#italian golden age

[the-evil-clergyman]

Fairies by Ezio Anichini (1911)

[cleopatragirlie]

❀ 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧 ❀

[vintage-queens2]

Sophia Loren

[illustratus]

Monica Vitti in On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (La cintura di castità)

[a-perfect-parisian-day]

Sophia Loren

[old-movie-stars]

Happy 90th birthday to the legendary Sophia Loren

[vintage-old-hollywood]

Virna Lisi

[love-pinups]

Sophia Loren looking like a goddess!

[tragediambulante]

The golden and silver ages (details), Pietro da Cortona, 1637-41

[blackflash9]

Disclaimer: I'm open to be wrong, but these are just concerns I have. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wouldn't say I hate AC Shadows for using Feudal Japan as its setting. It's an interesting period, and I've enjoyed several works set in that era. However, when it comes to Assassin's Creed, I don't exactly feel captivated by it. Despite its popularity within the community, the premise of Feudal Japan as a historical backdrop doesn't compel me.

Part of what makes the Crusades, the Italian Renaissance, the American Revolution, and the Golden Age of Piracy in past entries so engaging in the Assassin's Creed series was their inherently subversive nature. These periods were characterized by profound social, political, and ideological upheaval, which aligned perfectly with the series' themes of conspiracy and the notion that history is not always what it seems. During the Crusades, the player, like Altair, discovers that the Templars' true motives are far more complex and sinister than initially believed. The Italian Renaissance, with its flourishing art and culture, simultaneously harbors dark undercurrents of power struggles and hidden agendas, mirroring Ezio's journey of uncovering the truth behind his enemies' masks. The American Revolution, a time heralded as a fight for freedom, is revealed to be rife with manipulation and conflicting interests, challenging the player's perception of the Patriots' cause alongside Connor's own discoveries. These settings are rich with deception and multifaceted characters whose motivations often blur the lines between good and evil. They embody the series' core appeal: that history is a tapestry of hidden truths and subversive narratives. Each of these eras highlights how the Templars' and Assassins' conflict transcends simple good versus evil, encouraging players to question their assumptions about historical events and figures.

In contrast, while Feudal Japan is undoubtedly intriguing and has its own layers of complexity, it doesn't evoke the same immediate sense of clever subversion and hidden truths that the other settings did for me. The cultural and historical nuances of Feudal Japan might be rich and captivating, but they don't seem to resonate with the overarching themes of the Assassin's Creed series as strongly as the previous settings had. In the past, I've also detailed why recent entries just don't care to be authentic about the history it is set in, and I'm hoping that similar occurrences don't transpire within Shadows.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

A young Eddie!!!

I have never seen this photo before and... once I found it I asked permission to post it (because it was autographed) from a nice Irish gentleman who founded a blog on all the actors and their autographs.

So, thanks a lot to Liam Bluett and many greetings from Italy!!

[the-evil-clergyman]

Cover of Scena Illustrata Magazine by Ezio Anichini (Feb. 1916)

[cleopatragirlie]

❀ 𝐒𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐇. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞 (𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟕) ❀

[twixnmix]

Gina Lollobrigida sitting by the pool during her stay at the Beverly Hills hotel in Los Angeles on May 10, 1959.

[illustratus]

Italian Landscape with a Draughtsman (detail) by Jan Dirksz Both

[a-perfect-parisian-day]

Claudia Cardinale