Elda Ferri Movies

Master director Roberto Faenza (Sostiene Pereira) returns to the screen with this adaptation of Michal Viewegh's novel Pripad Neverne Klary. The tale opens in early 21st century Prague, Czech Republic, where a gifted young musician grows plagued by feelings of jealousy and possessiveness, and the neurosis that his gorgeous girlfriend Klara is cheating on him. He hires a private detective to spy on Klara, but this accidentally triggers a string of misunderstandings, bizarre accidents and calamities that will permanently change the lives of both partners. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Roberto Faenza's historical drama The Soul Keeper is a biopic of Sabina Spielrein. The family of depressed 19-year-old Sabina (Emilia Fox) takes her for treatment from Carl Jung (Iain Glen), whose radical approach to mental health was much derided in 1904. The treatment is successful, but the two eventually engage in an affair that displeases Carl's wife (Jane Alexander). The cured Sabina moves to the Soviet Union. The film uses the framing device of a modern-day scholar investigating what happened to Sabina after her move. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Based on an acclaimed, popular historical novel by Dacia Maraini, this 18th-century set costumer follows the adventures of a deaf-mute noblewoman who strives to escape her dark past and the social conventions that force her to remain married to a man she detests. The story begins when the already speechless title duchess is 12 years old. In hopes of shocking her back into speaking, her grandfather takes her to a hanging. The causes of Marianna's affliction are revealed slowly as the story progresses, but the whole truth is not revealed until the end. Though she is much loved by her family, they still force her to marry her ancient uncle when she is only 13. Her wedding night is horrific as is the birth of her first daughter. Her husband is desperate for an heir so she is forced to endure his unwanted attentions until she is finally able to bear him a son. Despite her oppressive life, Marianna is able to find freedom in subtle ways. She also has time to save a peasant girl from a terrible situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Fuzzy memories of Anne Frank's diary sometimes cause people to forget that at the height of World War II, Nazi-occupied Amsterdam was not a safe haven for Jews. While many people in the Netherlands and elsewhere risked their lives to protect them, a great many more enthusiastically assisted the Nazis in mistreating them. This children's drama is based on the autobiographical book Kinderjaren by Jonah Oberski. Beginning with his recollections as a four-year old boy, he witnesses the increasing isolation and persecution of his Jewish family living in Amsterdam, until finally they are rounded up and sent to an internment camp. There, while his mother goes mad and his father grows increasingly ill, he is unwittingly drawn to become a member of the group of boys that help with the running of the camp. Jonah is played by two boys: Luke Petterson plays him as a young boy, and Jenner Del Vecchio plays him as an adolescent. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Three women living in Toronto find themselves confronting emotional crises regarding the men in their lives in this drama. Olivia (Sophia Loren) is a woman who spends her days looking after her husband, John (Pete Postlethwaite), who is confined to a wheelchair. Olivia has long aspired to a career as an artist, but John, not emotionally generous, refuses to hear of her wasting her time on such things. However, Olivia does find encouragement from an unlikely source -- Max (Gérard Depardieu), an eccentric French gardener. Natalia (Mira Sorvino) is a news photographer who, while on assignment in Angola, took a memorable portrait of a crying child orphaned by war. Her father, Alexander (Klaus-Maria Brandauer), also a well-known photojournalist, is understandably proud of Natalia when her photo is used on the cover of a major news magazine, but she is haunted by the knowledge that while she made the child famous, she couldn't save its life. And Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger) is a woman whose father, Alan (Malcolm McDowell), beat her mother to death when she was young. Catherine has never been able to resolve her hatred of her father, and when Alan is released from prison, she's willing to abandon her husband, her children, and her career as a musician to track him down and kill him, unable to accept the notion that he's a changed man. Between Strangers was directed by Edoardo Ponti, whose mother happens to be Sophia Loren; it marks the first time the two have worked together. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this WW II tragicomedy, famed Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (The Monster) portrays Guido, who moves during the '30s from the country to a Tuscan town, where he is entranced by schoolteacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, Benigni's real-life wife). Dora likes Guido, but she remains faithful to her pompous fiancé, so Guido has an uphill struggle. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic attitudes lead to attacks against Guido's Jewish uncle (Giustino Durano). Leaping ahead to five years later, during WW II, Guido and Dora are married and have a son Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). After they are imprisoned in a concentration camp, Guido goes to elaborate lengths to keep his son from understanding the truth of their situation. He tells the boy that they are competing with others to win an armored tank -- so everything from food shortages to tattoos is explained as necessary for participation in the contest. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide