Domenico Procacci Movies

Directed by Gian Tavarelli, Liberi (Break Free) centers on the freckle-faced Vince (Elio Germano), whose life in a Roman mountain village is unfulfilling, to say the least. His father Cenzo (Luigi Maria Burruano) lost his job after a local chemical plant closed; shortly afterward, Cenzo's wife Paola (Anita Zagaria) dumped him for a politician. Fed up, Vince travels to the beach town of Pescara and lands a job as a junior cook at a tourist resort. While there, he falls in love with Genny (Nicole Grimaudo), a waitress plagued by a phobia of traveling. Just as the romance begins to take off, Cenzo appears at Vince's doorstep demanding that his son help him get Paola back. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Matteo Garrone's The Embalmer tells the sad story of a love triangle. Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux), a mob-connected dwarf who works as a taxidermist, establishes a working relationship with Valerio (Valerio Foglia Manzillo), who loves animals. The closeted Peppino, who carries a torch for Valerio, is threatened when Valerio takes up with Deborah (Elisabetta Rocchetti), who moves in with the pair. Soon the tension leads to horrible acts committed by and on the different members of the group. The Embalmer was screened at the Director's Fortnight during the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Daniele Vicari's Velocita Massima (Maximum Velocity (V-Max)) is an Italian film about the sub-culture of street racing. Seventeen-year-old Claudio (Cristiano Morroni) goes to work for mechanic Stefano (Valerio Mastandrea), being paid little but promised the ownership of a car Claudio has been rebuilding that Stefano will assist with. Claudio consistently loses to champion street racer Fischio (Ivan De Matteo). Although Claudio is much closer to Stefano than to his own father, he and Stefano have troubles when Claudio takes up with Giovanna (Alessia Barela), who is a former girlfriend of Stefano's. Maximum Velocity (V-Max) was screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Experimental director Rolf DeHeer's film The Tracker depicts a controversial moment in the Australian justice system, in doing so taking on a popular topic among Australian filmmakers--the complicated and too often racist relationship between Aboriginals and locals. When an Aboriginal tracker (David Gulpilil) leads the manhunt for a fugitive native, a series of atrocities are performed on the ancient tribe by a sadistic policeman participating in the search party. The line between savage and civilian is blurred beyond recognition when Fanatic (Gary Sweet), the policeman, massacres a large group of peaceful Aboriginals. It eventually becomes clear that the tracker, who purposely keeps the Aboriginal a half-day ahead of the search party, is in control of the operation and has his own mysterious agenda. DeHeer takes a unique approach in the direction of this film; opting to show graphic paintings by artist Peter Coad during violent moments in lieu of filming bloody scenes among the actors. The drama itself is often contradicted by haunting, plaintive songs with lyrics written by DeHeer himself. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

A young man fascinated with the workings of the world of banking forms an alliance with an unscrupulous corporate predator in this drama. Jim Doyle (David Wenham) developed an interest in finance while he was a young boy growing up in a small Australian town, and as an adult he and his partners have developed BTSE (Bank Training Simulation Experiment), a sophisticated computer program that can anticipate the ups and downs of the world's money markets. Jim's program attracts the interest of Simon O'Riley (Anthony LaPaglia), the head of a major Aussie financial services corporation, Centabank; O'Riley is looking to cut costs and increase profits, and he's convinced BTSE can help him do just that. However, O'Riley has other, more aggressive ways of boosting his bottom line; Centabank has been shutting down small-town branch offices that have been faithfully serving customers for decades, and has developed a new enthusiasm for foreclosing on loans from smaller customers having trouble making ends meet. Two such customers are Wayne and Diane Davis (Steve Rodgers and Mandy McElhinney), who obtained a loan to start their own business building houseboats; when the local economy went into a nosedive, the Davises found themselves under the thumb of Centabank, and the bank's hounding of the couple led to an unfortunate accident that took the life of their young son. Determined to make Centabank pay for their son's death, Wayne takes on the corporation with the help of Stephen (Mitchell Buell), an activist lawyer. Jim, meanwhile, becomes romantically involved with Michelle (Sibylla Budd), a Centabank employee, and through her gets a clearer idea of just what O'Riley is trying to do. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Danny (Noah Taylor) is a young man seemingly used to chaos, but he soon discovers that the fates are more than capable of dishing out more than he can handle in this offbeat Australian comedy. By his own count, thirtyish Danny has found himself sharing living quarters with one or more friends more than four dozen times in the past; one might imagine this would make him immune to roommate problems, but that soon proves not to be the case. While sharing a house in Brisbane with a handful of sloppy guys -- and one woman, Sam (Emily Hamilton), who ought to know better -- Danny finds himself obsessing over his most recent relationship, which crashed and burned six months before. The arrival of Anya (Romane Bohringer) picks up Danny's spirits, until he discovers she's dating Sam; this sets off his impulsive instincts, and too much spending (and too much damage to his rented house) forces Danny to high-tail it to Melbourne. Sam soon follows, smarting from a break-up with Anya, and she ends up sharing a flat with Danny. Danny's money management skills have not improved a bit, and he is soon on the run to Sydney, where he and Sam find themselves crashing with Nina (Sophie Lee), an actress with an eating disorder, and her gay friend Dirk (Francis McMahon). Just as Danny and Sam seem to be getting settled, Anya arrives, looking to reconcile with Sam; things get complicated for Danny, and he ends up moving in with Flip (Brett Stewart), an old friend with a severe drug problem. He Died With A Felafel In His Hand was adapted from the popular novel by Australian author John Birmingham. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When Yugoslavian-born filmmaker Emir Kusturica isn't busy directing films like Crna Macka, Beli Macor and Dom Za Vesanje, he plays guitar with the No Smoking Orchestra (aka Zabranjeno Pusenje), a ten-piece ensemble that blends the folk music styles of the Balkans with the anarchic energy of rock & roll; the group has won a large and devoted audience in Europe for their witty, raucous music, which often features lyrics that are pointedly critical of the political situation in their native Sarajevo. Super 8 Stories, which was shot using both Super-8 film and portable Digital Video cameras, offers a look at the band's fascinating 20-year history of battling political censorship and struggling to survive the violent upheavals in the Balkans, as they tour Europe in the wake of their acclaimed 2000 album Unza Unza Time. Joe Strummer, former leader of the Clash and a fan of the No Smoking Orchestra, briefly sits in with the band for one number. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A passionate look at the struggle between the Italian Fascist army of World War II and their anti-Fascist counterparts, Il Partigiano Johnny views its subject matter through the eyes of an English literature student, Johnny (Stefano Dionisi), who has returned from his studies to his hometown in Northern Italy. Upon his return, Johnny discovers that his town has been ravaged by Germans and local Fascists summarily killing deserters, and he decides to join a shoddily organized band of anti-Fascists. Due to the group's poor organization, all the members except Johnny fall victim to their enemies, leaving Johnny to take up with another unit. But as his friends in the new unit are killed one after the other, Johnny's struggle becomes even more intense, and he is able to rely only on his courage and his surviving comrades to pull him through. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Popular Italian rock star Luciano Ligabue made his directorial debut with this Italian drama based on Fuori e dentro il borgo, his collection of autobiographical short stories about growing up in small-town Italy of the '70s. DJ Bruno (Lucian Federico) reflects on the past, a small circle of friends, and the hopes of their generation. At the group's core is Freccia (Stefano Accorsi), a heroin user until Marzia (Patrizia Piccinini) steps in to help him kick the habit. As expected, Iena (Alessio Modica) marries and settles down, while unhappy Boris (Roberto Zibetti) is a victim of his own cynicism, and Tito (Enrico Salimbeni) is driven to violence by his dysfunctional family. An older bartender (singer-songwriter Francesco Guccini) listens to the group's woes and dreams. Along with a guitar score and a closing-credits song by Ligabue, tunes of the time include ones by Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, and David Bowie. Shown at the 1998 Venice Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Maurizio Sciarra made his feature directorial debut with this Sicilian love story amid the tensions of Italy's fascist period. The romantic drama is adapted from Domnico Campanas' novel about an aristocratic anti-fascist, the Marquis of Acquafurata (Giancarlo Giannini). The nobleman secretly leaves Paris and returns to his ancestral home in southern Sicily. Posing as his own butler, he plans to sell his palazzo and its antiques, while also offering aid to local anti-fascists in a rescue of the artist Modigliani from his prison on the island of Lampedusa. When he gives his townhouse to a country family as a move to keep it from the fascists, he comes in contact with young peasant girl Rosalia (Tiziana Lodato), and a romance develops. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In 1996, Australian director Rolf de Heer made The Quiet Room about a mentally retarded boy locked in a room by his mother. He continues to explore challenges to the human spirit, teaming here with cerebral palsy victim Heather Rose whose small role in de Heer's Bad Boy Bubby (1993) led to her interest in filmmaking. The wheelchair-bound Rose, who cannot walk, feed or dress herself, communicates via her computerized electronic voice synthesizer. She overcame these obstacles to collaborate with writer Frederick Stahl on this drama, created the lead role of Julia for herself, and brought the project to de Heer. Julia's sympathetic lesbian sister Rix (Rena Owen) is not in a position to take care of her sibling's needs. Instead, Julia depends on an abusive, short-tempered caretaker Madelaine (Joey Kennedy), who calls Julia a "spastic," abandons her on the toilet, leaves the wheels locked on the wheelchair, and devises further torment by forcing Julia to watch her intimacies with a parade of boyfriends. This pattern heads in a different direction after Julia bumps her wheelchair into Eddie (John Brumpton), who becomes her companion. But Julia wants love and sex, not just companionship -- and Madelaine is jealous. The 30-day shoot sometimes worked around Rose's usual routines, as de Heer explained, "Lunch takes her two hours, and there's no way you can make it go faster...The nature of response is different, the nature of physical handling is different, the nature of set-up time is different...It's impossible to overstate the courage of the performance you see on the screen. Rose somehow found the means to respond on cue, to maintain the concentration, to move in the desired direction, all the myriad of acting fundamentals we take for granted as normal things in our normal lives." The result brought a standing ovation at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, where it was shown in competition. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The English title of this complex Italian film is apt. Featuring 65 main characters and 130 speaking parts (famous faces abound and many of the actors appeared gratis), and ranging in tone from tartly humorous to darkly tragic, it presents 30 interwoven slices from the lives of modern day Romans during a single day. The lone, silent figure of a lone jogger provides a sort of continuity between the vignettes. Beginning at sunset of the previous day, the jogger is seen warming up on his apartment terrace, looking for all the world as if he would like to jump. The rest of the stories seem to be randomly presented. Stories include the robbery of a Chinese restaurant that causes a birthday celebrant to die of fright, two different newlyweds who find themselves attracted to each other, an opportunistic mechanic's plan to capitalize on the death of a rival, a sneaky, sadistic meter maid and others. One uniting feature of the stories is their underlying bitter assessment of modern humanity. People are seen as selfish and basically cruel, still the stories move quickly and the balance between humor and drama, affection and cynicism, and shallowness and complexity is carefully maintained. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide