Monica Vitti

Teresa Numa in Nardecchia, motherless daughter of a heartless Lazio peasant, becomes a war widow and single mother constantly looking for new jobs–and often forced to steal in order to live.Read More »

The knight Guerrando is forced to leave for the Crusades before he’s had time to consummate his marriage with the beautiful Boccadoro. According to the custom of the period, Guerrando applies the chastity belt to the bride.Read More »

Pietro is a bourgeois young lawyer who married Giuliana, a pretty but slightly unbalanced girl he met at a party full of artists. Despite the premises, everything between the two seems to work best.Read More »

Professor Marrot obtains the secret documents containing evidence of the illegal weapon transactions between the French government, in the face of its high official Leroi, and two African countries. Before making the public statement, Marrot finds himself under surveillance. In the critical circumstances his Italian friend and partner Angela takes action and the game continues.Read More »

A young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man’s materialistic nature.Read More »

Frederic, a student, gets himself invited by a Swedish family, living in an isolated castle. The scene takes place in cold winter, the castle being surrounded by snow. Frederic slowly depicts one after another, each member of that strange family: Hugo, the castle’s master, 40 years old, married to Eleanore whom Frederic begins to be attracted to; Sebastien, Eleanore’s incestuous and dandy brother; Agathe, Hugo’s old fashioned sister; and Ophelie… Who is Ophelie actually? That is one among several mysteries that Frederic will try to solve out. Who is manipulating whom? Frederic’s rising love of Eleanore and the truth about the gorgeous Ophelie will lead to unpredictable consequences.Read More »

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This ground-breaking film won a Special Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and established its director, Michelangelo Antonioni, as a major international talent. The plot concerns a yachting trip by a small group of jaded socialites, including Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), an aging architect who sold out for easy money long ago, his mistress Anna (Lea Massari), and her friend Claudia (Monica Vitti), who doesn’t fit in with the wealthy jet-setters’ dissolute ethics. When Anna disappears during a tour of a volcanic island, Claudia initially blames Sandro’s emotionally barren behavior toward her. As they search the island, however, Claudia and Sandro grow closer and — when it is apparent that Anna is gone forever — become lovers. Unfortunately, Sandro cannot find anything decent inside himself and betrays Claudia with a local prostitute. Caught in the act, Sandro has a heartrending breakdown on a desolate beach, but Claudia silently forgives him. L’avventura caught many audiences who were expecting a mystery by surprise; as in La notte (1961), The Eclipse (1962), and Red Desert (1964), Antonioni is interested less in developing a logical story than in exploring states of feeling and breakdowns in human connection.Read More »

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The Four Queenly Virtues are Constancy, Fidelity, Chastity and Honor.

Four unrelated short comedies by four different directors. “Queen Sabina”chronicles the sexual misadventures of a teenage girl on the road home. “Queen Armenia” centers on a self-serving opportunistic gypsy babysitter who uses her employer’s kids for her own gain. The third episode, “Queen Elena” centers on a husband who learns a lesson about the perils of infidelity after he succumbs to the wiles of the seductive wife next door. The last vignette, “Queen Marta” centers on a wealthy woman who, when drunk, uses her butler as an outlet for her lust.Read More »

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An old castle in Sweden inhabited by a family of 18th-century-costumed eccentrics holds secrets, deception, and rumors of murder.Read More »