about Filibus’s identity continue to fascinate modern film scholars, who analyze the character’s portrayal in terms of gender and sexuality. Even the identity of Filibus’s portrayer should not have been assumed as settled. It was ultimately discovered thanks to one diligent and sharp-eyed intern.
We meet Filibus in the guise of respectable aristocrat Baroness Troixmond, whose surname means “three worlds” in non-standard French. Hindu cosmology describes three worlds: heaven, earth, and the underworld. The last is populated by beautiful demon maidens. Filibus moves among three distinct realms that mirror these worlds. A denizen of the criminal underworld, she flies through the heavens in her dirigible to earthly destinations to commit her transgressions.
Filibus appears in three personas. As proper Baroness Troixmond, she presents herself as ornately feminine. Wearing hats adorned with bold feathers, she retains her link her to the skies. As Filibus, her wardrobe is functionally minimalist for a stealthy air pirate. Her hair hidden under a newsboy cap, she strides about her airship in jacket and slacks. As Count de la Brive, she’s a male dandy, romancing her nemesis’s sister Léonora.
Which of these personas is the true Filibus, or are they all facets of one personality reveling in her onscreen liberty to be and do whatever she wants? Offscreen, society was changing as people reconsidered mores, experimented with fashion, and discussed the role of the “New Woman”. According to cultural critic Elizabeth Carolyn Miller, the “New Woman Criminal” represents “not the new circumscriptions of modern society, but its new freedoms”.
The character Detective Kutt-Hendy represents the old order. With addition of an umlaut, Kütt means hunter in Estonian. Hendy originates in Middle English and means courteous or gentle. The translation of his name as “gentleman hunter” seems apt. A force for good and for propriety, he seeks to restore order by catching and unmasking the wily, elusive Filibus. Kutt-Hendy, believing he is trailing a man, does not know the full extent to which his quarry is disrupting the established order.
Filibus concocts a prankish plan to undo her pursuer, and the audience cannot help but root for the bandit thanks to Valeria Creti’s charming performance. For too long Creti lost credit for her role. Respected film historians like Vittorio Martinelli had misidentified Cristina Ruspoli as the lead actress.
When Milestone Films was preparing to release FILIBUS, intern David Emery was asked to research the movie. He discovered through careful examination of MOVING PICTURE NEWS and the film THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (1913) that Ruspoli did not take to the cinematic skies as Filibus. He recognized her as Léonora’s portrayer! He spotted Creti, the actual lead, playing a bit part in SIGNORI GIURATO (1916).
Viewers today can enjoy a dual restoration: the beautiful print released by Milestone and proper credit to Valeria Creti for her charismatic performance.
Source:
Milestone Film & Video, 2019. Filibus Press Kit. [online] Available at: <https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0150/7896/files/Filibus_Press_Kit_8888a58b-4bd7-4c55-b200-c5c1709a6944.pdf?v=1620316106> [Accessed 12 December 2019].
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