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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.
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Review Summary
This comedic social satire mercilessly lampoons Italy’s ineffectual health-care system that allows for corruption and mass hypochondria. An ambitious Dr. Tersilli (Alberto Sordi) bets his fellow doctors that he can amass more patients and benefits than they can. Learning the ins-and-outs of the system, his office is soon jammed with patients seeking treatment for a variety of real or imagined maladies. The beginning of the film opens with the doctor’s collapse due to exhaustion in his fervent goal to see over 2,000 patients. The remainder of the film flashes back to how the vibrant young physician is turned into a frail patient who must stay at home and dispense advise over the telephone. ~Read More »
Aldo Piscitello, a minor government clerk, is forced in 1934 to join the Fascist party. When the war comes, he finds himself able only to talk ineffectually in secret against Mussolini, even as his own son Giovanni is sent into battle. By the end of the war, Aldo has found the courage to stand up for his beliefs, but by then it is too late.Read More »
In this delightful romantic comedy, four beautiful women attempt to deal with their sexual frustrations in fashionable Rome society.Read More »
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 »
A female school teacher is implicated in a murder in a Sicilian town only hours after her arrival. The dead man insulted her on the bus on the way into town. As the mystery unfolds, it becomes clear that the town is hiding some very sinister secrets.Read More »
Synopsis:
In the thirties, during the Fascist Dictatorship, an insurance broker, Omero Battifiori, reaches a small country town from Rome seeking for new customers. The main authorities, expecting an incognito inspection from the Fascist Party of the capital, suspect him to be the inspector and a very important member of the Party. The misunderstanding leads to a number of equivocals until Omero reveals his identity.Read More »
Agostina is a maid turned prostitute during World War II. She sends all the money she makes to the local priest in her home village for safekeeping. After the war is over, Agostina and her friend plan to open a clothing store so they return to her home island to collect the money from the priest. But after arriving there, Agostina learns in shock that the priest has been dead for more than a year and that his eccentric successor mistook the received money for donations and spent all of it on building a new orphanage for war orphans. To make matters worse, other islanders think that Agostina is now a millionaire and beg her to help them financially.Read More »
Early 1970s. Amedeo is a poor Italian immigrant living in Australia for twenty years. Seeking to marry an Italian wife, he corresponds with Carmela, a pretty girl from Rome. They do not reveal their true identities and do not mention their hardships in their letters. Carmela is actually a prostitute seeking an opportunity to change her life style. Amedeo, embarrassed about his looks, sends a photograph to Carmela of his handsome friend Giuseppe. Finally, Carmela lands in Melbourne. Amedeo meets Carmela at the airport and he is struck by her beauty. Thinking he will be rejected because of his looks, he decides to tell Carmela that he is Giuseppe, and he reserves to tell her the truth at a later moment. This starts a three day eventful journey across Eastern Australia. Carmela will soon become better acquainted with Amedeo and she learns of his hardships as an immigrant. She eventually meets the real Giuseppe, however, she believes that he is her betrothed groom, Amedeo. She quickly learns Giuseppe’s true shady intentions. In fact, she finds herself living in a red light district and then escapes. Amedeo and Carmela finally find true happiness together.Read More »