Armando Trovajoli Movies

A young boy's innocence is shattered when his mother enters into an elicit affair with a mysterious blue-eyed stranger in a two-part, four hour miniseries directed by Jerry Ciccoritti and starring Academy Award-winner Sophia Loren. Vittorio Innocente is a typical young boy from the tiny Italian village of Valle del Sole. When Vittorio's youthful innocence is shattered by his mother's enigmatic boyfriend, the youngster is compelled to shed light on the mystery of his mother's past by piecing together her remarkable story one chapter at a time. As he does so, Vittorio gradually learns of the centuries-old superstitions that continue to influence the actions of the naïve villagers, and gains greater insight than ever into the true nature of humanity. Though the hypocrisy, fears, and maliciousness he discovers in the centuries-old village soon leads Vittorio to discover the truth about his mother, those very same discoveries also threaten to unravel the very foundation of his safely sheltered world. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The insidious emergence of state-sanctioned anti-Semitism in Fascist Italy sets the stage for this historical drama. In 1938, Umberto (Diego Abatantuono) is a tailor who is beginning to lose business to Leone (Sergio Castellito), a haberdasher whose shop is next door to Umberto's. Leone offers stock much like Umberto's and at lower prices, which has brought plenty of customers into his store, causing Umberto no small amount of annoyance. Umberto's ire is hardly soothed by the fact that his teenage son Paolo (Elio Germano) is dating Leone's daughter, Susanna (Gioia Spaziani), or that the two men's younger sons, Pietruccio (Walter Dragonetti) and Lele (Simone Ascani), are best friends. The rivalry between the two shopkeepers eventually leads to a heated public argument, in which Umberto refers to Leone's Jewish faith in a derogatory manner. A policeman overhears this, and Leone, who had previously been quiet about his Jewish heritage, soon finds himself having to deal with the sanctions being levied against Jewish citizens. As Umberto sees his neighbor slowly stripped of his property, his rights, and his dignity, his anger turns to sympathy and to a wish that he could do something to help a man not so different from himself. Concorrenza Sleale was directed by Ettore Scola, who previously examined Italy during Mussolini's rule in Una Giornata Speciale. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rarely has any actor, and especially one with a filmography as rich as that of Marcello Mastroianni (1923-1996), been given such a lavish screen biography. But then, director Anna Maria Tató was Mastroianni's companion for the last 22 years of his life, and she clearly saw this film, made for Italian television, as a labor of love. Mastroianni is filmed speaking to the camera in a variety of settings, usually outdoors in picturesque settings, and dozens of film clips enhance his memories of a long career in films. He touches on his love for the stage; his relationships with director Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Marco Ferreri; his disdain for the moniker "Latin Lover" that got attached to him after the success of his breakthrough film, La Dolce Vita; his appreciation for his favorite cities: New York City, Paris, Rome, and above all, Naples; and his thoughts on acting. Among the films generously excerpted are The Organizer, White Nights, I Don't Want to Talk About It, Bell' Antonio, Divorce Italian Style, Dark Eyes, A Special Day, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, La Nuit de Varennes, Henry IV, La Grande Bouffe, Bye Bye Monkey, Intervista, and The Tenth Victim. In the film's penultimate scene, Mastroianni is shown celebrating his 72nd birthday, only a year before his death. The film is also available in a 98-minute version. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

A young Italian Communist couple come to grips with the fall of Italy's Communist Party and find themselves drifting apart in this Italian-French drama. As the Berlin Wall collapsed in the late '80s, so did the Italian Communist Party. In it's stead has come the more left-wing party the PDS. Since adolescence, Mario and Maria Boschi have been good communist party members. Now that the party is gone, they find themselves drifting apart; especially when Mario eagerly joins the new party while Maria remains a steadfast Communist. Maria soon finds herself drawn to Sicilian Communist Mario Della Rocca. He too is married, but when Maria's mate goes to a conference, she and the new Mario begin a romance. The experience of falling in and out of love makes Maria physically ill. She recuperates at her brother's house and subsequently makes love to the Sicilian. The months fly by. The three are all living alone as they reconcile their many problems. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This 1991 Italian period drama is not to be confused with the 1990 Australian vampire film with the same English-language title, Wicked. The entire story, a genuine psychological detective tale, concerns the attempt by a young doctor (Julian Sands) working early in the 20th century in a Swiss clinic to uncover the root cause for the persistent mental breakdown of a young woman (Giuliana De Sio) who has recently suffered the death of her daughter. Despite the resistance of the clinic's administration to his use of Freudian methods, the doctor begins his analysis at the clinic but finds that he must travel to Italy to interview the woman's family and friends in order to get at the ultimate cause. A version of this film capably dubbed into English was released at the same time as its Italian-language version. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Marcello (Marcello Mastroiano) has worked hard all his life to achieve a certain standing and success as a lawyer in Rome. He is pleased to be able to offer the fruits of his success to his son Michele (Massimo Troisi), and is perplexed and distressed that his unambitious son has no interest in any of these things. Michele is serving a term in the Italian military in the port town of Civitavecchia, and Marcello is visiting him there. Here he meets Michele's salty girlfriend Loredana (Anne Parillaud). The father and son share some meals and explore their differences. Though at first it appears that these two men will not be able to tolerate one another, they eventually decide to live and let live. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A family history is recalled by the venerable patriarch Carlo (Vittorio Gassman) as he prepares to celebrate his 80th birthday. Young Carlo (Andrea Massimo) marries Beatrice (Stefania Sandrelli) in 1926 but later has an illicit affair with her bohemian artist sister Adriana (Fanny Ardant). Fascism, World War II, and the raising of children and grandchildren mark the passing of a lifetime. Old Carlo lives with his grandson where his recollections are interrupted by the gentle nagging of his beloved Beatrice. This feature received an Oscar nomination in 1987 for "Best Foreign Film." ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Yet another incarnation of Mary Shelley's 1818 Frankenstein, this uneven spoof by Alain Jessua casts Victor Frankenstein as a cybernetics wizard who constructs his monster with a notable lack of aesthetic sense but invests him with great microprocessors, and the newly-minted ogre finds life rather lonely until he sees Frankenstein's lover and is smitten. In the meantime, the warped doctor has also created a lithesome female out of the sundry body parts of slain go-go dancers who went-went, and he falls in love with his creation. The original odd couples then flounder a little as director Jessua loses his grip on the story, and the cybernetic protagonist heads for Frankenstein's castle. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Mario (Enrico Montesano) works as a hospital orderly whose lucky win in a lottery for a new luxury car turns out to be his greatest misfortune. His first mistake was to hide the car from his wife (Edwige Fenech) in an effort to hang on to it, rather than sell it off for the money as she would want. His next mistake was to inadvertently pose as a doctor when seen with the car. And from that point onward, the mistakes multiply until he is even accused of terrorist activities and brought into the police station, where he is led in confusion through a bureaucratic labyrinth. By now, Mario's four-wheeled conveyance has lost a lot of its original sheen. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This talky French costume drama chronicles the adventures of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette as they attempt to flee Paris during the 1791 revolution. While en route to Varennes, the couple encounter and have philosophical debates with a number of fascinating historical figures including Thomas Paine and Restif de la Bretonne. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Professional soldier Bernard Giraudeau is enmeshed in an affair with the beautiful but very much married Laura Antonelli. Transferred to a remote outpost, Giraudeau discovers to his chagrin that the only woman in the region (Valeria D'Obici) is about as appealing as a plate of pickles. Even so, Giraudeau falls madly in love with the woman, utterly forgetting Antonelli. He also forgets that he's a human being at fade-out time, metamorphosing into an epileptic bear! Perhaps Passion of Love made more sense in its original French-language version, Passione D'Amore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi