Massimo Dapporto Movies
- 1995
- R
In 1945, filmmaker Roberto Rossellini released the daring Rome, Open City, a film that sharply criticized the Nazis and became a cornerstone of the Italian Neorealist movement. This Italian drama tells the fascinating true story of the film's genesis. Originally Rossellini and his screenwriter wanted the film to chronicle and comment upon the Nazi occupation of Rome. After finding a suitable cast they began making the film and then showed a few rushes to outspoken producer Pepino Amato who was so upset by the radical message that he walked out, taking his financial backing with him. Fortunately, the director manages to find backing from an enigmatic countess. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This Italian political thriller takes a look at a recent government scandal wherein everyone from politicos to chiefs of police to secret service people and financiers were involved in receiving kickbacks. Though the tale is fictionalized, many of its characters are based on real people, and as a result, co-producer Luciano Martino received several anonymous death threats before the film was released. The film centers on the efforts of a courageous cop, Carlo Tommasi, who works on the anti-Mafia squad. He is assigned to look into the bombing in downtown Milan that resulted in the deaths of five people. Although Ravida, the head of the secret service, quickly serves up a suspect, neither the state prosecutor Francesca Savona nor a straight-arrow minister believes that the suspect is guilty. While in prison, the suspect mysteriously dies. Soon more begin to die until Tommasi is able to find the perpetrator of it all, a former agent for Ravida. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A young soldier is brutally raped and attempts to bring the culprit to justice in this Italian drama. The victim is 20-year-old Saro, a naïve young man who has left his tiny mountain village to join the Airborne Assault force. His first real friend is sergeant Tricarico who shows Saro around the local dance clubs. At first Saro doesn't realize that his sergeant is a homosexual, but when he figures it out he takes off and gets a ride back to the base with Scarpa, the owner of the town car dealership. Poor Saro doesn't realize that he is no safer with Scarpa who is in cahoots with the sadistic, bisexual Capt. Roatta who is concealed in the back of Scarpa's car. Sure enough it is during the ride that Saro is attacked and raped. He doesn't see the attacker's face, but he does recognize the man's watch. Roatta is slated to marry the town mayor's daughter so when Saro attempts to get him convicted of rape, he orders Tricarico to do all he can to break the young man's spirit. Saro's life becomes a living hell, but this does not stop him from pursuing the justice he deserves. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The turmoil between a daughter and her dying father provides the focus of this drama set in Argentina during the turbulent 50's. The family are Sicilian immigrants, and the father, Francesco rules in the traditional way with the women silently doing his bidding. Laura, his daughter, does not fit the traditional mold. She fights back. As her father slowly wastes away with tuberculosis, the relationship between the two becomes more confrontational. Laura has relationships outside the family. She talks politics with her communist friend Dora, and her lover is a politically active lawyer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Dapporto, Alessandra Acciai, (more)
- 1992
Tony is well-to-do and married. He owns a little villa on the Sicilian coast which he occasionally uses for liaisons with his mistress Margherita. He's involved with her in one or two other little projects, as well. One day, he arrives at the villa for an evening of pleasure and encounters a scruffy young thief as he tosses the joint for money and salable items. He brains him with some crockery, and then he and his girlfriend patch up the boy's wounds and send him off with some money. The thief tells his story to his pals, and they tell him that there's more money to be made from that duo. He begins by blackmailing them separately but falls in love with Margherita and seeks Tony's help in going straight so he can woo her. Unfortunately for him, he faces a number of obstacles, one of which is insurmountable. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Federica Moro, Massimo Dapporto, (more)
Bear witness to the rise of the most corrupt and ruthless ruler ever to preside over the Roman Empire as filmmaker Paul Marcus tells the tale of Nero's unlikely ascent to the throne, and his historical fall at the hands of his own vengeful kingdom. After murdering his sister's husband on grounds of conspiracy, the increasingly incoherent Caligula exiles his grieving sibling and sets into motion a devious plan that will one-day find her son Lucius presiding over all of Rome. Beset on all sides by tyranny and bloodlust, Lucius rises to power as Nero while facing the constant wrath of all who oppose his legacy. His paranoia soon reaching a fever pitch, Nero struggles to maintain power as his army, his people, and his own mother, ultimately turn against him. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergio Castellitto, Chiara Caselli, (more)
- 1991
This detective drama explores the labyrinthine byways of the Sicilian and Italian mind when confronted with ancient family secrets and treasures in the course of a murder investigation. In the story, an eminent diplomat returns unexpectedly to his remote villa near a small Sicilian town to hunt for some correspondence between his family members and the famous Italian historical figures, Pirandello and Garibaldi. While there, he calls the police, but before they can get around to seeing him, he has been killed. After that, every step they make towards solving his murder leads them deeper into complications. The two feuding policemen on the case (Ricky Tognazzi and Ennio Fantastichinni) are forced to call on a professor Gian Maria Volontè) for help in unraveling the tangled threads from the past which connect to the murder. This intricate whodunit is based on a celebrated novella by Leonardo Sciascia). ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Ennio Fantastichini, (more)
- 1988
Giorgio (Leonardo Ruta) is infatuated with his pretty but pretentious 16-year-old cousin Mignon (Celine Beauvallet) in this light comedy. Mignon is the wealthy cousin from Paris who vacations in Italy during the summer. Giorgio falls for the aloof female while his mother (Stefania Sandrelli) has an affair with her brother-in-law. Meanwhile, her bookstore-owner husband is carrying on with a female employee. Mignon learns her father faces jail time when he is found guilty of using bad building materials. Her experience with her Italian relatives coupled with her father's imprisonment helps bring her closer to Giorgio and his family. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stefania Sandrelli, Jean-Pierre Duriez, (more)
- 1988
This historical drama and murder mystery concerns the efforts of playwright Carlo Goldoni (Vincent Spano) to figure out who killed his patron and benefactor Spinoza. The lively action involves everyone who is anyone in 1735 Venice's high society. The mystery escalates when everyone of Goldoni's potential backers is killed. The Grand Inquisitor (Victor Lanoux) even suspects the playwright himself. Eventually the mystery is solved, and Goldoni is once again free to produce his groundbreaking plays and court his beloved Nicoletta (Isabel Russinova). One highlight of the movie is the spirited performance given by Wojtek Pszoniak as the composer Antonio Vivaldi. Goldoni (1707-1793) broke with centuries-long Italian and European tradition by replacing the unscripted comedies performed by improvisational commedia del arte troupes with fully written out plays. He is considered to be a key figure, along with Shakespeare and Moliere, in the development of modern drama. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Spano, Wojciech Pszoniak, (more)
- 1987
- PG
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Fanny Ardant, (more)
- 1987
When tough-minded slum dweller Claudio Scanna Claudio Amendola is drafted into the Italian Army for his obligatory one-year tour of service, he hardly expects to have to serve the entire year on latrine duty. However, that's just what happens in this exposé of injustices of the draft system. Claudio has inadvertently humiliated his lieutenant, a petty and small-minded man who cannot abide the knowledge that Claudio is definitely a better man than he is. Before the year is out, though, they will have a definitive confrontation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Amendola, Massimo Dapporto, (more)
