Italy

  • Abel Ferrara – Mary (2005)

    2001-2010Abel FerraraCultDramaItaly

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    synopsis

    Bad Lieutenant director Abel Ferrara takes the helm of this allegorical drama concerning an actress locked in the throes of a profound spiritual crisis, and the affect that it has on both the director of her latest film and a New York journalist. Marie Palesi (Juliette Binoche) is a major European screen star who has just finished shooting her latest film, a revisionist religious drama directed by maverick American film director Tony Childress (Matthew Modine). In the film, Palesi portrayed the character of Mary Magdalene not as a common prostitute, but a full-fledged disciple whose power struggle with Peter set the stage for centuries of controversy. But the role has had a greater impact on Palesi than anyone could have foreseen, and after the shoot wraps, she makes the decision to remain in the Middle East and make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A year later, New York investigative journalist Ted Younger (Forest Whitaker) is producing a week-long network series examining the historical facts about Jesus Christ. After attending a screening for Childress’ film, Younger contacts the director about the possibility of interviewing both himself and Palesi for the project. Unfortunately for Younger, Palesi has disappeared and Younger has no idea how to track her down. But while married journalist Younger is currently having an affair with an actress (Marion Cotillard) who just happens to know Palesi’s number in Jerusalem, convincing the elusive starlet to appear on his special will pose a whole new set of challenges. by Jason BuchananRead More »

  • Carmelo Bene – Nostra signora dei turchi AKA Our Lady of the Turks (1968)

    1961-1970Amos Vogel: Film as a Subversive ArtCarmelo BeneCultExperimentalItaly

    Synopsis:
    A man (Carmelo Bene) can not bear to be part of society. He considers himself a “jerk” and so invents its own philosophy, which involves the destruction of his land of Puglia where all citizens are devoted to the Catholic religion. However, the man can not destroy the belief of the pilgrims of Salento, because a woman would prevent that. It is an unknown “Santa Margherita”, which tries to divert man from his weird and impossible philosophy. Successive scenes of the film show various situations unreal and dream in which the two protagonists try to obtain the best one on the other. After a blasphemous dialogue between monks, the man includes his whole philosophy in a Moorish building. In fact, this seems to have been the scene of the massacre of the famous 800 Martyrs of Otranto, which are considered by the scetic man the absolute death of Christianity.Read More »

  • Carmelo Bene – Salome (1972)

    1971-1980ArthouseCarmelo BeneExperimentalItaly

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    This experimental film by the maverick Italian director Carmelo Bene is a free adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome and is even more irreverent than the original. In this film, Bene carries the New Testament story beyond the incident with Herod, and pictures Christ nailing himself to the cross, unable (of course) to finish the task. This film uses many musical and filmic special effects and includes at least one pornographic sequence and a number of sadistic ones. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie GuideRead More »

  • Dario Argento – Suspiria + 25th Anniversary Documentary (1977)

    1971-1980CultDario ArgentoHorrorItaly

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    PLOT SUMMARY:
    A young American dancer travels to Europe to join a famous ballet school. As she arrives, the camera turns to another young woman, who appears to be fleeing from the school. She returns to her apartment where she is gruesomely murdered by a hideous creature. Meanwhile, the young American is trying to settle in at the ballet school, but hears strange noises and is troubled by bizarre occurrences. She eventually discovers that the school is merely a front for a much more sinister organization.
    source = IMDB
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  • Matteo Garrone – Reality (2012)

    2011-2020DramaItalyMatteo Garrone

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Luciano is a charming fishmonger whose unexpected and sudden obsession with being a contestant on a reality show leads him down a rabbit hole of skewed perceptions and paranoia.Read More »

  • Davide Manuli – Girotondo, giro intorno al mondo (1998)

    1991-2000ArthouseDavide ManuliExperimentalItaly

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Quote:
    Angelo is an orphan who grew up with a nomad woman. He reacts to his pain over the death of his best friend for overdose, thanks to the encounter with Serena. She survives being a prostitute, but she has not lost hope. Angelo moves along an axis of characters in a desolate and poetic day without end.Read More »

  • Antonio Margheriti – Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983)

    1981-1990AdventureAntonio MargheritiItalySci-Fi

    Plot Synopsis: Yor, an extremely blond prehistoric warrior, comes to question his origins, particularly with regard to a mysterious medallion he wears. When he learns of a desert goddess who supposedly wears the same medallion, Yor decides that he must find her and learn his true identity. Along the way, he encounters ape-men, dinosaurs, and a strange futuristic society.Read More »

  • Paul Morrissey – Dracula cerca sangue di vergine… e morì di sete!!! AKA Blood for Dracula [+Extras] (1974)

    1971-1980CultHorrorItalyPaul Morrissey

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Plot Synopsis by Cavett Binion

    The second of two horror films shot in a single production term and bearing the name of pop-art icon Andy Warhol (whose participation pretty much ended with the use of his name), this film is slightly superior to its higher-profile predecessor, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein. Direction is credited to Warhol factory filmmaker Paul Morrissey, though there still exists a very vocal camp who insist that the real credit should go to Italian director Antonio Margheriti. Euro-horror leading man Udo Kier assays the title role, playing the count as a pale, anemic-looking blood junkie with an overwrought accent. Finding the supply of “weer-gin” blood diminishing rapidly in Romania, Dracula is forced to seek a fix in a predominantly Catholic Italian province, where he is certain a few virgins still exist. He travels with his assistant (Arno Juerging) and his coffin-sealed sister to the decrepit, crumbling mansion of the financially-strapped Marquis DiFore (a tour-de-force performance from Bicycle Thief director Vittorio de Sica) who welcomes the affluent Count with open arms, hoping to marry off any one of his four daughters. Dracula clearly has other intentions for the girls… but his plans are rudely thwarted by beefy, socialist handyman Mario (Joe Dallesandro), who has been dutifully divesting the young maidens of their — ahem — virtue, thus tainting their blood and making it unsafe for vampiric consumption. Very unsafe, it turns out — as we are treated to protracted scenes of the death-pale Count vomiting up gallons of blood. Rated “X” at the time of its release (and subsequently re-rated “R” ten years later), this outrageous catalogue of depravity features wildly campy performances, inane dialogue and an outrageous climax.Read More »

  • Nando Cicero – Il gatto mammone (1975)

    1971-1980ComedyItalyNando Cicero

    29f7c043f76a2bde437fd0d52a185152

    Imdb:
    Typical Italian comedy from the 70’s, 17 February 2005
    7/10
    Author: garypayton20 from Italy

    A classic Italian comedy from the 70s, when the sexuality was getting more explicit and usually mixed with funny misunderstandings. It’s the story of a man (Lando Buzzanca) whose wife cannot get pregnant, so they decide to “adopt” a mother girl and to ask her to help them…you can imagine how. It’s a funny comedy overall, not better and not worst from the Italian comedies of the time, whose cultural and social contents typical from the 50s-60s were replaced by explicit (and sometimes unappropriated ) sexuality. What i can tell you is, it’s 4.44 am here in Italy, i am watching this movie in the TV. If you ever find yourself in my situation, without sleep and without nothing to read, watch this movie….it’s OK for a night like this.Read More »

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