Carlo delle Piane Movies

This gentle Italian children's drama is set in 1943 and tells the true tale of Mathilde, a 13-year-old girl who meets Italy's King just before the US Army invaded Rome. During that fateful summer Mathilde and Beatrice, her mother, head out to the country estate of her grandfather, the Count. Though Mathilde's father, a sailor, died many years before, she has never fully accepted this and hopes he will come back. The Count's home is a flurry of activity as the whole house prepares for the wedding of Maria, a very pregnant maid, and Tonio; unfortunately, the wedding is abruptly canceled when Italy's royal leaders and what's left of the government show up. All of them are fleeing the country, abandoning their own people, before the Germans take over completely. To protect the servants, the Count has them all locked in the attic, forcing Mathilde and Beatrice to act as hostesses. Beatrice finds renewed love with one of the entourage, the handsome Major Ferri, the man who could be Mathilde's real father. Mathilde doesn't know this and the thought of this man with her mother is torture. Later, she speaks with the cowardly King who proves to be more of a tragic figure than one worthy of contempt. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It's pretty clear that the people who are attending the tenants' management meeting for the low income housing unit they live in are there unwillingly. They don't care about much except their own lives -- certainly not maintaining their building. When a new tenant, Carlo Delle Piane, arrives at the meeting dressed in a suit and looking like a kind of boss, the tenants' association immediately appoints him as the apartment administrator. To their astonishment, he takes his responsibilities seriously, and at least a little in their lives begins to improve. Vignettes in the lives of the tenants flesh out this dark comedy, as some experience hardship and suffering, and others gain reason for a bit of hope. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The relationships between five men who play cards far into the night on Christmas Eve are the focus of this psychological drama by Pupi Avati. Four of the players are out to skin the fifth, industrial tycoon Santelia (Carlo Delle Piane), but the four are not exactly a united front. Theater-owner Franco (Diego Abatantuono) is nearly bankrupt and harbors a deep and well-founded resentment against Ugo (Gianni Cavina), a wacko television host. Film critic Lele (Alessandro Haber) has his own insecurities, and Stefano (George Eastman) is simply trying to keep the game and the men together. As flashbacks reveal past loves and peccadilloes, antagonisms and alliances, the relationships at the card game are turned around into something completely different by the time Saint Nick has finished his rounds. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The adolescence of Mozart is chronicled in this Italian biopic. Here, young Wolfgang is seen as a prodigy who aspires to a normal life. He is studying music in Bologna when he falls in love with a local girl and makes friends with a boy his own age. Mozart is so elated that he fails a music exam on purpose so he can stay a little longer. Unfortunately, a priest rigs his test and the young composer is forced to move on. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

One of Roman Polanski's lesser-known films, Diary of Forbidden Dreams (also known as What?) stars Sydne Rome as an attractive young hitchhiker who, as the film opens, accepts a ride from three men in a car, who later attempt to rape her. She escapes their clutches and makes her way to a mansion owned by millionaire Joseph Noblart (Hugh Griffith), who is overseeing a decadent party. Among the guests at his home are a pair of table-tennis players, a man with a harpoon (played by Polanski himself), and a hedonistic pimp played by Marcello Mastroianni. The woman's sexually charged adventure is an homage to Alice in Wonderland. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi