Valentina Cervi Movies

When the depressed wife of a provincial industrialist becomes convinced that her young Romanian maid is swiping valuable objects from around the villa, she fires the servant without proof and against her husband's wishes. Later, after wandering the city streets dejected, the former servant finds comfort with her former boyfriend, an ex-convict who now lives with his teenage brother. Before long, passions between the two former lovers are heating up once again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In writer/director/composer/cinematographer Siegfried's handheld whirlwind of a movie Sansa, the title character is an ethnically ambiguous street hustler played by Roschdy Zem. Sansa travels the globe, hawking and bartering on the street, selling tourists sketches of themselves and consistently running afoul of police, airport security, and military personnel, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for beautiful women. When Sansa sees an attractive woman, he has a tendency to follow her wherever he goes, and as he travels from country to country, covering France, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Russia, India, Japan, Egypt, Portugal, and Ghana, this pattern pretty much stays the same. At some point during a particularly heated pursuit, he inadvertently steps onto the stage where a ballet is being rehearsed. The elderly orchestra conductor, an internationally renowned musician named Click (Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis), chides him for interrupting the rehearsal, but later invites him to a café. The two strike up an unlikely friendship, based in part on their shared admiration for beautiful young women. Thereafter, Sansa seems to run into Click wherever he goes. In Italy, Sansa chats up Valentina (Valentina Cervi) until her boyfriend shows up and chases him off. In Spain, he interrupts a woman's (Emma Suarez) boardroom business presentation to sweet-talk her. In Japan, he meets an old friend, June (Ayako Fujitani), who laments his inevitable departure. In Russia, he gets caught in a crossfire between soldiers and Chechen rebels. Sansa was shown by the Film Society of Lincoln Center as part of its 2004 Rendez-Vous With French Cinema series. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

True love, jealousy, and betrayal bring about a good old-fashioned case of body swapping in Italian director Sergio Rubini's 2002 fantastical dark comedy Soul Mate. Rich and unbelievably spoiled, Teresa (Valentina Cervi) is accustomed to getting what she wants. In her most recent conquest, she managed to steal her cousin Maddalena's (Violante Placido) boyfriend, Tonino (Michele Venitucci), even going so far as getting the young man to agree to an engagement. But when the appointed time comes, Tonino backs out and seeks out his true love and soul mate Maddalena. Enraged, Teresa tracks down the village mystic, Benedetta (Maria De Fano), only to meet with the old woman's refusal to cast any spell for the sake of evil. Fortunately for Teresa, Benedetta's son, Angelantonio (director Sergio Rubini), isn't so scrupulous and goes about learning what he needs to in order to enable Teresa to swap bodies with Maddalena. Meanwhile, Maddalena convinces Angelantonio to transport her into Teresa's body, in order to test Tonino's ability to judge beyond outward appearances -- setting in motion the final test to Maddalena and Tonino's relationship. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide

During his all-too-short career (three starring roles in two years), James Dean helped to radically redefine the way teenagers were portrayed onscreen (and in popular culture in general), and the expressive naturalism of his performances did more to establish the "method" school of acting in the public mind than any other actor outside of Marlon Brando. James Dean is a made-for-cable biography that looks at the star's short but troubled life, his years of struggle before his sudden rise to fame, and the car crash that took his life at the age of 24. James Franco stars as James Dean, with Michael Moriarty as Winton Dean and Valentina Cervi as Pier Angeli, the actress Dean loved. Produced for the TNT cable network, James Dean first aired on August 4, 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Rien sur Robert is a smart comedy about a man haunted by his experiences. Didier Temple (Fabrice Luchini) is a journalist who writes an article about a Bosnian film he had never seen, calling it "pure fascist propaganda." (The director, Pascal Bonitzer, was once the editor of the celebrated film magazine Cahiers du Cinema. However, this episode is not based on his own experiences, but on an incident some years ago regarding Underground by Emir Kusturica, which was declared a fascist movie by the French daily, Le Monde.) Following an argument with his girlfriend, Juliette (Sandrine Kiberlain), Didier's life falls apart. He is convinced he is being followed by a dark haired man. He thinks everyone is looking at him, just waiting to insult him. He fights with his family. Juliette is fed up and leaves him for another man, a TV director she meets in a park. At a dinner party, Didier is introduced to his shadow, Jerome Sauveur (Laurent Lucas), who could be his double except that he's more handsome and writes better. Didier also encounters a strange young girl, Aurelie (Valentina Cervi), but Juliette soon comes back. All these ghosts of his life keep haunting him, and he finally winds up at the foot of Mont Blanc in rather unpleasant circumstances. Rien sur Robert was screened as part of the Panorama section of the 49th Berlin International Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

This historical drama is based on the true story of Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman to achieve success as a painter. In 17th century Italy, noted artist Orazio Gentileschi (Michel Serrault) is a portrait artist enjoying a certain degree of success and acclaim. His 17-year-old daughter Artemisia (Valentina Cervi) would like to follow the same path as her father, but women are not allowed to pursue careers in the arts, and the convent where she attends school forbids students to sketch nude models. Eager to learn, Artemisia begins posing for herself by use of a mirror; her father discovers her secret but is enthusiastic about her work, and he takes her out of school so he can tutor her in painting and drawing. Orazio forbids her to draw male nudes, but curious Artemisia persuades local men to serve as her models, and her work steadily improves. In time, Artemisia and her work come to the attention of Agostino Tassi (Miki Manojovic), a friend of her father who is a well-known painter and something of a rake. Tassi is impressed by both the art and the artist, but when he and Artemisia begin a love affair, he finds himself on trial for rape. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Comprised of a series of bizarre and unrelated incidents, this absurdist Italian comedy earned the inglorious honor of being the film with the most audience walkouts at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. In the first segment a widow attends her husband's funeral and ends up having sex with her brother-in-law beside her husband's casketed corpse. The late husband eggs them on with his ghostly comments. In scene two, a wife leaves her husband in favor of a hunky mortician. Strangely, the mortician rapidly becomes an old man while the abandoned husband becomes younger, stronger and much happier. A photographer becomes terribly paranoid after he steps on a bus passenger's foot and begs his pardon. When the passenger refuses to offer it, the photographer goes off the deep end. In another episode, a cruel headmistress at a school for social graces tries to capture and destroy a young free-spirited girl's individuality. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide