The Mandrake Root
Directed by Malachi BogdanovThe Mandrake Root is originally set in Florence, Italy in 1504. The film relocates the action to Sassari in Sardinia in a similar period. The action takes place in the span of 24 hours and the comedy's main theme is the use of fraud, as none of the characters' objectives could be accomplished without it. Machiavelli makes it clear that fraud is acceptable, so long as it furthers a worthwhile cause and the plot revolves around which character is shrewder than the next.
