Domenico Procacci Movies
A beautiful alien is sent from the planet Epsilon to pass judgment on the shameful way in which humans have mishandled their planet. Set in a near future in which humanity has made great strides in cleaning up the Earth, it begins as a grandmother tells her granddaughters a story from the past. Her tale begins in the desert outback during the dark times when people were actively ruining their planet. The naked alien is placed upon the desert where she eventually meets a surveyor who quickly gives her some clothing. As the two travel across the land, the alien constantly admonishes him for his race's carelessness and greed. She informs him that other intelligent life forms consider humans hopeless failures. Using her ability to travel instantly to any of Earth's locales, she takes the bewildered surveyor on a whirlwind tour to prove her point. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This evocative, at times chilling, Irish drama offers a bruising glimpse into the psychological effects of a bad marriage in a country where divorce is still illegal, forcing both partners to endure their torment in silence. The story begins in the present and then flashes back to different points to explain the events leading up to the central conflict. Corporal Liam is first seen drunk, quietly angry and emotionally unstable. He starts a fight with his wife Tina. Earlier in the day he had been watching the sexy, maliciously flirtatious Michelle. Later he goes with some friends, including her brother Frank, to the pub to hoist a few. Tina is seen shopping and being forced into an electronics store by a girl friend. She meets and speaks to the cheerful Ronnie, Michelle's husband. Though Michelle is unkind to him, he tries hard to ignore her constant put-downs. Though Tina quietly conveys her interest in the steady seeming Ronnie. Liam takes his lust for Michelle to an entirely different, much darker level. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
A successful Italian man living in Paris returns to Italy to exact financial revenge upon his cruel half-brothers in this Italian-French drama. Gabriele now runs a successful antique appraisal company in Paris. He lives in a fine, automated apartment which his lover Claire compares to an impenetrable box. Gabriele is haunted by his troubled youth, which is presented through flashbacks. He and his baby brother Martino were bastards. Their father was the wealthy Giancarlo Giannini who already had a family. After Gabriele's feisty and independent mother died, he and his brother were taken into their father's home. Though living in luxury's lap, the now adolescent Gabriele was mistreated by his two hateful half-brothers. He eventually ran away from that house. This is the motive behind his revenge. But to get it he must return home and therefore, must face his past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Ignazio Oliva, (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
A satirical look at Stalinism and Soviet bureaucracy, the movie is based upon a previously banned Russian novel by Vladimir Voinovich. Ivan Chonkin, an uncomplicated man with a taste for sex, is a soldier assigned to guard a broken down airplane in Red, a tiny rural village. Unbeknownst to him, World War II has erupted and his superior officers have forgotten about him. Chonkin enrages the neighbors when he moves into the home of his lover Nyura, the town postal clerk. To get revenge, the neighbors send an anonymous letter to the secret police accusing Ivan of being a spy. The dreaded NKVD immediately go the remote village to arrest Ivan, but he refuses to leave his post without direct orders from his general. In the end, Ivan Chonkin triumphs over both the secret police and the Soviet army. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gennady Nazarov, Zoya Buryak, (more)
This Australian cult film draws extremely dark humor from the story of Bubby, a man who has spent the first 35 years of his life locked in a disgusting basement by his abusive, controlling mother. Having been taught that the outside air is poisonous and that leaving home is sinful, he only realizes the truth when his long-absent father returns to disrupt the already twisted family unit. A tragic confrontation follows, forcing Bubby into the real world. Knowing nothing about life, and undoubtedly suffering from mental disturbance, he stumbles about the city, speaking in a rambling monologue made up mainly of overheard phrases. His behavior is interpreted in different ways by the people he encounters: some think him insane, while others equate his strange speech and erratic behavior with brilliance. The edgy lead performance by Nicholas Hope is key to the film's success, managing to make Bubby a figure that is both sympathetic and at times quite frightening. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicholas Hope, Ralph Cotterill, (more)
Originally titled La Corsa Dell'Innocente, this Italian drama focuses on that country's ongoing wave of kidnappings. The early scenes focus on a large, outwardly normal Italian family who happen to make their living by abducting wealthy children and holding them for ransom. When the family is wiped out by a rival gang, only 10-year-old Vito (Manuel Coalo) survives. Any other child would go to the police at this point, but Vito has been raised never to trust the police -- or anyone else, for that matter. There is an abundance of dramatic irony in store for the audience when the fleeing Vito is sheltered by the affluent Rienzi family, whose own child has recently been kidnapped. It soon becomes clear that Vito is simply not cut from his family's criminal cloth, and the decisions he makes show a clear sense of ethics and a determination to set right the vicious actions of his family. This marvelously multitextured film represented the directorial debut of Carlo Carlei. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Manuel Colao, Federico Pacifici, (more)
- 1990
Station is about a peaceful, down-to-earth railroad clerk whose life is thrown into turmoil when a rich woman on the run from the fiancee she has just left arrives at his station. The two take off together, avoiding her fiancee, and eventually falling in love. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sergio Rubini, Margherita Buy, (more)
