Marina Vlady

To the priest in a small Italian town, the Splendor cinema (now sold for redevelopment) is a ‘dark grotto of sin’; to owner Jordan (Mastroianni), it’s a shrine. But writer/director Scola is more concerned with the grey areas between such views: the patrons who desert cinema in droves when TV offers cheap, undemanding entertainment. Using flashback and clips, he conveys something of the medium’s superiority over the box, at the same time beautifully unravelling a tale of life-long devotion and hard graft from Jordan, his long-term lover/usherette (Vlady), and the projectionist (Troisi). Their temperamental relationships over two decades are conveyed with great affection by the accomplished cast; and the film is full of wonderful moments – such as the homage to Capra at the climax – which manage to be both magical and unsentimental.Read More »

The tranquility of a Romanian town is upset by the arrival of a beautiful stranger coinciding with the discovery of a new star by a modest astronomy professor.Read More »

In a port area of France, clashes between a gang of young delinquents and a tribe of gypsies. From the initial peccadillo to the final drama, each action leads to a more violent reaction of vengeance, each treated with the excess and cruelty that he himself displayed.Read More »

La ragazza in vetrina was supposed to be a turning point in Emmer’s cinema but it went on to become a cursed film. In accordance with the evolution of Italian cinema, the director chose a story by Rodolfo Sonego which combines a tough theme, Italian migrants working in Dutch and Belgian mines (the tragedy in Marcinelle, near Charleroi, which left 262 dead, half of which were Italian, took place only four years earlier), with a raunchy one, about the red light district in Amsterdam. It combines his love of wandering and the sketch with a harsh new gaze, bolstered by the black-and-white cinematography of Otello Martelli, fresh from La dolce vita. The first half-hour of the film depicts the difficult lives of the miners; then it concentrates on two characters, one timid, the other self-confident, but both lonely and unhappy, as they meet two prostitutes. Read More »

The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world, and the most alluring. As soon as Vincent sets eyes on this remarkable work of art he knows that he must possess it, which is not so unlikely as it seems because he is the most accomplished burglar in the world. Stealing valuable paintings is something that Vincent specialises in, so walking off with Da Vinci’s portrait of the woman with the inscrutable smile ought to be a doddle. First he needs a pretext for his frequent visits to the Louvre Museum, and this he obtains by getting himself taken on as an assistant to the picture framer Monsieur Lemercier. He also takes the trouble to strike up a friendly rapport with the man whose job it is to guard the coveted painting. How providential that, like Vincent, he should have a keen interest in chess.Read More »

Synopsis:
‘In England during the Second World War, a German spy is pursued by the British secret service in a bid to prevent him from returning to France with a valuable microfilm. In a mountain chalet, two spies, one male, the other female, meet, neither knowing the identity of the other. Not knowing which side the other is on, they are powerfully drawn to one another…’
– James TraversRead More »

Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Robert Hossein was writer, director and star of the suspense melodrama Toi le Venin. Picked up by a beautiful motorist, jobless hitchhiker Pierre (Hossein) is subsequently romanced by the girl. Immediately thereafter, however, she dumps him, attempting to run him over as a final insult. Memorizing her license number, Pierre pursues the enigmatic motorist. Arriving at her home, Pierre is met by two young ladies (Marina Vlady and Odelle Versois), either one of whom might be the woman he’s looking for. The rest of the film concerns Pierre’s efforts to figure out which of his two hostesses intends to do him further harm.Read More »

Roger is a 16-year-old who seeks to lose his virginity in this softcore erotic drama. His initial efforts are unsuccessful, but World War I breaks out and men are seen marching off to battle. Roger goes overboard when he is presented with several amorous opportunities.Read More »

PLOT SYNOPSIS:
A romantic drama partially set in Amsterdam, this standard tale starts out in a mining area in Holland where conditions are about as rough as they get. Two of the miners, Italians Federico (Lino Ventura) and Vincenzo (Bernard Fresson) take off together for the city’s red-light district, where the women pose in windows for prospective customers. There the duo meet Else (Marina Vlady) and Carrel (Magali Noel) who are willing to leave their windows to spend a weekend at a resort with the two men. Soon Else has fallen in love with Vincenzo and the future of the two hookers, as well as the miners, seems to look brighter.
(Allmovie)Read More »