Alessandra Acciai Movies
- 2003
Long a staple of Italian theater and vocal music, Marco Filiberti makes an auspicious debut as a feature-film writer/director in this melodrama set against the decadent backdrop of the porn industry. Filiberti plays the tanned, toned, and egotistical Riki, whose name is well-known to the country's gay adult-film connoisseurs. After the death of his aristocratic father, Riki is brought back into contact with his estranged brother Federico (Urbano Barberini), who views his brother's chosen profession with a combination of disdain and curiosity. As the two reconcile their differences, Riki has to come to terms with growing up and taking responsibility, which for him includes the desire to become a father by adopting an orphan. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marco Filiberti, Urbano Barberini, (more)
Fernanda (Ingrid de Souza) is a transgendered youth who was born and raised in a small town in Brazil; though born a male, Fernanda chooses to live life as a woman, and has pulled up stakes to move to Italy and obtain sexual reassignment surgery. Fernanda discovers that Milan is one of the world's centers for transvestite prostitutes, and despite the religious scruples she was born with, Fernanda is soon nudged into a career as a sex worker. Fernanda is befriended by Charlo (Biba Lerhue), an old friend from Brazil who is now hooked on drugs and sells her body to support her habit. Charlo introduces Fernanda to Karin (Lulu Pecorari), a transvestite madame who, sensing Fernanda is an innocent at heart, treats her with care and introduces her to some of her better clients. One night, Fernanda is hired by Gianni (Cesare Bocci), who doesn't realize at first that Fernanda is biologically male; while Gianni is upset at first, he also finds himself attracted to Fernanda, and in time begins to pursue a romantic relationship with her when she's not working. Charlo and Karin tell Fernanda that Gianni is merely a gay man in deep denial, but she has fallen in love with him, and in time Gianni offers to pay for her sex change operation -- and pledges to leave his wife for her. Gianni and Fernanda move in together, but soon both are developing cold feet; Fernanda becomes nervous with the onset of her surgery, and when Gianni's wife Lidia (Alessandra Acciai) confronts him and announces she's pregnant, he wonders if he may have made the wrong decision. Princesa received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid de Souza, Cesare Bocci, (more)
- 1999
Drawing from Othello and Un ballo in maschera, Italian filmmaker (Claudia Florio) directs this English language thriller. Actress Michela (Claudia Gerini) receives the cryptic offer to assume the identity of another. When she passes, her English roommate Corinna (Susan Lynch) signs up and begins meeting with an older man (Jonathan Pryce), playing the part of a married woman being seduced by an art-forger. Though she finds herself attracted to her mysterious patron, she realizes that she is part of some great dastardly plot. She -- along with her jealous boyfriend (Enrico Silvestrio) -- sets out to discover his true motivations. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Pryce, Susan Lynch, (more)
- 1997
In this Swiss-Italian-French co-production, architect Luca (Roberto Citran) goes to the Jewish section of Venice to restore a house where reclusive novelist Elio (Omero Antonutti) lives. When Elio lets Luca read the manuscript of his current novel about a famous composer, Luca begins to imagine himself in the role of the composer. Music by Pino Donaggio who also wrote the film's operatic sequences. Shown at the 1997 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omero Antonutti, Roberto Citran, (more)
- 1996
This frothy sex comedy is based on a long-running Italian play and follows the romantic travails of two disparate roommates. While ad-man Alex is a suave lady killer with great confidence in his ability to seduce women, sax player Max is insecure and unsure of himself, something he soothes by drinking too much. While Alex could have any woman, he really pines for the elusive Eleonora, a woman who keeps him at bay while she tries to decide whether or not to remain with her older lover. Max has a brief respite from his inner demons when he falls for Anna, a singer on the romantic rebound from a devastating relationship. Meanwhile Alex' father causes a stir when he gets involved with a much younger woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
The discovery of an aborted fetus in a WW II-era Tuscan town nearly overloads the gossip mill in this black Italian comedy that is based on a play by director/screenwriter Ugo Chiti. The tale begins in 1939 just before Mussolini-controlled Italy entered the war. The fetus is unfortunately discovered on the eve of a visit by the great dictator. Wanting no trouble, the town's fascist secretary attempts a cover-up that is promptly blown with the unexpected late-night arrival of a party leader. He convinces the secretary to quickly find a scapegoat for the alleged crime. To find one, the secretary enlists the aid of his mistress. They choose the daughter of the town tart, but before they can convict her, she is examined by the town doctor whose findings set the stage for tragedy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
The turmoil between a daughter and her dying father provides the focus of this drama set in Argentina during the turbulent 50's. The family are Sicilian immigrants, and the father, Francesco rules in the traditional way with the women silently doing his bidding. Laura, his daughter, does not fit the traditional mold. She fights back. As her father slowly wastes away with tuberculosis, the relationship between the two becomes more confrontational. Laura has relationships outside the family. She talks politics with her communist friend Dora, and her lover is a politically active lawyer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Dapporto, Alessandra Acciai, (more)
- 1992
The baroness may have plenty of money on her hands, but political changes in Italy have significantly altered her place in society. Rather than be snubbed in Rome, pleading illness, she has retreated to a villa in the countryside that has fallen almost into ruin, accompanied by only one other companion, her poor cousin. The cousin is soon involved in an amorous relationship with a handsome priest. However, a con-man soon arrives on the scene, scheming for the fortune the baroness is alleged to possess. Using his sexual allure to entangle the baroness, her cousin, and the priest, he then employs his intimacies to drop a word here and another there, inspiring the two women to get together in a plan to murder the priest. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ida Di Benedetto, Marco Leonardi, (more)
