Adriana Innocenti
This unique Italian pseudo-documentary deftly blends fact with fiction in its portrait of stage, screen, and television actor Alessandro Haber (a.k.a. Antonio Hutter). Haber, considered one of Italy's finest comic actors, has worked with some of the greatest Italian directors of all time including, Bertolucci, Mastroianni, Michele Placido, and Nanni Loy. Film clips and interviews are interspliced throughout the film and the line between the truth and the story behind the comic actor's life is delightfully blurred. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alessandro Haber, Adriana Innocenti, (more)
This made-for-television film Voyage of Terror: The Achille Lauro Affair chronicles the true story of the 1985 hijacking of an Italian cruise ship by a group of Palestinians. Voyage of Terror is primarily told through the viewpoint of Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer (Burt Lancaster and Eva Marie Saint), an elderly couple who happen to be on board during the hijacking, yet the film also follows the ordeals of other hostages and the terrorists themselves, who are led by Joseph Nasser in a compelling performance. Voyage of Terror was shot on the actual Achille Lauro cruise ship and was originally aired as a two-part mini-series. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
The endearing efforts of a divorced, simple baker to capture the attentions of a bourgeois society woman fuel the action in this comedy by Pupi Avati. It is 1950 and the coastal town of Rimini is about to experience another influx of the monied elite who come to wile away their time in elegant beach houses. Among them is the wealthy Gaia (Aurore Clement), her philandering husband, and her daughter Sandra (Lidia Broccolino). Vanni the baker (Carlo Delle Piane) is excited because he has been infatuated with the beautiful Gaia for 10 years now. When Gaia asks him to prepare a graduation party for her daughter Sandra, Vanni pulls out all the stops and sinks into debt to do a good job. Meanwhile, his son Nicola (Nik Novecento) is chasing after Sandra. Without any way of knowing beforehand, Vanni is heading toward total disaster -- and an education on the morals of the worst of the Italian bourgeoisie. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Aurore Clément, Lidia Broccolino, (more)
Peppo (Roger Coggio) is married, an alcoholic, and has a teenaged son. The lovely Pauline (Elizabeth Huppert) is suicidal and has arranged everything very carefully for her coming demise. Just before she commits the fatal deed, she drives off on a goodbye drinking visit to her favorite bars. When she returns to her car, she finds Peppo lying in the back, taking a breather in the middle of a prolonged drinking bout. He drives her home, and they become acquaintances and, finally, lovers. In this comedy, they must now deal with all the suicide notes and funeral arrangements Pauline made when she was still determined to kill herself. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Coggio, Elizabeth Huppert, (more)





