Bekim Fehmiu Movies

Filmed on location in Tunisia, the four-hour Italian TV production A Child Called Jesus mixes Scripture with Speculation. The film attempts to fill in the "missing years" of $Jesus, from ages 3 through 12. When King Herod (Hatteb Semlali) fearing that the Messiah has indeed been born, orders that all Hebrew male children under the age of three be slain, Joseph (Bekim Fehmu) moves his family near Egypt. Here, Jesus (Matteo Bellina), sensing His divinity, expresses a desire to return to Nazareth. Travelling homeward with His mother Mary (Carmen San Martin), Jesus flashes forward to events that will unfold in his adult life (Alessandro Gassman plays the grown Jesus in these scenes). Originally presented in two parts, A Child Called Jesus was syndicated to American TV stations during the last week of November in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This biographical essay tackles the early life of Mother Teresa in her Yugoslavian homeland (she was born at Skopje in 1910). Her mother sent her to care for an aunt who was suffering from tuberculosis, a disease that young Agnes Gongia (Mother Teresa) contracted as a result of her exposure. She angrily turned against her mother for sending her to care for the aunt, but her mother was also responsible for her cure. She put Gongia in a convent in the mountains where she was cloistered with the rest of the nuns, and although she was healed in the process, she came away hating a cloistered life. Until that time, her career prospects had tended toward professional singing -- she had a striking voice and actually sang for awhile with an orchestra conducted by her cousin, someone that aroused her romantic interest. Her true vocation did not come to the fore until she talked to a priest (Rossano Brazzi) who had just returned from India, and she realized that she wanted to help others as a nun, but in a very practical way -- perhaps by handling cases that no one else wanted (not unlike caring for her sick aunt). It would not be long then, before Calcutta was to benefit from young Gongia's calling. (Mother Teresa) died in India on Friday, Sept. 5, 1997. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Bruce Dern is ideally cast as Lander, a crazed Vietnam veteran, in Black Sunday. Lander joins terrorists Dahlia (Marthe Keller) and Fasil (Bekim Fehmu) in a plot to create a bloodbath at the annual Super Bowl. Piloting the ubiquitous Goodyear blimp, Lander is to ram the aircraft into the capacity Orange Bowl crowd, then fire thousands of poisoned darts into the fleeing spectators. Israeli military officer Kabakov (Robert Shaw) struggles to thwart Lander's plan before it comes to fruition. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tinto Brass scored his first major international success with this shocking but stylish tale of decadence in the Third Reich, inspired by a true story. Madame Kitty (Ingrid Thulin) is the proprietor of one of Berlin's most luxurious brothels, where many members of the Nazi high command are her regular customers. Kitty is approached by Helmut Wallenberg (Helmut Berger), an S.S. official who orders her to shut down her business and act as his partner as he founds a new bordello, which will exclusively cater to the elite of the Nazi Party and the German military. Unknown to Kitty, Wallenberg's brothel has been staffed entirely by women recruited by the S.S. for their loyalty to the Reich, and each room has been equipped with secret recording devices, which will allow Wallenberg and his staff to not only gather blackmail material against troublesome officers, but to discover who might be expressing disloyal thoughts about Hitler's regime when their guard is down. Margherita (Teresa Ann Savoy), a pretty young prostitute working for Kitty, is especially devoted to both her job and her country, but when she falls in love with Biondo (John Steiner), a German officer and frequent customer who has grown disillusioned with both the war and National Socialism, she discovers the true purpose of "Salon Kitty," and sets out to destroy the operation, with Kitty's help. Both a scandal and a success in Europe, Salon Kitty initially played the exploitation circuit in the United States in an edited version titled Madame Kitty, though the shorter version still earned an X rating. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Pavle (Bekim Fehmiu) is an honest man, and he has a crusade: he is responding to Tito's Call-to-Order letter which urges that people root out corruption. Pavle knows about some corruption in his own factory; the higher-ups have their own private beaches and resorts in payment for some shady deals they have done. He does not meet with a very warm response when he tries to make these abuses known. Pavle Pavlovic the film, also met with a cool response from Yugoslav officialdom; even though it was inspired by Tito's own crusade, it made the system of "self-rule" look bad. Because of this, the film was barred from competing in the 1975 Yugoslav Film Festival, though it was allowed to be shown. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Yet another in the stable of spy movies which depict espionage as a dirty business. Here, we have Dirk Bogarde heading the "Western Intelligence Liaison" his specific task is to keep the head of a radical third-world organization from returning to his country. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

A young hoodlum who cannot stay out of trouble is hauled in by the police when he gets too rowdy at a bar. While he is being held in jail, he tells his story to an interested police inspector. The main thing currently keeping him from going straight is constant harassment by the police and his neighbors, who seek to keep him from wooing the girl he loves. The inspector agrees to put a lid on the police harassment, and the young man's prospects seem to be looking up. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Based on Harold Robbins' bestseller, The Adventurers stars Yugoslav heartthrob Bekim Fehmiu as Porfirio Rubirosa clone Dax Xenos. Having suffered mightily as a child in a fictional South American country due to the political activities of his parents, Xenos grows up to become a sleazy, sexually manipulative playboy. He romances middle-aged widow Olivia de Havilland, then dumps her after he's run through her fortune. He then takes up with heiress Candice Bergen, who bears his child. When the kid is killed and Xenos turns his back on her, Bergen finds solace in lesbianism. All the while, Xenos is fomenting revolutions aimed at toppling the Trujillo-like despot (Alan Badel) responsible for the death of his father. The Adventurers received a lot of magazine coverage due to a poolside nude scene and the "guess who this is supposed to be?" nature of the cast of characters. But it failed to establish Bekim Fehmiu as an international star. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ivo Bajsic (Bekim Fehmiu) is a common laborer who is driven to suicide by social injustice in this somber drama. After the opening scene where Ivo jumps to his death from a skyscraper, flashbacks tell the story that led to his demoralizing demise. The sex scenes are tastefully presented and have not been added simply for exploitation value. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

A couple from the country long for the solitude of a quiet village after working for years in the city. She works as a waitress while he has found employment as a laborer. They eventually leave the city behind for a new life in the country. Underlying themes in the feature are the criticism of the Yugoslav military regime and an appeal to young people to seek their own happiness. Shown at the 1966 Mannheim Film Festival, it is the first feature-length effort from director Dragoslav Lazic. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi