Italy

  • Enzo G. Castellari – Quella sporca storia nel west AKA Johnny Hamlet (1968)

    1961-1970DramaEnzo G. CastellariEuro WesternsItalyWestern

    Back from the Civil War, Johnny Hamilton learns that his father was murdered by Santana the bandit and that his mother Gertrude married his uncle Claude but Johnny is determined to find out the truth.Read More »

  • Dan Wolman – Nana (1983)

    1981-1990Dan WolmanEroticaExploitationItaly

    Synopsis:
    In Zola’s Paris, an ingenue arrives at a tony bordello: she’s Nana, guileless, but quickly learning to use her erotic innocence to get what she wants. She’s an actress for a soft-core filmmaker and soon is the most popular courtesan in Paris, parlaying this into a house, bought for her by a wealthy banker. She tosses him and takes up with her neighbor, a count of impeccable rectitude, and with the count’s impressionable son. The count is soon fetching sticks like a dog and mortgaging his lands to satisfy her whims. She bankrupts him, arranges the debauching of his wife, and seduces his son on his wedding day. What else can she accomplish before she leaves Paris airborne?Read More »

  • Giuseppe M. Gaudino – Giro di lune tra terra e mare AKA Round the Moons Between Earth and Sea (1997)

    Drama1991-2000Giuseppe M. GaudinoItaly

    Plot Synopsis by Bhob Stewart on AllMovie
    Giuseppe M. Gaudino made his directorial debut with this experimental film portrait contrasting the ancient Roman empire with poverty in present-day Naples. The film’s narrator introduces the ancient town of Pozzuloi, home to Nero, his mother Agrippina, the Sibyl of Cumae, and Christian martyr Artema. This historical drama is intertwined with a modern-day story of a poverty-stricken family, forced by earthquakes during the ’70s to move to the country, a devastating blow to the close-knit family. After a 1997 Venice Film Festival screening at 125 minutes, the filmmakers announced their plans to re-edit to a shorter running time. Also known as Moonspins Between Land and Sea.Read More »

  • Luigi Zampa – Processo alla città aka The City Stands Trial (1952)

    1951-1960CrimeDramaItalyLuigi Zampa

    IMDB PLOT
    Turn-of-the-century Naples. Salvatore Ruotolo and his wife are murdered and their bodies are found in different locations. Since the evidence points to a crime by the Neapolitan crime organization, the Camorra, fear and corruption cause serious hindrances to the investigation by police authorities. In charge is a young and courageous judge who, using evidence discovered by chance, tries to reconstruct the story of the double murder. The plot that the judge must unravel is very complicated. Many people are questioned, even those apparently above suspicion. Deciding to get to the bottom of the matter, the judge keeps all the suspects under arrest, causing a backlash of public opinion.Read More »

  • Bernardo Bertolucci – The Dreamers (2003)

    2001-2010ArthouseBernardo BertolucciDramaItalyThe Films of May '68

    Quote:
    Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” is set in Paris in the spring of 1968, a tumultuous time of sexual experimentation and political revolt. The people have taken to the streets, but for attractive, enigmatic twins Isabelle and Theo and their American friend Matthew, the riotous events that will define their lives transpire inside–in the bath tub and on the hard kitchen floor, in bed and beneath the altar of a black and white pin-up of Marilyn Monroe tacked on to Theo’s bedroom wall.
    The story of three young cinephiles and sexual neophytes coming of age in Paris is captivating material. Based on the novel by Gilbert Adair, Bertolucci tells the story through the eyes of the outsider. Matthew (Michael Pitt), first meets the twins at the locked gates of the Cinematheque Français, where Isabelle (Eva Green) strikes the pose of a movie star while Bertolucci adds documentary footage of Jean-Pierre Léaud with a bull-horn and François Truffaut protesting the forced resignation of Henri Langois.Read More »

  • Dino Risi – Teresa (1987)

    1981-1990ComedyDino RisiDramaItaly

    When Teresa’s husband dies she only inherits debts. In order to pay them she must assume her husband’s place as a truck driver.
    She will have to avoid the moves fellow male drivers make on her, for she is still a very attractive woman. While working, she begins a steamy love affair with an experienced driver that helped her with her new job. But the debts are too big and the truck owner demands her to marry him to settle them. Things will settle at the altar, but not in the expected way!Read More »

  • Monte Hellman – Iguana (1988)

    1981-1990AdventureCultItalyMonte Hellman

    Quote:
    Iguana is an allegorical fable of the abuses of power which follows a disfigured and fiercely misanthropic sailor who jumps ship to become the improbable king of a remote barren island. Featuring a haunting score by Joni Mitchell and starring Everett McGill as a man raging against the calcified hierarchies of 19th century society, Iguana has gained the reputation of a cult film maudit for its harrowing depiction of the savagely exacting master-slave society created by the despotic sailor. Among Hellman’s least discussed works, Iguana will be presented in its rarely screened extended director’s cut. – HGRead More »

  • Valerio Zurlini – La ragazza con la valigia AKA Girl with a Suitcase (1961)

    1961-1970DramaItalyRomanceValerio Zurlini

    Quote:
    Lorenzo’s older brother Marcello is a playboy who has broke the heart of a cabaret singer named Aida (Claudia Cardinale). When she shows up one evening at their home Marcello unable to handle his own dirty business sends Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin) out to get rid of her. Lorenzo fails in love Aida the moment he lays he eyes upon her. Feeling guilty about the way his brother treated her he does his best to help her out.Read More »

  • Carmine Gallone – Casta diva (1954)

    1951-1960Carmine GalloneDramaItalyRomance

    Just graduated from the Conservatory of Naples, Vincenzo Bellini meets Maddalena Fumaroli and immediately falls in love with her.
    To make a musical portrait for her, he writes the romanza “Casta Diva”, of which he makes her homage.
    Bellini is the most promising student of the Conservatory, but he only wants to return to Sicily and live with Maddalena. He thus refuses the offer of famous singer Giuditta Pasta to go to Milan with her.
    Maddalena, however, doesn’t want that Vincenzo renounces to fame, and leaves.
    Bellini hence goes to Milan with Giuditta, where he’s successful with the opera “Il Pirata”, and where he meets – and clashes with – Donizetti.
    Maddalena, however, is always in his heart, so he leaves Giuditta and writes a harsh opera, “Norma”, which has no success. Maddalena, upon learning this, takes to Giuditta the romanza “Casta Diva”, which is added to the opera and leads it to success…Read More »

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