Luigi Magni Movies

Few American film enthusiasts were even aware that anyone made westerns in Italy before Sergio Leone's breakthrough film, 1964's Per un Pugno di Dollari (aka A Fistful Of Dollars), made Clint Eastwood a worldwide star and introduced audiences to the forbidding beauty and troubling morality of Leone's unique vision of the American West. A Fistful of Dollars was an international hit, as were its follow ups Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (aka For A Few Dollars More) and Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo (aka The Good, The Bad and the Ugly), and Leone's striking visual sense and complex storytelling established him as one of the masters of genre filmmaking, though in later years his ambition would outstrip his ability to bring his projects to the screen. Sergio Leone: Il mio modo di vedere le cose (aka Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things) is a documentary which takes a loving look at the highlights of Leone's career in cinema, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how several of his best films were made through interviews with actors and technicians who collaborated with him as well as archival footage of Leone discussing his pictures. Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things received its American premiere at the 2006 Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Veteran filmmaker Luigi Magni helms this gorgeously-photographed work set during the tumult of mid-19th century Rome. The film focuses on vivacious Cecilla (Lucrezia Lante Della Rovere), innkeeper and creator of renowned spaghetti, and on the Carbonari secret society that agitates against the Vatican for a unified Italy. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Nino Manfredi plays Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who carried out the execution of Jesus. He ignores several signs that proclaim that Jesus is the son of God, including the faith of his wife Claudia (Stefania Sandrelli). Pilate is tormented by his actions and later offers his life to Roman Emperor Tiberius in exchange for an end to the persecution of the Jews. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Italian actor/director Nino Manfredi gives an award-calibre performance in In the Name of the Pope-King. He plays a magistrate in a small region under the realm of Papal rule. Manfredi faces the legal battle of his life when his own son is accused of being a terrorist. Justice, mercy, and love become oil-and-water elements in this wrenching drama. Originally titled In Nome del Papa Re, the film was released in the US nearly nine years after its 1977 European debut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spaghetti Western icon Bud Spencer (They Call Me Trinity) stars in this sword-and-sandal adventure-comedy from Italian director Pasquale Festa Campanile. The comedic hijinks center around a medieval mercenary named Ettore (Spencer) as he travels around Europe plying his warrior skills to the highest bidders. When he comes across a group of rude Frenchmen laying siege to a Spanish castle, Ettore decides to help the underdog Spaniards defeat the invaders -- and save themselves from their own bumbling ineptitude. ~ All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy concerns a young girl who is the product of a black American-Army regular and a Roman woman who shared a romance in World War II. The woman is pursued by two men who both covet a relationship with the dark-skinned girl. Scenes often take place amidst the Roman antiquities and ruins that have become famous the world over. Faustina (Vonetta McGee) falls for a shady trader who deals in pilfered antiques. She is also courted by her neighbor, who revels in the good things in life but seems to be allergic to any kind of manual labor. Faustina decides she must choose between the two men but soon leans towards the more carefree and comedic neighbor. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This wry comedy finds the beautiful Assunta (Monica Vitti) being kidnapped by Vincento (Carlo Giuffre) and taken to his remote home in the country. He plans to "dishonor her" and by doing so, win her hand in marriage. In a hilarious turn of events, Assunta willingly gives in to the amorous advances of Vincento. Finding him to her liking, the innocent girl suddenly turns into an insatiable sex fiend who causes the exhausted abductor to flee for his life. Assunta escapes, but the taunting of the local villagers causes her to leave and pursue the fleeing Vincento. She tracks him down to Britain and sheds her country-girl image for a mod makeover in order to fit into the blue-blooded London society. She plans to murder Vincento until she meets a divorced physician. She and Dr. Osborne (Stanley Baker) fall for each other, and the jilted Assunta is content to slap Vincento rather than shoot him to death. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

For some reason, the elongated figures limned by the highly astigmatic painter El Greco (1541-1614) perfectly suited the grandees of Spain even though they were clearly anything but realistic, and they fascinate even today. The Greek (Cretan, actually) painter's life in Spain could have served as the basis for a fascinating biography, but the makers of this film chose to concentrate on the bad ol' Inquisition and portray the painter as being warned by his girlfriend that he is being watched; as a foreigner, he is suspected of heresy. Mel Ferrer plays the painter in this historical melodrama which is not nearly as bad as it could have been. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This Dino De Laurentiis production from 1965 is actually an anthology of five different directors' work, each telling their own stories about witches. The five stories are "The Witch Burned Alive," "Civic Sense," "The Earth As Seen From The Moon," "The Girl From Sicily," and "A Night Like Any Other." Silvia Mangano appears in all five, with Clint Eastwood starring in the last featured vignette. Like many gang-directed projects, this film is also plagued by a lack of continuity and by the pretentiousness of the individual directors. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide