Marina Suma Movies

In this physically and emotionally brutal drama, Matteo (Luigi Iacuzio) is a convict who landed in prison after a man was left to die by members of his gang. Given a 24-hour pass from prison, Matteo decides to revisit his old home town, where he discovers that most of his old buddies are either still on the wrong side of the law or have been victimized by others. The young women in the neighborhood have been subjected to the greatest indignities; the girl Matteo loves, Anna (Antonella Migliore), lost her virginity to a local boy, which so enraged her brother that he raped her as punishment, while his neighbor Rosa (Federica Bonavolonta) made the mistake of getting pregnant and is now trapped in a violent and loveless marriage. The worst fate awaited Michele (Francesco Pirozzi), who tried to save a friend from sexual assault, and was killed for her trouble by the would-be rapists. Amidst the chaos and violence of the neighborhood, Matteo tries to make sense of his life, the lives of those around him, and the often brutal family relationships which are tragically common. Pater Familias was screened in competition at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this series of multiple vignettes for a teen audience, director Salvatori Piscicelli switches between two nights of concerts under an enormous tent, and the myriad romantic liaisons and dreams of a wide range of musicians and fans. One of the musicians, in-between his times on stage, romances a recalcitrant girlfriend (Marina Suma) and fends off attempts by organized crime to buy him out. In the meantime, his girlfriend is also fending off demands from the Mafia to buy "protection" for her business, a beauty salon. Other musicians, singers, and groupies strike up relationships, or end them, in this continual series of love, music, sex, and drugs during a brief Naples concert tour. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this nostalgic look back at the 1960s through rose-colored glasses, a group of teens meet and frolic and experience their individual emotional maelstroms at a seaside resort one summer -- and then they meet again two decades later. Most of the film is spent on the teen summer, filled with characters such as the wealthy and weighty young man romancing a would-be socialite, and the intellectual fellow who turns from his steady girlfriend to hook up with a powerfully attractive older woman (Virna Lisi). When the teens come together as vintage adults 20 years later, their lives have all changed and the experiences that bonded them during that far away summer echo in everyone's mind. Director Carlo Vanzina treats the teens' relationships with an intentionally light hand, which might unexpectedly make that later "echo" less resounding than intended. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide