Michele Placido Movies

Director Michele Placido and actor Kim Rossi Stuart team up to tell the tale of notorious Italian outlaw Renato Vallanzasca, whose penchant for bold crimes, daring prison breaks, and extravagant showmanship transformed him into an underworld celebrity in the 1970s. Vallanzasca was just nine years old when he and a group of mischievous friends snuck into a local circus to free a tiger, but that fateful day marked the beginning of a spectacular criminal career. Subsequently sent to a juvenile detention facility, Vallanzasca soon rounded up a gang comprised of familiar deviants upon his release, and quickly rose through the ranks of Italy's criminal elite. With the stunning Consuelo (Valeria Solarino) by Vallanzasca's side, not even San Vittore can hold the slippery desperado. And though Vallanzasca's gang would live the high life for a while, the impulsive leader would ultimately seal his own fate when he ruthlessly killed two policemen in a Dalmine tool booth. Having made a sworn enemy out of rival gangster Francis Turatello (Francesco Scianna), Vallanzasca strives to end the rivalry after being incarcerated in Rebibbia Prison. In and out of prison in the decades that followed, Vallanzasca found his life as a fugitive drawing to a close after reconnecting with his old friend Antonella D'Agostino (Paz Vega), whom he would later wed in a civil ceremony. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Italy during the latter days of Benito Mussolini's rule provides the background for this historical drama of divided loyalties during a time of war. Francesco (Michele Placido) is a police detective working in Rome as fascist Black Shirts hold sway over the nation. Francesco has been assigned to investigate the death of Costantina (Barbora Bobulova), a streetwalker who is believed to have been murdered while allied forces were bombing the city. As Francesco interviews those who knew Costantina, including her twin sister, he gains a new perspective on the bitter rivalry between Salo fascists and partisans loyal to Italy's pre-fascist heritage; Francesco also sees a bit of this conflict in his own home as his brother Ettore (Alessandro Preziosi) defends the partisans against the fascist leanings of his sister Lucia (Alina Nedelea). The Blood of the Victims (aka Il sangue dei vinti) proved controversial in Italy for its defense of fascism under Mussolini, portraying the majority of his supporters as patriots acting in support of their nation. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A fugitive from justice discovers he has to leave his principles behind to come out of the underground in this drama from Italy. Giorgio (Alessio Boni) was a member of a radical left-wing group who was forced to flee the country when a bomb he planted unexpectedly killed an innocent party. After living in Central America for several years, Giorgio has decided to return to Italy and turn himself in. Giorgio is enrolled in a program where he is "rehabilitated" by cooperating with the police, staring by getting the goods on Anedda (Michele Placido), a corrupt cop. However, before long Giorgio's actions start to seem more like blackmail than justice, as a demands payments from the owner of a topless bar and persuading a married woman, Flora (Isabella Ferrari), to sleep with him until her husband makes good on a long-standing debt. However, temptation becomes too much for Giorgio when Anedda offers to bring him in on a robbery he's been planning; Giorgio's share of the loot looks to be enough to keep him afloat for years, but his new criminal lifestyle is more than he knows how to handle. Arrivederci Amore (aka The Goodbye Kiss) was adapted from a novel by Massimo Carlotto. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Giancarlo De Cataldo's best-selling tale about three lifelong friends effectively take control of organized crime in modern-day Rome comes to the screen in this sweeping crime drama from director Michele Placido. Libanese (Pierfrancesco Favino) is the cold-hearted leader of a juvenile delinquent trio that also includes undyingly loyal Freddo (Kim Rossi Stuart) and power-hungry Dandi (Claudio Santamaria). After kidnapping and casually murdering a baron (Franco Interlenghi), the scheming friends soon form the shady alliances with the local gangsters, corrupt cops, and secret service members that will allow them the opportunity to effectively corner the market on heroin sales. Meanwhile, determined Inspector Sciloja (Stefano Accorsi), who has made it his goal to bring Libanese and his cronies to justice, stealthily manages to trace back the marked ransom money from the baron's kidnapping to Dandi's girlfriend Patrizia (Anna Mouglalis) - an alluring call girl whom the inspector soon finds himself falling for. But Inspector Sciloja isn't the only one to fall under the spell of a female who seems strangely out of his reach. On the other side of the law, Freddo becomes enamored by the decidedly pure Roberta (Jasmine Trinca), whose attempts to educate the smitten thug in the beauty of the Italian Masters seem to be made in vain. In projecting a fictionalized tale of murderous criminality against the larger backdrop of Italy's turbulent social history during the waning decades of the 20th Century, director Placido strives to craft a film that is not only entertaining, but historically relevant as well. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Italian director Michele Placido explores the legendary -- yet brief -- affair that occurred between writers Dino Campana and Sibilla Aleramo in the early part of the 20th century in his 2002 romantic drama, A Journey of Love. Early Italian feminist Sibilla Aleramo (played by Laura Morante) endured a forced marriage to an abusive husband due to an unexpected pregnancy at the age of 16. Eventually, she left her husband -- only to also lose all contact with her son due to her husband's spitefulness. These formative years enabled Sibilla to develop a literary voice, as she moved from city to city and began building a reputation not only as a fine writer, but also as a prodigious lover. At the age of 40, Sibilla met the somewhat younger and certainly more unconventional Dino Campana (Stefano Accorsi) and the duo embarked on a notoriously self-destructive and intense two year affair. A Journey of Love was an official competing selection in the 2002 Venice Film Festival and won Accorsi the Volpi Cup from the Festival Jury for Best Male Actor. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi

