Filippo Ascione Movies
- 2006
Italian director Carmine Amoroso's politically tinged, slice-of-life seriocomedy Cover Boy... Last Revolution details the wild, unpredictable, and bittersweet experiences of Ioan (Eduard Gabia), an illegal Romanian immigrant who passes into Italy undetected and attempts to eke out a life for himself in the land of Caesar. After an introductory montage of stock footage dramatizing Romanian political history -- including the fall of Ceausescu -- Amoroso moves into Ioan's personal story. When his father, Florin (Gabriel Spahiu), is shot dead in Bucharest, Ioan accepts an invitation from a friend to travel with him to Italy, but en route, authorities discover the friend's illegal immigrant status and promptly deport him, leaving Ioan to fend for himself. In a seemingly chance encounter, the young traveler meets Michele (Luca Lionello), a fourtysomething who promptly invites Ioan to share a room with him -- never admitting his sublimated gay attraction to the newcomer. For a time, Ioan struggles to keep himself afloat with menial jobs -- until a sexy and enterprising young fashion photographer notices Ioan and sees in him Milan's freshest modeling sensation. She thus ensures that Ioan's life will never be the same. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Luca Lionello, Chiara Caselli, (more)
- 1999
In this bawdy Italian comedy, Nino (Alessandro Gassman) and his buddy Sergio (Enrico Brignano) are a pair of aspiring actors who decide to move to New York in hope of breaking into the business. Nino and Sergio meet another Italian expatriate at an audition, a sexy young woman named Daisy (Lola Pagnani), and when the trio meet up with part-time actor and most-of-the-time waiter Gaetano (Rocco Papaleo), they get a "brilliant" idea -- as an acting exercise and a way of making a few bucks, they'll pose as a powerful Mafia family that's just arrived in town. The truly remarkable part is that the venerable Don Vito (Vittorio Gassman) actually falls for the ruse, and to shore up his crime empire even tries to arrange a marriage between Nino and his chaste daughter Immacolata (Chiara Muti). A framing device turns most of the action into a movie-within-a-movie, even going so far as to report how well the internal movie did at the box office. Shelley Winters plays an acting teacher in a cameo; Winters and fellow cast member Vittorio Gassman were married from 1952 to 1954. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alessandro Gassman, Enrico Brignano, (more)
- 1997
Porzia, a beautiful and feisty aristocrat leaves her convent school when her wealthy, blue-blooded fiancé sends a small military regiment to bring her home for their wedding. Handsome Captain Palagano has been particularly charged with keeping the virginal lass safe and intact. The journey across the picturesque country starts off peacefully enough, but when brigands attack, only the girl and Bartolo, a humble coachman, are left alive. Determined to get her home, he and she make the rest of the trip on horseback. Though rude in manner and uneducated, Bartolo proves to be a loyal and courageous ally who sees Porzia through many adventures. This beautifully rendered costume drama offers chaste adventure and fun suitable for the entire family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergio Rubini, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, (more)
- 1994
Nastassja Kinski headlines this Italian romantic-tragedy which tells the story of a lonely man and a mysterious blonde amnesiac. The film is set in Milan. Tommaso has a slight physical disability and is very shy. One night upon returning home, he accidently hits a beautiful blonde woman who falls onto his doorstep with amnesia. At first Tommaso does not welcome her intrusion into his life, but then slowly, comes to love her. Unfortunately her memory returns and she returns to her previous life as the lover of Alberto, an aspiring major drug dealer. He is getting ready to field a major coke deal, but the blonde has other plans for Alberto. Tommaso pursues her and refuses to accept her rejection of him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nastassja Kinski, Sergio Rubini, (more)
- 1994
This Italian psychological thriller is based on as novel by Georges Simenon. Delon is an immoral, gynecologist who frequently cheats on his wife. He is also very successful and has a richly appointed office in Brussels. His good life begins to change when he finds himself receiving death threats and a mysterious teddy bear. After he finds himself responsible for two deaths, he relinquishes his womanizing ways and goes back home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alain Delon, Francesca Dellera, (more)
- 1994
Reverse sexual harassment is the focus of this Italian film. Copy editor Aldo finds himself the object of Clara, an important publisher with a taste for seducing and devouring handsome young executives. Though Aldo is not terribly handsome, Clara is attracted by his sweetness and she seeks to "own" him. She employs a variety of manipulative and demeaning technique to make poor Aldo more amenable to her "charms." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margherita Buy, Sergio Rubini, (more)
- 1993
Their father (Barry Morse) is a wealthy, world-renowned painter, and he brought the three siblings (two sons and a daughter) up in lavish style. The three children have had a falling out over the years, as much due to their differing lifestyles as anything else. Gregorio (Carlo Verdone) is a radio disk jockey, freewheeling and not very conventional. Vanni (Sergio Rubini) is a very stiff-necked concert pianist, the soul of propriety. Finally, Livia (Francesca Neri) is used to being the center of attention and the toast of all men's eyes - which she hardly is for her brothers. In this domestic comedy, when these three individualist's father goes missing, they unite to find him and begin to work out their differences in a more amicable way than before. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carlo Verdone, Francesca Neri, (more)
Director Federico Fellini gently lampoons the world of small-time show business in Ginger and Fred. Giulietta Masina and Marcello Mastroianni star as Amelia Bonetti and Pippo Botticella, a onetime celebrity song-and-dance team. Having risen to fame with a dancing act where they recreated the acts of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (hoping to become the Fred and Ginger of Italy), Amelia and Pippo parted company to pursue their separate lives. Neither one was particularly successful in other fields of endeavor, so when after many years Amelia is offered a guest-star gig on a TV variety show, she jumps at the chance. She also seeks out her former partner, Pippo, who may have looked like Astaire in his younger days, but now....The overall good cheer of the film was dampened when the real Ginger Rogers sued the distributors of Ginger and Fred for "defamation of character." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcello Mastroianni, Giulietta Masina, (more)
