Carlo Verdone Movies

Italian stage comic Carlo Verdone produced a cult hit with his sophomore cinematic effort, the 1981 Bianco, Rosso e Verdone (Red, White and Verdone Green); the artist both directed that film and essayed a triple role in it, as three goofy characters: Furio, Pasquale and Mimmo. In the original film, each character claimed one episode, and the three stories converged at the end. One tale concerned the goateed Furio, a Torinese man driving his wife bonkers with his ignorant motor mouth; another observed Pasquale, a southern Italian man who moved from his adopted home of Munich back to Italy - and subsequently had his car dismantled and stolen, one piece at a time; the third story followed Mimmo, a whiny Trasteverian manchild traveling with his enormously overweight grandmother. The film's sequel (produced nearly 30 years later) observes the same three characters at a later point in life (again, all played by Verdone), as they near the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Verdone resumes directing chores. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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, Rovi

Popular Italian director-actor Carlo Verdone stars in this wacky tale about a talent agent with a talentless client roster. Ercole Preziosi (Verdone) represents middling girl groups, bad magicians, and even worse comics. When a grizzly traffic accident leaves his star comedian client bed-ridden, he turns to his young plucky driver to do stand-up duty. Lo and behold -- to everyone's surprise -- she's a huge moneymaking hit. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

Carlo Verdone directed this Italian comedy in which the refers to a capercaillie, a European grouse distinctive for its chest-puffing vanity. The story opens in an Arab country where Islamic fundamentalists condemn Armando Feroci (Verdone) to death, followed by a flashback to 17 years earlier when the womanizing Feroci tooled about in his red convertible, tossing out lewd lines to women -- but eventually going too far by accosting a veiled Arab woman from a Red Cross missionary jeep. In Feroci's life of many misadventures, he is seen as a real estate agent getting his future wife (Ines Nobili) to purchase a condemned property; as an Elvis Presley fan claiming to be Elvis' biological son; as a quiz-show contestant; as a politician; and as an irresponsible parent. Filmed in Rome and the Tunisian desert. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Romeo Spera (Carlo Verdone), an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, is a musician who used to be fairly popular. Even now he earns his living in music as an accompanist to female singers. His big problem, though, is that he is hungry for romance. The predictions of a fortune teller encourage his hope that he will know love. When he meets Iris Blond, it's love at first sight. In order to cultivate Iris for stardom, Romeo abruptly terminates his current professional and personal arrangement with singer Marguerite. But despite his newfound passion, Romeo maintains a non-sexual relationship with Iris so that he can focus on promoting her career. When Iris gets an important contract to perform without Romeo, she kindly violates their platonic contract. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

A jaded TV host falls in love with a paraplegic in this Italian comedy. The romance begins after Gepy Fuxas, the host of a popular reality show, is attacked on the air by an irate audience member in a wheel chair. The attacker, Arianna, is upset that he so readily exploits the pain of others. Gepy, who tries to defend himself, draws scathing criticism from his fans. His show is immediately cancelled and he finds himself alone and friendless. His life no longer has meaning. Arianna, feeling guilty, meets with him to try and smooth things over. Thus begins their gradual friendship and eventual love affair. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Bernardo (Carlo Verdone) is a historian and a writer. However, as a rock-music historian and as a man who is writing a biography of Jimi Hendrix, he is not the gray, mousy man one might expect. No matter what kind of man he appears to be, though, he is completely devastated when his live-in girlfriend leaves him. He quickly becomes a non-functional basket case. To overcome this, he goes into psychoanalysis with a very magnetic therapist. At the same time, he becomes friends with one of his fellow neurotics, whom he meets in his analyst's waiting room. She is Camilla (Margherita Buy), an actress who currently has difficulty filming even one very short scene without needing endless retakes. The two of them become buddies but have a falling out which indicates that there are some undiscovered romantic tensions between them. Later, Bernardo is in London, trying to put the finishing touches on his Hendrix biography, when he runs into Camilla again, and the two finally become a romantic item. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

When policeman Carlo Vinciguerra (Carlo Verdone) arrests everyone attending a party in order to break up a drug ring, he is left with one partygoer he can't arrest: Giulio (Federico Rizzo), the six-year old son of the (relatively blameless) hostess. While his mother is in the slammer, the courts give temporary custody of the boy to the bachelor policeman. The bemused bachelor is delighted by the antics of the boy, even when he winds up breaking things. He is less amused when the boy's presence puts the kibbosh on his romance with a married woman. However, with the boy's help he not only puts the screws to the drug-pushers, but gets a new family as well. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this comedy, the ever-resourceful Alfio (Carlo Verdone) and his pal Silvano (Renato Pozzetto) are medical school graduates who have been unable to find work. The two of them convince Alfio's wealthy wife that she could make a bundle by opening up a "fat farm," or weight-loss clinic, and that they should run it. She agrees to the scheme, and they set up their site and get their first customers through television advertising. Unfortunately for the opera singer, the boxer, and other clients, neither of their hosts has any idea about how to run such a clinic, and one laughable disaster follows another. The crafty doctors scheme to undo their many mistakes and somehow miraculously manage to avoid killing anyone or getting shut down by a lawsuit. After their harrowing experiences with their first customers, however, the two decide to convert their building into a restaurant, aptly named "The Two Gluttons." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi