On March 16, 1978, the Red Brigades kidnapped the head of Christian Democracy, the party in power in Italy since the end of the war. Fifty-five days later, his corpse was found in the trunk of a red Renault. Moro was not only the victim of the Brigades but also of the struggle for power between the Italian parties.Read More »
A sensitive, well-observed film, beautifully lensed and acted… ~ Deborah Young, Variety
Pietro Di Leo, security officer of a department store in Milan, where the girl he is dating also works as a make-up artist, is separated from his wife and with a son that he only sees on weekends. He is a very dissatisfied man, whose psychosomatic suffering (loss of nose bleeds, outbursts of anger, visions) reveals a situation of profound discomfort. One day, however, he meets Pabe, a young Roma who has to get rid of the warehouse and who will then let go when she is caught stealing a perfume. At first intrigued, but then increasingly fascinated, Pietro decides to help her…Read More »
Originally titled Pane, Amore, e Fantasia when released in Italy, Bread, Love and Dreams contains what some regard as Gina Lollobrigida’s best and most naturalistic performance. The film’s popularity resulted in two sequels, both with Lollobrigida: Pane, Amore e Gelosia (US title: Frisky) and the open-ended Pane, Amore e… (released in the states as Scandal in Sorrento). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »
Papà is a more comedic film where Giorgetta (Menichelli) is caught between a father and son, and more broadly, two ways of life: the Count di Larzac, Parisian man of leisure, and his rustic son Giovanni, who has been living in the same rural village as Giorgetta. This film is an adaptation of a 1911 three-act stage comedy by Robert de Flers and Gaston Arman de Caillavet, also called Papa.Read More »
Synopsis:
Director Francesco Carrozzini creates an intimate portrait of his mother, Franca Sozzani, the legendary editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue. From the ridiculous to the sublime, her astonishing but often controversial magazine covers have not only broken the rules but have set the high bar for fashion, art and commerce over the past 25 years. From the legendary “Black Issue” and the “Plastic Surgery issue” Sozzani remains deeply committed to exploring subject matter off limits to most in order to shake up the status quo and occasionally redefine the concept of beauty. With interviews from Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber, Baz Luhrmann, Courtney Love and many others, Carrozzini gives us a behind the scenes glimpse into his mother’s creative process as well as peek into her vulnerabilities both past and present. Deeply insightful and often emotional this film is like a love letter from a son to his mother.Read More »
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Another fine Italian neo-realist drama. Focussing on post-war poverty and the struggle for housing, this film has all the key elements: characters living in makeshift houses, lots of dirty infants, upheaval and total disinterest from the beaurocratic machine. Anna Magnani puts in a superb performance as the distraught, struggling and feisty mother, determined to make a better life for herself and those around her.
RosethornRead More »
Nino, a regular working-class guy, finds that a hitman has been hired to kill him. He discovers that a wealthy woman has been kidnapped and that everyone who was involved in it is being killed off. However, Nino had nothing to do with the kidnapping and has to find out who has sent the killers and stop them before it’s too late.Read More »
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An inspired, award-winning story about the power of love and the human spirit, Life Is Beautiful has been called a modern masterpiece! Guido – a charming but bumbling waiter who’s gifted with a colourful imagination and an irresistible sense of humour – has won the heart of the woman he loves and created a beautiful life for his young family. But then, that life is threatened by World War II…and Guido must rely on those very same strengths to save his beloved wife and son from an unthinkable fate. Honoured with an overwhelming level of critical acclaim, this truly exceptional, utterly unique motion picture will lift your spirits and capture your heart.Read More »
Giorgio Pellegrini, a former left-wing activist turned terrorist has fled to Central America and fought with a guerrilla movement. Fifteen years later he is fed up with living in the jungle and decides to return to Italy. What he wants is to lead a comfortable bourgeois life in his native country. Thanks to Anedda, a corrupt police inspector, and after giving away former comrades, he obtains a reduced jail sentence. Once released from prison he obsessively pursues his dream of becoming a “respectable” citizen, even if the way to it is paved with larceny, pimping, drug-dealing, rape, heist and murder…Read More »