Italy

Synopsis:
Six of seven tourists in a east European castle overnight are victims of a helper of the devil. Is Satan willing to spare their souls?Read More »

VITTORIO COTTAFAVI
pubblicato su “Alias” – Il manifesto del 26 maggio 2007
Lorenzo Esposito e Donatello Fumarola

Vittorio Cottafavi – La conquista dell’immagine (televisiva)

Quando, fra il 1981 e il 1985, Vittorio Cottafavi firma i suoi due ultimi film prodotti dalla Rai, Maria Zef e Il diavolo sulle colline, la televisione è già lo specchio di un mondo in frantumi. La riduzione di spazi di pensiero, parallela all’occupazione dello spazio-tempo da parte dell’ideologia dell’inserzione, riguarda da vicino la rabbia e il dolore di queste immagini ultime. Immagini perfette, che dell’esperienza cine-televisiva, forniscono la lezione magistrale attraverso il racconto profetico della fine della civiltà contadina (Maria Zef), e si innestano nel punto nevralgico della crisi – come dimostrano i nostri giorni, mai rientrata del tutto – politica, economica e sociale italiana (la Torino del 1937 raccontata da Pavese ne Il diavolo sulle colline). Read More »

PLOT & Review:
Benvenuto Cellini (1500-71) knows no obstacles (or scruples) when he has to create a work of art or win the heart (and the rest) of a woman.
R. Freda does a genuinely popular cinema, practicing many genres, from drama to horror. Faced with a film of adventure, as here, he can be concise and engaging.
(Morandini)Read More »

Synopsis:
‘A historian is called to a creepy old castle to help a strange old widow catalogue her erotic antiquities. He then meets her dark, seductive daughter and finds he is falling under her erotic spell. Incapable of forcing himself to leave, he spirals helplessly into their strange supernatural world.’Read More »

Imdb User Review
To begin with, as I pointed out in my review for Jancso”s earlier ‘epic’ – the made-for-TV TECHNIQUE AND RITE (1971) – much of what constituted its pros and cons, from the heavy-going speechifying to the striking imagery, applies to this one as well. Nevertheless, it emerges to be somewhat more engaging – or, if you like, tolerable than that earlier effort; incidentally, while some sources give the film’s running-time as 100 minutes, the print I watched on Italian TV lasted for merely 78! Even so, we’re still treated to the random intimidation of several characters (shades also of Jancso”s masterpiece THE ROUND-UP [1965])…not to mention the baffling re-emergence of ones who had only moments before been shown expiring!Read More »

Synopsis
The languid account of a disaster happening in slow motion. The film charts the bleak daily life of a village in Calabria, which once had a population of some fifteen thousand but is now down to a mere handful. An impassive old man and a retarded girl seem to be simply waiting for time to eat away their lives. They are only occasionally and fleetingly roused from their deep apathy by strange objects and sordid encounters. Read More »

Quote:
This short is nothing short of mesmerizing! Reggio outdoes his “Koyaanisqatsi” and “Powaqqatsi” in this tribute to the wonders of the animal kingdom. The camera lingers, treks, enfolds and personifies these creatures in startlingly intimate detail, all the while accompanied by (yet another) haunting score by Philip GlassRead More »

Sinossi:
Un’inchiesta sull’amore tramite delle interviste a una donna, un ragazzo, un transessuale, una prostituta e un travestito. Domande sull’amore, la tenerezza e la sensualità.Read More »

Amazon user review: I’m no special fan of things past, rather proposing that each age has its special conductors, singers, orchestras and that idolising per se performances of 30, 50 or more years ago may turn you away from your own surroundings and set you to unnecessarily living in a past that will not return, leading you to ignore very important events going on in your surroundings. There are exceptions, of course, and one of them is this 45 year old film (yes, film, not video tape and there lies its main problem, read below).Read More »