Antonio Petrocelli Movies

Controversial Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berluscoi is just one of the targets of writer and director Nanni Moretti's satiric focus in this sharp comedy-drama. In the 1970's, Bruno (Silvio Orlando) was one of Italy's most daring and best-respected filmmakers, while his wife Paola (Margherita Buy) was a leading box-office star. However, come the new millennium, things are a whole lot different for Bruno -- Paola is divorcing him, his production company is on the verge of bankruptcy, and he can't get a new project off the ground. When Teresa (Jasmine Trinca), a young woman down on her luck, approaches Bruno with a script, he agrees to take on the project, even though he hasn't read it and doesn't know how he'll raise the money. Bruno discovers he's put himself in hot water when he reads the screenplay and discovers it's a frontal assault on Silvio Berluscoi that doesn't shy away from allegations of his connection to organized crime, tax evasion, bribery and influence peddling. While Italian firms won't dare touch the project, Bruno discovers a Polish financier (Jerzy Stuhr) who will put up the money, but under one condition -- Bruno has to persuade box-office idol Marco Pulici (Michele Placidio) to play Berluscoi. Il Caimano (aka The Caiman) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A family struggles to go on after a devastating loss in this deeply emotional drama from Italy. Giovanni (Nanni Moretti) is a psychiatrist with a successful practice in a small community near the ocean. Giovanni has a warm relationship with his wife Paola (Laura Morante), and they have a pair of well-adjusted teenage kids, Andrea (Giuseppe Sanfelice) and Irene (Jasmine Trinca). But the family's calm is shattered when Andrea is unexpectedly killed in an accident. Giovanni finds it impossible to continue with his work, and blames himself for the death, since he was planning to go jogging with Andrea that morning before he opted instead to take an emergency call from a client. Paola and Irene try to keep their emotions in check, but both find this all but impossible as they sink further into anger and grief. The appearance of an unexpected visitor, however, forces the family to confront their feelings about Andrea. Arianna (Sofia Vigliar) is a girl who had a summer romance with Andrea the year before, and has come to town to pay him a surprise visit, unaware of his recent death. Nanni Moretti directed and co-wrote this film, while also starring as Giovanni; it was his first dramatic feature in over a decade after devoting himself to documentaries and short films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Giuseppe (Paolo Villaggio) takes his blind seven-year-old granddaughter Carla (Francesca Pipoli) from Puglia to his native Geneva. Giuseppe wants to call in an old debt in order to pay for an eye operation for the girl, and the man he needs to find in order to do so is Gaston (Jean-Luc Bideau), with whom he worked for three decades. However, when Giuseppe arrives in Geneva he finds Gaston residing in a sanitarium and his once-profitable company in economic shambles. As Giuseppe becomes reacquainted with his old friend, various revelations surface about his background and his relationship with Gaston's wife (Marie-Christine Barrault). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Horst Fantazzini was a thief who became famous in Italy for a long series of bank robberies where he made a point of never hurting his victims and behaving with as much courtesy as the situation allowed. When he was handed a 20-year prison sentence after finally being caught by the police, Fantazzini discovered life behind bars didn't agree with him, and, in 1973, he attempted to break out. This real-life escape plot provides the basis for the comedy/drama Ormai E Fatta!/Outlaw. Stefano Accosi plays the anarchist Fantazzini, who manages to sneak a gun into Piemonte, a progressive prison where he's being housed. However, Fantazzini turns out to be better at robbing banks than breaking out of jail. He ends up wounding three guards without ever getting outside, and finally takes two other guards hostage and barricades himself in an office at the jail, hoping to ransom his way out. Fantazzini's hostages, two men from Southern Italy who are new to the North and don't much care for it, are no happier in their surroundings than Horst is, and in his negotiations Fantazzini finds himself dealing with two polar opposites, a prison director who emphasizes lenience and trust, and a senior corrections officer who believes in swift, dramatic action. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A loving young husband (popular Italian comedian Antonio Albanese) goes out one night to get his pregnant wife Beatrice (Valeria Milillo) the jar of mushrooms she craves and does not return for five years. Unbeknownst to either of them, Antonio was about to buy the mushrooms when a large package fell and conked him on the head. He regained consciousness with no memory whatsoever and simply wandered away. Five years later, he returns home with his wife's mushrooms with no idea that he had lost his memory. Unfortunately, by this time Beatrice has taken up with Gotffredo (Antonio Petrocelli), an experimental musician. He is the only father, her daughter Tonina (Sara Anticoli) knows. Undeterred, Antonio launches a determined, comical campaign to win back the naturally reticent