Cesare Barbetti Movies

In this sentimental, tragicomic drama, Matteo Scuro (Marcello Mastroianni) is an old widower living in Sicily. His five grown children have scattered all over Italy, and he has heard nothing but glowing reports from them about their lives and careers. One day he takes it into his head to visit these paragons who have fulfilled every one of his ambitions for them. Eventually he discovers that all his children have been lying to him for a very long time because they were afraid to disappoint their papa; their lives are shabby and very much on the edge, and one of them has long-since committed suicide (unbeknownst to him). This daunting truth provokes a heart attack in the old man, who still has a few lies yet to tell and hear, because he insists (as do his children) that "everything is fine." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this understated drama by director and co-writer Pupi Avati, the life-changing events that sweep through an office of nondescript bank workers may be minor in the scheme of a greater cosmos, but they have a major impact on everyone involved. The story is told through the eyes of Luigi (Claudio Botosso), just out of college and starting work at the bank as a new recruit. Luigi is shy enough to seem aloof at the beginning, but he quickly gets into the rhythm of office politics, at least as much as his still-reserved personality allows. Luigi would like to go out with Annalisa (Elena Sofia Ricci) but the attractive woman has chosen his former roommate Dario (Dario Parisini) instead. Meanwhile, Luigi is getting an introduction into the small and often corrupt and profligate society around him; women seem willing to bed down with whomever -- though not with him -- and they even get drunk at parties. Older men are chasing women who are their employees, the haves are not interested in associating with the have-nots, and even the rich cannot always get into -- and stay in -- the clubs that define an elite strata. As relationships come and go, one of the more unscrupulous workers is finally discharged, but not before a scandal erupts. And tragedy also lies waiting in the wings -- leaving Luigi with a lot of life experience in a very brief period of time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This is a conventional, and for some viewers, an offensive farce that partially focuses on the initiation of young men into the joys of sex by one of their attractive schoolteachers while on a three-day class outing (back in 1911 in Italy). She also teases her less-than-macho colleague on the outing, but in the end, his fantasies about her just might come true. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures. Some of the panoramic battle sequences are so expertly handled by second-unit director Mario Soldati that they appear to be Technicolor-and-Vistavision newsreel footage of the actual events. Still, the film falters dramatically, principally because of a lumpy script and King Vidor's surprisingly lustreless direction. In addition, the casting is wildly consistent: for example, while Audrey Hepburn is flawless as Natasha, Henry Fonda is far too "Yankeefied" as the introspective Pierre. Proving too long and unwieldy for most audiences, War and Peace died at the box office; far more successful was the epic, scrupulously faithful 1968 version, filmed in the Soviet Union. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Less than a week after the U.S. release of Rene Clair's Beauty and the Devil came another cinemazation of the Faust legend, this one produced in Italy. Faust and the Devil was directed by Carmine Gallone, whose career extended back to the dawn of the Italian film industry. Gallone proved that age hadn't withered his ability to entertain, as he adroitly combines Goethe's version of Faust with Gounod's operatic adaptation. Gino Mattera stars as Faust, an ageing pedant who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for youth, knowledge, and love. Italo Tajo and Nelly Corradi co-star as Mephistopheles and Marguerite, respectively. While Mattera and Tajo do their own singing in the musical passages, Corradi merely lip-syncs while the voice of Onelia Finechi is heard on the soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi