Italy

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Milan Calibre 9 (made in 1971 and released the following year) is the first chapter of the famous “Milieu Trilogy”, continued with Manhunt (La mala ordina) and ending with The Boss (Il boss) in which Fernando di Leo explores the different aspects of the world of organized crime. The title of the film is taken from a story by Giorgio Scerbanenco which is part of the book I Centodelitti. This Russian writer also inspired certain parts of scripts ( Stazione centrale ammazzare subitofor the bomb package, Vietato essere felici and La vendetta è il miglior perdono for certain characteristics belonging to the main character, Ugo Piazza). But basically, di Leo created this film independently, using the noir genre as a vehicle for his own sociological, anthropological and also philosophical ideas about the world of crime.Read More »

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“First, some back­ground information on the making of the film. Celati had spoken for some time about his wish to make what he called a “pseudo-documentary.” That is, the “realism” of the documentary would be maintained in terms of overall structure and style, but the film would be constructed according to a highly self-conscious artistic vision. In a recent interview, Celati was asked what aspects of the documentary interest him the most, and he responded: “Non credo molto ai documentari, perché l’idea che le immagini ti mostrino davvero come è fatta la realtà appar­tiene a un modo di pensare che non è il mio. A me sembra che i documentari siano racconti come tutti gli altri. Però mi piace poco anche l’idea di ‘fiction’ in cui il cinema è irrimediabilmente incastrato” (“Il sentimento dello spazio” 25-26). Clearly, the mixing of “real” documentary and “fictional” art film forms acts on both, blurring the boundaries between life and art, internal and external.Read More »

Quote:
In Liliana Cavani’s scintillating drama, a concentration camp survivor (Charlotte Rampling) discovers her ex-torturer/lover (Dirk Bogarde) working as a night porter at a hotel in postwar Vienna. When the couple attempt to re-create their sadomasochistic relationship, his former SS comrades begin to stalk them. Operatic and disturbing, The Night Porter deftly examines the cruelty and decadence of Nazi culture.Read More »

Plot:
The internationally produced Zorro is set in South America instead of the California locales of the series.
Alain Delon stars as the newly appointed governor who immediately butts heads with corrupt Colonel Huerta. To rescue the peasants from Huerta’s despotry, the governor becomes the caped-and-masked do-gooder Zorro.
The film never really takes itself seriously, not even during the final, well-staged duel between Zorro and Huerta. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideRead More »

Brief synopsis:
When people from all walks of life are invited to a special screening in an isolated movie theatre they are soon involved in a real life horror movie. In an orgy of bloodshed, violence and madness no one can escape their walled in nightmare. Stylish, gory, bleakly funny and reminiscent of George A. Romero’s films, Demoni is a hugely entertaining horror movie.Read More »

Plot / Synopsis

Following a mysterious decapitation (via mechanical digger) of an insurance investigator, Police Inspector Peretti is put onto the case. Slowly more people are found dead… a man supposedly commits suicide, a women is strangled, another attacked in her flat… but all the clues lead to an unsolved case of kidnapping and murder. Can Peretti find the murderer, if his major clue is a little girls drawing???Read More »

Tito Valerio Tauro is sent by the emperor Tiberius in Galilee to investigate the disappearance of the body of Jesus. Tito thinks quickly attend to his duties and return to Rome, but meets Claudia Procula, Pilate’s wife, fascinated by the personality of Jesus, who reveals that Mary Magdalene was a witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Tito became convinced that Jesus is still alive and that is in place and a conspiracy to hide it, pretending to be Christian, begins to search for Mary Magdalene.Read More »

Synopsis:
Set in 1854 in the Sicilian town of Catania, the story follows beautiful young Maria who is freed from a convent when the town is evacuated after 12 years of forced seclusion by her evil stepmother. She finds love in the form of Nino, a family friend, but eventually she must return to the convent…Read More »

Emma and Antonio, married with two children, have been separated for nearly a year. Antonio is living alone in the house where he used to live with his wife, while Emma has gone back to her mother, taking the children with her. Then, one night, a flying squad is called to the palazzo and the police burst into the apartment where gunshots have been heard. In a rapid succession of events, Un giorno perfetto describes the twenty-four hours before this moment, the simple but “unique” life of a group of people who are shadowed every step they take. Camilla turns seven, her brother Aris is sitting an exam at university, Emma loses her job in a call-center, her daughter Valentina meets a boy she likes, the honorable Elio Fioravanti is doing the round of election rallies, Maja, his beautiful wife finds out she is pregnant, young Kevin is invited to an extravagant party, the teacher, Mara, is meeting her lover and Antonio sees his wife for the last time. The stories interweave on the great stage of a frenetic, disquieting Rome that seems to be heading towards tragedy, although the slightest gesture, just one word, would be enough to change the path of destiny. Un giorno perfetto describes a passionate love, separating and uniting Emma and Antonio – with irony, emotion and compassion. It portrays worlds diverse and distant, that then meet, as if in an unrelenting thriller.Read More »