Vincenzo Amato Movies

An average Sicilian on the fast track to success within the Cosa Nostra becomes ever more disillusioned about his standing within the ranks of the brutal criminal underworld in director Andrea Porporati's character-driven crime drama. Saro Scordia (Lo Cascio) was just a young boy when his father was killed in a prison riot. In the wake of his tragic loss, Saro is soon taken under the wing of underworld figure Gaetano Butera (Tony Gambino) and shown all the benefits of being truly connected. Later, while Saro is serving a brief sentence behind bars, he makes the acquaintance of influential gangster Uncle Ciccu (Renato Carpentieri). It is this relationship proves especially fruitful for Saro once he returns to the streets, paving the way for a series of increasingly important jobs including a high profile bank job in Turin and a crucial hit in Milan alongside Ciccu's bumbling son Mimmo (Gaetano Bruno). Things soon threaten to fall apart, however, when the love-struck Saro falls deeply in love with the stunning Ada (Donatella Finocchiaro) - a strong willed woman who refuses to become a mafia wife. Though Saro dutifully marries a woman more accepting of his criminal lifestyle and begins raising a family as expected of him by his superiors, the brutality of the criminal lifestyle soon leads him to regret his decision to become an official "man of honor." ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Italian director Emanuele Crialese's Respiro tells an intimate tale of a family living in a quiet fishing community. Grazia (Valeria Golino) is deeply committed to her husband Pietro (Vincenzo Amato) and their children, as well as stray dogs. She suffers from extreme mood swings that result in serious physical attacks in times of high anxiety. Pietro decides to send her to get help, but this prompts Grazia to run away. She survives with the help of her son Pasquale (Francesco Casisa). Respiro was screened during Critics Week at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Set in New York's East Village, director Emanuele Crialese wrote this light romantic comedy about two couples, four "strangers" determined to make love and the American dream work, despite the odds. Ajay Naidu plays Apu, an Americanized native of India; more than 20 years after leaving his homeland he awaits his bride by arranged marriage. Devi Anjalee Deshpande has trouble adjusting to the new culture. Apu's acquaintance, Antonio Vincenzo Amato, is an illegal alien from Italy, who has his own tryst with the object of his desire -- a radio talkshow host Jessica Whitney Gould--but their match is ill-timed. The trials, errors and demands of looking for a love in the late '90s is studied to great comic effect. All of the characters, despite their foibles, are incredibly appealing, due in no small part to a fine unknown cast, script and direction. ~ Denise Sullivan, Rovi