This Film Breaks Records With the Longest Title Ever

In art and entertainment, short and catchy titles are usually the easiest to remember, but some creators take the opposite approach, giving their work titles so long that they are almost impossible to memorize. These extended titles often become more famous for their length than the work itself, leaving fans to use nicknames or abbreviations just to talk about them.

One of the most famous examples comes from the music world. Fiona Apple’s 1999 album is widely called When the Pawn…, but the full title is actually a poem nearly a hundred words long.

The official name is When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ‘Fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Around, You Must Make a Plan If You Wish to Make a Good Thing Even Better.

Other musicians have also experimented with long titles. Marnie Stern’s 2008 album repeats the word it so many times that it almost becomes a puzzle, and Lana Del Rey has tracks like Grandfather, please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing.

Even Arctic Monkeys contributed with You Probably Couldn’t See for the Lights, but You Were Staring Straight at Me. While musicians have freedom, filmmakers usually stick to shorter titles to fit posters and theater marquees. Italian director Lina Wertmüller broke that rule in 1978 with a film that now holds the Guinness World Record for the longest film title.

Most people know it as Blood Feud or Revenge, but the full Italian title is Un fatto di sangue nel comune di Siculiana fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici. Amore-Morte-Shimmy. Lugano belle. Tarantelle. Tarallucci e vino.

Translated, it describes a bloody event in the town of Siculiana involving two men and a widow, with hints of political motives, love, death, and local culture. Even Wertmüller herself probably used the shortened version, since reciting the full name from memory is a task only for the most dedicated film fans.

Wertmüller was already a trailblazer in cinema long before this record. She made history in 1977 as the first woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Seven Beauties. In 2019, she received an Honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievements, cementing her status as a major influence in film.

Her movie Blood Feud also starred legendary actors like Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, and Giancarlo Giannini. Sophia Loren, now 91, has returned to the spotlight after her acclaimed performance in The Life Ahead. There are rumors she might take on one final project produced by her son, Edoardo Ponti, though no official filming dates have been confirmed for this year.

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