Meme Perlini Movies

A childhood friendship becomes something much more in this Italian outing that begins as an off-beat comedy and ends up an exploration of a rocky romance. The story begins near the Baths of Carcalla in Rome where transvestite streetwalker Desideria hangs around begging for someone to love him/her and only ends up robbed and alone. The baths are a notorious hang-out for hookers and one night the police raid the joint causing Desideria to panic and flee with a cop in hot pursuit. Both end up hanging from a precipice and while waiting to be rescued, discover that they were best friends in school. Later Pasquale, the cop, returns to his provincial home village to consult a priest about what Desideria has become. The well-meaning father suggests that Pasquale help Desideria find redemption and resume life as a heterosexual. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned and Desideria ends up seducing Pasquale. They become lovers but trouble ensues when Pasquale's narrow-minded small-town lover Nellina finds out and tries to fight for his love. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) has received short shrift in the history books, and his pitiful later career and the disastrous alliance he made with Hitler certainly qualify him to be vilified as a sinister buffoon. However, earlier in his life, many feel that his virtues far outweighed his flaws; he was responsible for what was at the time an internationally recognized era of good, stable government in Italy. This biographical drama (in which the future dictator is played by Antonio Banderas) covers a period in his life when he was a schoolteacher and a budding figure in Italy's Socialist Party. A romantic debacle sent him into exile in Switzerland, where he took a job in a stone quarry and learned first-hand how workers can be oppressed. Later, he comes back to Italy, and gets better acquainted with the woman who was to become his wife. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In a small remote Caribbean island, where life appears to be one vast party, "the general" (Oliver Reed), a sinister American, hooks up with a corrupt local (Vittorio Amandola) who wants to transform the island into a big-deal tourist's gambling joint. Fortunately for the happy-go-lucky islanders, Panama (Scott Plank) has a plan to thwart this development plan which will leave them out in the cold, and with their help he convinces the general that there's hidden treasure on the island which will more than compensate him for the "finders fees" (bribes) he would have gotten from the developers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Otello (Marco Messeri) is the honest lawyer who accepts the position of planning a natural park in Italy's Po valley region. He turns down corrupt officials who offer bribes in exchange for favors. He continues his work but soon uncovers a scandal that led to the murder of an unfortunate inspector. Daria (Giulia Boschi) is a former political activist who provides love interest for the lonely lawyer, and Otello's friend Cecco (Meme Perlini) provides comedy relief in this mystery with touches of film noir. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Adept at dissecting marriage as an essentially no-win institution, Luigi Comencini applies his directorial scalpel here through the viewpoints of ten-year-old Eugenio (Francesco Bonelli) and his parents. Giancarlo (Saverio Marconi) is a father who loves his wife, Fernanda (Dalila Di Lazzaro), and his son, but what he wants out of life is not necessarily compatible with the responsibilities of marriage and fatherhood. Likewise, Fernanda is torn between a more liberated existence and what she understands to be social restrictions. After Eugenio is abandoned on a road in the middle of nowhere by an irritated friend, a sequence of events is set in motion that highlights the underlying problems in his family. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi