Mario Scarpetta Movies

Two disparate Italian families battle it out on a remote island during summer vacation in this barbed social comedy that sharply comments on the yawning chasm created by ideological and political differences between liberal-but-narrow-minded intellectual elitists and ultra-conservative, ignorant masses. The story's battleground is set upon the island of Ventotene and on either side are adjacent cabins. In one stays the intellectually arrogant Sandro Molino. He brings with him his girl friend Cecilia, her baby, and her father. Cecilia is constantly insecure about her relationship with Sandro while papa Mauro, a failed thespian, fights his ever-encroaching depression. The Molino camp and its many followers spend their days playing music, sipping wine, smoking hashish, grooving on nature and engaging in endless conversations until the prominent Roman gun merchant Ruggero Mazzalupi and his boisterous family show up and spoil everything. The riotous Mazzalupis are as vulgar as the Molinos are tragically hip. The real conflict begins when Sandro threatens to turn Ruggero in for abusing a Senegalese servant. Chaos between the clans erupt, but amidst the cafuffle, two teens still manage to fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The vicious drug-related killings of young pre-teen boys are the fuel that moves this mystery-actioner into high gear. After Annunziata (Angela Molina) opens up a hostel with her friend Antonio (Daniel Ezralow) she is saved from being raped by a Camorra (organized crime) boss when the gangster is suddenly killed. The killer escapes before Annunziata is able to see who it was. Following this murder are several others and always with the same "signature" -- a needle through one of the testicles of the victims. Everyone suspects a drug war is on because the slain men are cocaine-heroin pushers. In a subplot, Annunziata's young son is forced to run drugs (underage children cannot be prosecuted), making him the next candidate for murder. As the drug dealers continue to be killed off, the identity of the killer -- or killers -- slowly becomes obvious. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This Wertmuller sex comedy centers on a married couple who have found the magic gone from their physical relationship. The trouble begins when the wife, Ester, finds herself sexually attracted to her best friend Adele and one day tells her of the erotic dream she had in which she and Adele were reenacting the kissing scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious. Soon a flirtation ensues that falls just short of an actual affair. Poor Oscar, Ester's sexist husband, is beside himself. Eventually doubts about his own manliness end up driving him totally nuts. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Italian La Patata Bollente (Hot Potato) casts some light on the intolerances of those involved in "liberal" Italian political and labor organizations. Popular comic-actor Renato Pozzetto plays an ill-tempered "old line" communist union organizer. One evening, he rescues a homosexual (Massimo Ranieri) from a gang of hooligans. The communist allows the poor man to spend the evening in his apartment -- a wholly innocent set-up that is misinterpreted by the communist's girl friend (Edwige Fenech). When word gets out that their leader and the gay man are "shacking up," the members of the allegedly progressive union and their political cohorts are more vociferous than anyone in their condemnation of his "sins." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fine del Mondo nel Nostro Solito Letto in una Notte Piena di Pioggia, literally translated as "The End of the World in Our Usual Bed in a Night Full of Rain," was also released as Night Full of Rain. This film is director Lina Wertmuller's English-language film-debut. The poor critical and box-office reception to this film marked the beginning of a difficult period for director Wertmuller. In the story, Italian newsman Paolo (Giancarlo Giannini) rescues the American photojournalist Lizzy (Candice Bergen) from a brawl while she is in Italy. He also tries, less than successfully, to seduce her. When they meet again in San Francisco, the sparks between them lead to love. He is an old-guard Italian communist who wants his wife to stay at home and tend to the laundry and the cooking. Lizzy is an emerging feminist, and wants to make a contribution to that movement. Though their differences lead to some noisy confrontations, they are able to talk them through. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide