At the end of the XIX century in Russia, Prince Dimitri Necklivdov is called as a jury-man in a trial. The defendant is Katiuscia Maslova, accused of murdering a merchant in order to rob him. Dimitri recognizes Katiuscia: she was the girl he seduced many years before. Dimitri decides to save her.(imdb)Read More »
Vittorio Taviani
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Paolo and Vittorio Taviani – Resurrezione aka Résurrection [Italian audio] (2001)
Paolo Taviani2001-2010DramaItalyVittorio Taviani -
Valentino Orsini & Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani – Un uomo da bruciare (1962)
Valentino Orsini1961-1970DramaItalyPaolo TavianiPoliticsVittorio TavianiSalvatore (Gian Maria Volonte) lives in a rural environment on the island, and when he becomes fed up with Mafia tactics, he swings into action. First he convinces the farmers and workers that they can band together, and then he convinces them to go on strike against their exploitative employers. The results bring tragedy in their wake, but the beginnings of a unified stance against the mobsters takes hold.Read More »
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Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani – Le Affinità elettive AKA The Elective Affinities (1996)
1991-2000ArthouseDramaItalyPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiSynopsis
The Tavianis’ adaptation of Goethe’s novel may seem strangely restrained compared to their other fables, but it’s still a work of exquisite elegance and precision. Set in Tuscany during the Napoleonic era, it charts the forces of attraction and repulsion that shape the complex relationships between a happily married baron and his wife (Anglade, Huppert), the baron’s architect friend (Bentivoglio) and the wife’s goddaughter (Gillain). If the story itself (engrossing enough) never seems very much more than an unusually formal period romance, the immaculate performances and the Tavianis’ masterly control of colour, composition and music (a poignant but unexpectedly modernist score from Carlo Crivelli) make for absorbing viewing.Read More » -
Paolo Taviani & Vittorio Taviani – La Masseria Delle Allodole AKA The Lark Farm (2007)
2001-2010DramaItalyPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiWarAs adapted from the roman by Antonia Arslan and co-directed by legendary Italian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, The Lark Farm marks one of the few international features to tackle the Armenian genocide head-on. The story (with its thematic parallels, in the early scenes, to De Sica’s 1970 Garden of the Finzi-Continis) concerns the Avakian clan. An Armenian family living an affluent lifestyle and periodically shuttling back and forth between their two comfortable homes, the Avakians feel convinced that the rising tide of Turkish hostility on the horizon means little to them and will scarcely affect their day to day. Read More »