Guerra sull’ Adamello is a documentary film on the military operations of the Italian soldiers on the Adamello, shot by Luca Comerio (1878–1940), Italian photographer and film pioneer. At the outbreak of First World War Comerio, who gained reputation in filming the war in Lybia in 1911, was the only civilian to obtain the privilege of filiming the war. After the Italian defeat at Caporetto in 1917, the Film Section of the Italian Army was founded, which for political reasons took the monopoly of the shots. Comerio was excluded as a civilian operator, but became the technical director of the film section. Nevertheless, he filmed the entrance of the cavalry in Trento in 1918 and the moment when the banner flag is raised in the city.
“Comerio prefers large ‘panoramic’ impressive shot from above the mountain, moving in single file or line, draw regular tracks in the snow. Other pictures were taken from shelters and bunkers visible at the top of the frame. Comerio often focuses on some details of the everyday life of these soldiers: an ‘alpino’ carrying a large bottle of wine during the arduous climb, the details of the boot worn by a sentinel (shot 36). While the intertitles suggest that this is a true report, these pictures are more likely beeing shot behind the frontiere and during some exercises, in obedience to the criteria imposed by the censors.” [Sarah E. Pesenti Campagnoni taken from Dagrada, E. Mosconi, S. Paoli, Multiply the Moment. Beltrami, Comerio and Pacchioni between Photography and Cinema, Notebooks Italian Film Archive Foundation, The Beaver, London, 2007, pp. 202–203]