Beatrice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A former terrorist from the early 1970s, who has totally suppressed the memory of the night in which she almost executed a man; encounters her intended victim a few years after the crime was committed. He, who wound up with a bullet lodged in his skull has never forgotten her, and so begins a complex, compelling Italian psychological drama that does not provide any simplistic answers to a situation that is difficult for both parties. The woman, Lisa Venturi was convicted of terrorism and sentenced to serve a 30-year sentence. Though she has only been in prison 12 years, she is given a chance to do work release during the day. It is on her way to work that she runs into Professor Sajevo, the man she tried to kill. He shows some interest in her, but she has no idea why. Soon the meetings become a strange unspoken ritual. Every day on her way to work, he manages to block her way. Finally she begins thinking he wants to court her and so begins fabricating a perfectly normal life. He meekly seems to buy every word, but eventually, he tells her the truth. Lisa is so deeply upset at having to face what she so carefully tried to hide from herself that she gives up her job and returns to the prison so she will not have to face him. Unfortunately, it is unavoidable, as by then both of them are pulled inexorably towards more communication about the situation and the ideology that threw them together in the first place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Writer/director/actor Nanni Moretti offers a three-part film diary which takes a sharply satiric look at Italian life. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide

Psychiatrist Caruso (Francesco Nuti) is arguably as nutty as his patients. He can remember at two years old being completely besotted by the charms of a naked girl. Even today, he can think of little else besides sex, sex, sex. The person he thinks about most is his wife Giulia (Clarissa Burt), who was the girl he saw when he was two. Fortunately for him, she is equally obsessed, and by the same thing. Unluckily, she has taken a fancy to one of Caruso's patients (Ricky Tognazzi). Luckily, he has been diagnosed as a latent homosexual. Unluckily, Giulia's persuasive powers are equal to the challenge. Good luck and bad alternate in this way for the rest of the film, a box-office success in its native Italy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Lupo (Paolo Hendrel) and Edo (Giovanni Guidelli) take to the swamps after robbing a wealthy Italian in this neo-western comedy. They are pursued by the victim's son and three Austrian mercenaries. The duo goes through several memorable adventures as they encounter many offbeat characters in their travels as fugitives. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Otello (Marco Messeri) is the honest lawyer who accepts the position of planning a natural park in Italy's Po valley region. He turns down corrupt officials who offer bribes in exchange for favors. He continues his work but soon uncovers a scandal that led to the murder of an unfortunate inspector. Daria (Giulia Boschi) is a former political activist who provides love interest for the lonely lawyer, and Otello's friend Cecco (Meme Perlini) provides comedy relief in this mystery with touches of film noir. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Francesco Nuti directed this Italian romantic comedy set during the '50s in a small factory town where Cecco (Nuti) excels at billiards, pocketing 15 balls in a single stroke and becoming the world champ. When Cecco meets $1000 call girl Sissi (Sabrina Ferilli), he hires her to pose as his religious fiancee before his conservative female relatives. Sissi dreams of marriage and children, but Cecco thinks she will lured back to her lucrative life on the streets. Meanwhile, Cecco prepares for the upcoming world billiards championship. Music score by Francesco Nuti's brother, Giovanni Nuti. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Giuseppe Bertolucci (younger brother of Bernardo Bertolucci) has created a movie unusual for its all-female cast of well-known Italian actresses and for a script that gives them latitude to develop their individual characters. The story is about Laura (Lina Sastri) a young terrorist who commits a rash act of cold-blooded murder which introduces the other women in this story. Laura is in Venice when she kills a judge and a gang member who was vacillating in his commitment. The dead terrorist's mother (Rosanna Podesta) and sister (Giulia Boschi) attend his funeral in Avellino, an area devastated after a severe earthquake -- a particularly dramatic backdrop for a funeral. Back home, Laura's former nanny (Alida Valli) still lives with the family and is as astute as ever -- she figures out what Laura has done and leaves for good. Laura's mother (Lea Massari) is not as perceptive about her own daughter and can hardly believe Laura has done anything wrong, even after the police come to take her away. The effect this has on the devoted mother is totally devastating. Meanwhile, Laura is brought before a judge (Mariangela Melato) for questioning, made all the more difficult because of her critical emotional state and the judge's own personal problems. The wisdom of Laura's confession and the many "secrets" she reveals is another matter entirely. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide