Paolo Briguglia Movies
- 2007
Three aspiring moviemakers unexpectedly land a big break and their hometown comes out to celebrate in this warm comedy-drama. Gabriele (Paolo Briguglia), Nicola (Lele Nucera) and Marco (Lorenzo Di Ciaccia) are three young men growing up in Diamante, a small town in the Calabria region of Southern Italy where life moves at its own pace and not much happens. Gabriele, Nicola and Marco are serious film fans who have befriended the town's most famous citizen, Neri (Diego Abatantuono), a well known director waiting out a creative block who offers the boys advice on their dreams of working in the film industry. Gabriele has written a script based on the youthful experiences of his Aunt Caterina (Lucia Ragni), and he and his pals want to go to Rome in hopes of getting it made into a major motion picture. Neri is dubious, but introduces the boys to Francesco (Mimmo Calopresti), a friend and well-known actor who lives in the Eternal City. Francesco gets Gabriele, Nicola and Marco into a party thrown by an industry bigwig, and they're introduced to Amelie (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), Francesco's former wife who is currently Gerard Depardieu's significant other. In a remarkable stroke of luck, Amelie agrees to pass Gabriele's screenplay along to Depardieu, and the famed French actor agrees to appear in the film, guaranteeing the project a green light. Overjoyed, Gabriele, Nicola and Marco invite their new colleagues back to Diamante, where they want to shoot the picture, for a celebratory feast, and the stars get a close-up look at how the other half lives. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diego Abatantuono, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, (more)
- 2007
A moderately successful, thirtysomething rocker in dire need of a warm bed and a home-cooked meal returns to his family home in Rimini, only to be faced with a series of crises both large and small in this affectionate family comedy from director Gianni Zanasi. Stefano Nardini (Valerio Mastandrea) is a post-punk guitarist stuck in a strange career limbo; while he isn't exactly an unknown, he wouldn't be considered a household name by any means. When Stefano returns to his childhood home for a momentary reprieve from the rock & roll nightlife, his family welcomes him back with open arms. Unfortunately for Stefano, this retreat will be far from relaxing, since everyone under the roof seems locked into some sort of personal crisis. For starters, once-studious sister Michela (Anita Caprioli) has abandoned her education in favor of working with dolphins, and struggling mother Giuliana (Gisella Burinato) is taking self-help classes from a loopy guru who claims to hold the secrets to a happier life. On the more serious end of things, brother Alberto (Giuseppe Battiston) is locked into a bitter split with his ill-content wife -- a deeply personal woe that is only compounded by the fact that the family factory he runs has sunken deep into debt. When Alberto proves reluctant to divulge the sorry state of the family business to father Walter (Teco Celio), loyal siblings Stefano and Michela do their best to pitch in and set things right. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Valerio Mastandrea, Anita Caprioli, (more)
- 2006
When the efforts of a Philosophy teacher from the Italian Region of Puglia and his two brothers to sell an old family farm are stalled by their boorish and aggressive step-brother, the family's dark past is soon dragged into the harsh light of the presence in director Sergio Rubini's simmering family drama. Luigi moved to Milan years ago to escape the tyranny of his brutish father. Though Luigi and his two brothers are currently attempting to negotiate the sale of an old farm that has fallen to disrepair, their loutish, womanizing, half-brother Aldo seems to be doing everything in his power to sink the potentially lucrative deal. Eventually deciding to take the matter into his own hands, former childhood hellion Luigi returns to Puglia only to find that little has changed in his explosively dysfunctional family. When the brothers are acquitted of a homicide and heated accusations begin to fly among family members, Luigi launches a furtive investigation into the case that finds him putting his relationships with his family, and his wife, under the microscope for closer inspection. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Paolo Briguglia, (more)
This ambitious, four-hour cable miniseries stars Jeremy Sisto (taking time off from his regular series Six Feet Under) as Roman general-turned-emperor Julius Caesar. Expensively filmed in Malta and Bulgaria, the production vividly traces Caesar's rise to prominence as a brilliant military tactician (with remarkably accurate battle scenes); his complex relationships with his mentor General Pompey (Chris Noth) and his second wife Calpurnia (Valeria Golino); his ideological tiltings with Senator Cato (Christopher Walken), who advocates democracy over Caesar's dictatorial ambitions; and his bloody (but inevitable) murder at the hands of former friends and allies. Taking some dramatic license with the facts, the film is basically sympathetic to its subject, although Caesar is depicted as a flawed man, both physically and morally. Giving Caesar points for being fundamentally honorable, in full possession of his faculties, and possessing the "common touch" with the Roman citizenry, the teleplay does not shrink away from the man's violent epileptic seizures, his megalomania, his casually calculated cruelties, and his bigamous relationship with Egyptian queen Cleopatra (Samuela Sardo). Interestingly enough, however, the miniseries downplays his notorious bisexuality ("Every man's woman and every woman's man"). In his final performance, Richard Harris appears as Caesar's wily bête noire, Roman dictator Sulla. Caesar was first telecast in the U.S. on June 29-30, 2003, by the TNT cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Sisto, Richard Harris, (more)
A young couple, Chiara (Maya Sansa) and Ernesto (Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, the director's son), follow a real estate agent through a nicely secluded apartment, which they subsequently rent. They then begin doing some strange renovations. It turns out that they're not a couple at all. They're members of the Red Brigade, and the apartment is going to be used to house a kidnapped government official. Good Morning, Night is established writer/director Marco Bellocchio's take on the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, president of the Christian Democratic Party, which rocked Italian politics in the late '70s. Bellocchio tells the story from Chiara's point-of-view, as her romantic relationship with fellow cell member Primo (Giovanni Calcagno) and her allegiance to their strident leader, Mariano (Luigi Lo Cascio), is gradually shaken as she begins to develop respect and affection for their hapless captive, Moro (Roberto Herlitzka). She also begins to feel attracted to Enzo (Paolo Briguglia), a co-worker at her office job (a front for her more radical activities) who has similar political leanings, but strongly disagrees with the Red Brigade's tactics. Chiara spends hours watching Moro in his "cell" through a peephole, as he defends his political actions in a mock trial conducted by Mariano. As negotiations for Moro's release falter due to the government's hard-line stance, Chiara begins to fantasize about helping him escape. Good Morning, Night (the title comes from a poem by Emily Dickinson) was shown at the 2003 Venice Film Festival, where it won the Little Golden Lion, the "CinemAvvenire," and an award for Bellocchio's screenplay. It was also selected for the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Maya Sansa, Luigi Lo Cascio, (more)
Enzo Monteleone's World War II drama El Alamein: The Line of Fire is concerned with the life of Italian soldiers. Lieutenant Fiore (Emilio Solfrizzi) leads a group of soldiers stationed in Egypt. The troops, including Sargent Rizzo (Pierfrancesco Favino) and newbie Serra (Paolo Briguglia), are constantly under attack from the British. Eventually the commands from the military hierarchy become indecipherable, and the madness and horror of war overtake the men. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paolo Briguglia, Pierfrancesco Favino, (more)
- 2000
A young man's determination to put a stop to organized crime in his community puts him at odds with his family in this drama from Italy. As a child, Peppino Impastato was very close with his uncle Don Cesare (Pippo Montalbano), but was unaware that he was head of local Mafia operations. As he grew to adulthood, Peppino (Luigi Lo Cascio) became a political activist and a member of the Communist party, thanks to the influence of a close friend and leftist artist (Andrea Tidona). With his friends, Peppino starts an underground radio station to speak out against the corrupt influence of the Mafia and their control of local government, bravely leading public rallies calling for citizens to stand united against organized crime. However, Peppino's family still has strong ties with the mob, and as the young man and his comrades wage war against Tano and his men, Peppino's father (Luigi Maria Burruano) does everything he can to bring his wayward son back into the fold. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luigi Lo Cascio, Luigi Maria Burruano, (more)
- 2000
Roberto Ando directs this biopic about Sicilian aristocrat Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa -- who gained posthumous fame with his novel The Leopard later made into a film by Luchino Visconti -- and his relationship with two young proteges. Set in Palermo during the 1950s, the film centers on Marco Pace (Paolo Briguglia), a brilliant, taciturn university student and fledgling writer who gets himself introduced to Prince Tomasi di Lampedusa (Michel Bouquet). The youth unfortunately mistakes the Prince's preachy self-absorption for paternal interest and is thus crestfallen when his erstwhile mentor adopts rich relative Guido Lanza (Giorgio Lupano) as his heir. As the film progresses, a quiet rivalry builds between the youths. Cinema legend Jeanne Moreau also appears. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michel Bouquet, Jeanne Moreau, (more)
- 1999
British indie queen Tilda Swinton stars as a detective looking to solve a notoriously senseless thrill killing in 1994. Swinton and her crew piece together the crime in which a couple of upper class lads from Oxford venture into London on a bloodlust binge. Failing to find a pusher or a pimp to kill, they off a passing motorist instead. This film was screened in the 1999 London Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tilda Swinton, Fabrizia Sacchi, (more)