Cristina Comencini follows up her critically acclaimed 1998 opus Marriage (a funny though sensitive look at marriage in modern life) with this star-crossed comedy. Mafioso Michele Verrio (Michele Placido) has both a wife (Angelica Ippolito) and a long-suffering mistress, Lunetta (Lunetta Savino). Years ago, Verrio's henchmen bombed the car of Lunetta's muckraking brother Sergio (Francesco Paolantoni) after one of his scoops painted a rather negative portrait of the aging mobster. The incident prompted Sergio to go into hiding up north, leaving behind his child Sabina (Eleonora Sergio) and his wife Mara (Laura Morante). Mara eventually got remarried to Emilio (Emilio Solfrizzi), a car salesman, while Sabina went off to study in an American university -- only to return pregnant and engaged to Verrio's son Giovanni (Marco Morandi). Soon the two families that were once sworn enemies now have to try to get along. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

One of the masters of Italian cinema, Marco Bellocchio, who has made his name with political films, has been continuing his work with mostly adaptations from literature. La Balia, inspired by a novella of Luigi Pirandello, continues this tradition. The period costume drama takes place during a very turbulent period in Italian history. Neuropsychiatrist Moori and his young wife have just had a little boy who refuses his mother's milk. Mori chooses young Annetta as the nanny after having spotted her at the train station among handcuffed soon-to-be-deported subversives. The illiterate country girl seems to be in good health and suitable for the job. Mori makes a contract with her to abandon her own newborn son and instead feed and care for his child. It turns out that Annetta is not just an ordinary nanny, but a woman with a personality and history. Her presence, particularly her loving relationship with the child, threatens the stability of the family to the point that the natural mother, Vittoria, who has been depressed since the birth, leaves the house in desperation thinking this is the best thing for her child. Bellocchio has no pretensions about bringing a new narrative language to cinema with this film. He tells his story simply and convincingly. Particularly noteworthy is the way he juxtaposes the personal conflicts of the characters with the class conflict that forms the background. Cinematography, décor, lighting, all display distinct professional qualities. Acting by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi and newcomer Maya Sansa is worthy of mention. In competition at the 52nd Cannes Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Director Nicolas Boukhrief, who debuted with the 1995 Up Yours, returned with this French-Italian-Luxembourgian-Belgian drama in seven segments. In a variation on Schnitzler's La Ronde, each segment introduces a character seen in the next episode: In the opening, a murderer strangles a woman. A French soldier, injured in a bomb blast, is attracted to his nurse, but she's engaged to an aspiring stand-up comic. In the Paris Metro, the comedian befriends an older woman, who travels to Italy to join her impotent husband. The husband seeks excitement and finds it with a con artist who supplies sex and drugs. The young con artist's sister is an actress in porn films, and she brings the story full circle when she meets the murderer from the first scene. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

The title creature is not a canine but rather a passionate, strong-willed Sicilian woman who turns her home village on its ear with her constant battles against sexual repression. This sensual Italian drama chronicles some of La Lupa's seductive hunts. Her prey includes a strapping young buck just home from the military and the town priest. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The ruination of Michel Sindona, a powerful Italian financier with underworld connections, is chronicled in this historical drama. The tale begins in 1974 after Sindona's banking empire has just collapsed. The state sends in Milanese attorney Giorgio Ambrosoli to supervise the official receivership of Sindona's personal bank. Following the bank's destruction, Sindona high-tailed it to New York, but he still has the lawyer's every move watched. The surveillance is a routine precaution and Sindona isn't too worried about Ambrosoli, whom he sees as just another ineffectual, corruptible bureaucrat, an annoyance, but no real threat to the rest of Sindona's empire. Ambrosoli investigates deeper, and discovers that Sindona is connected to not only, the Mafia, but also the Parliament and to the Vatican. He then becomes a real threat by assuming control of the criminal mastermind's European holdings. While stepping up his investigations, Ambrosoli pays no mind to the ominous hints from the government that he should stop. Thanks to Ambrosoli, Sindona's credibility is severely damaged; meanwhile the lawyer begins receiving anonymous death threats (the actual taped threats are used for added realism). Eventually, Sindona has enough and puts a contract out on Ambrosoli, who was killed in 1979. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi