Eros Pagni Movies
- 2000
Three childhood friends are each confronted with different sides of the tumultuous impact of WWII in this period drama from Italy. Andrea (Andrea Renzi), Guido (Stephane Indovina), and Nives (Lorenza Indovina) grew up together in a city along the Italian coastline. Andrea was the son of a successful druggist who studied medicine according to his father's wishes, even though he dreamed of being a writer. Guido's father was a merchant seaman, and Guido was expected to follow in Dad's footsteps, though he is a gifted musician. And Nives is a woman who loved both men as they loved her. As the War draws to a close, Guido, who became a member of Mussolini's Black Brigade, has been emotionally shattered by the atrocities he witnessed. Andrea is in charge of the hospital where Guido struggles through his delirium; Andrea and Nives try to guide Guido through his mental chaos by recalling the happier days of their youth. Sulla Spiaggia E Di La Molo was based on the novel by popular Italian author Mario Tobino. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Omero Antonutti, Stéphane Freiss, (more)
- 1998
This complexly plotted comedy interweaves snippets from the lives of nearly 40 diverse patrons sitting at 14 tables in a little Italian trattoria. Though the diners come from all levels of society, most are bound by one or two common threads: their engagement in illicit romantic affairs and the fact that they are, for the most part, morally and spiritually bankrupt. The restaurant's unflappable, wise owner Flora (Fanny Ardant) is the only one with any real common sense. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Fanny Ardant, Vittorio Gassman, (more)
- 1994
An elderly Roman cabbie bids adieu to his beloved horse in this tearful drama. Gaetano and Nestor, his horse, have always enjoyed squiring the tourists around Rome. But then the owner of the cab tells Gaetano that he is fired. The poor old man is ordered to return the cab in Cinecitta and to take Nestor to the slaughterhouse. He is then to get to an old-folks home. Gaetano goes along initially, but then suddenly rebels. He and Nestor go out looking for a better ending. Unfortunately they are doomed before they start. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alberto Sordi, Matteo Ripaldi, (more)
- 1991
Giacomo (Francisco Magaldi) works at a boat sales and rental agency in a nowhere town in Italy. His life seems to be at a complete standstill, until he meets the sexy widow of a rich man (Rosella Testa). Everyone in town suspects that she killed the man for his money, but Giacomo is drawn to her. Soon, he is the recipient of mysterious confidences by strangers and is drawn into an ever-widening web of confusing incidents. At the same time he is developing a romantic relationship with the widow, whom he discovers to be innocent of the crime she is accused of. Meanwhile, he has been induced to commit some murderous acts himself and is about to be carted off to jail. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Silvio Vannucci
- 1987
In this uninspired drama, Teresa (Serena Grandi) considers marriage to a wealthy German baron. She agrees to marry him but has reservations when she walks to the altar. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Serena Grandi, Luca Barbareschi, (more)
- 1982
Marshall McLuhan's statement that the "media is the message" might well be amended by this film to say the "media creates the message." When two prisoners escape from jail and hole up in the apartment of a well-off yet middle-class family -- now held hostage -- the more forward of the two escapees calls the local television station, requesting that they broadcast his demand for a plane to get himself and his cohort out of the country. Once this concession to the power of the televised media is given, the rest follows logically behind. In essence, the television director brings his crew in to film the entire hostage crisis, but hardly satisfied with real-life drama as it unfolds, he proceeds to "direct" the drama for the camera crew, at one point even handing a gun back to the crook so his film coverage will not be interrupted. When a doctor (the apartment owner) removes a bullet from a guard whom the convicts brought with them, the director has him put the bullet back in so it can be filmed as it is taken out -- the world of "instant replay" taking on a reality that overcomes all logic. Needless to say, even when the convicts manage to escape from the building, the television crew is the first to catch up with them, recording every movement "live." ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Franco Nero, Gabriele Ferzetti, (more)
- 1977
- R
In this dramatic romance, a piano teacher seduces one of her son's friends, who proceeds to fall in love with one of the teacher's students, causing tremendous jealousy. ~ Steve Huey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ornella Muti, Senta Berger, (more)
The film that has become the master work in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's canon, Deep Red holds up brilliantly despite the plethora of copycat slasher films it inspired in the years to follow. The film opens with a flashback murder shown from the perspective of a child while an eerie nursery rhyme plays. Cut to the present, pianist Marc Daly (David Hemmings) witnesses the murder of a psychic while chatting with his drunken pal, Carlo (Gabriele Lavia). While the police investigate, Marc joins forces with attractive reporter Gianna (Daria Nicolodi). Once Marc realizes that he is a target for the killer, he seeks help from Giordani (Glauco Mauri), a professor of the paranormal, who soon becomes one of the killer's victims. Marc's research leads him to an abandoned house where he discovers a secret room that hides a corpse. Before he can call the cops, he is knocked out and awakens to find the place in flames while Gianna holds him. Racing to the neighbors to call for help, Marc discovers an important clue that leads him to a nearby school where he finally finds the killer's identity. The madman attacks him, but the police arrive to save Marc. Though the case appears to be solved, Marc comes to the disturbing realization that one piece of the puzzle remains. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, (more)
- 1974
Lina Wertmuller's flamboyant satire is an acquired taste, and this unpleasant sociopolitical comedy may be the acid test for potential devotees. Luigi Diberti stars in a scathing look at a group of rural youths who share a Milan apartment-commune in order to combat the economic oppression of urban life. Giuseppe Rotunno's evocative camerawork brings a consistency of tone to even Wertmuller's most extreme indulgences, such as a slaughterhouse ballet, but many viewers will be left scratching their heads wondering what it all means. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
Originally released in Italy as Film d'Amore e d'Anarchia, Lina Wertmuller's Love and Anarchy is set in the fascist-dominated Italy of the 1930s. Giancarlo Giannini plays an idealistic farmer swept up in an anti-fascist underground movement. His first task as a member is to assassinate Mussolini (talk about your initiation stunts!) While preparing to carry out his assignment, Giannini takes up residence in a whorehouse run by Mariangela Melato, another anti-Mussolinite. Giannini's resolve to carry out the assassination is weakened by his love for one of Melato's prostitutes, as well as his own essentially gentle nature. Love and Anarchy was the first of Wertmuller's films to gain a U.S. release. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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