Monica Bellucci Movies
Film critics are quick to compare Monica Bellucci to previous Italian beauties, but she is her own brand of sultry icon. With roles as a topless vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula, a taciturn war widow in Malèna (2000), a charmed courtesan in Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) (2002), and a sci-fi vixen in the Matrix sequels (2003), Bellucci has proved to be a bold blend of earthy and ethereal, actress and star.Born on September 30, 1968, Bellucci grew up in the small Italian village of Citta di Castello, where her father owned a trucking company. At 18, she enrolled at the University of Perugia with plans to study law. To pay her tuition, Bellucci started modeling. Two years later, she dropped out of school to relocate to Milan, where she signed with Elite Model Management. Besides strutting the cat walk in fashion shows, Bellucci appeared in international advertising campaigns for designers such as Dolce & Gabbana. With her modeling career in full swing, she began to take acting classes and made her screen debut in the television film Vita Coi Figli (Life With the Sons) in 1990.
After acting in several Italian features, Bellucci graced American screens for the first time as one of Dracula's (Gary Oldman) brides in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), which also starred Keanu Reaves and Winona Ryder. She subsequently returned to Italy to appear in the heist film I Mitici (The Heroes) (1994) and the children's movie Palla di Neve (Snowball) (1995). As time passed, Bellucci grew increasingly frustrated with the failure of Italy's film industry to promote its projects abroad. She starred opposite Ben Kingsley and Dominique Sanda in the American television movie Joseph (1995), before looking for work in French films.
Bellucci made her French-language debut in 1996's award-winning romance L'Appartement (The Apartment). She earned a César nomination for her performance in the role, as well as began dating her co-star, French actor Vincent Cassel. The couple (who married a few years later) re-teamed onscreen immediately, portraying comically troubled lovers in the gender-bending romance Come Mi Vuoi (As You Want Me) (1996) and murderous bank robbers in Jan Kounen's infamous thriller Dobermann (1997).
In 2000, Bellucci returned to Hollywood to play Gene Hackman's estranged trophy wife in Under Suspicion. The film's director, Stephen Hopkins, had seen L'Appartement on a transatlantic flight and requested that she star in the thriller. That same year, the actress earned unprecedented worldwide acclaim for her performance as the title character in Malèna. Helmed by award-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, the film featured Bellucci as a quiet young bride who is left alone in a small Sicilian town when her husband goes off to fight in World War II. Stunningly attractive, she struggles to keep her dignity as she is spurned by the female villagers and preyed upon by the men. Bellucci followed up Malèna's success with another international hit, Christophe Gans' genre hybrid Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) (2002). The stylish cross between period piece and kung-fu flick (which also starred Cassel) was the fourth most successful film of its year in France. After conquering Europe, the film became an art house hit in the States and Bellucci received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress from the U.S. Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.
The subject of numerous fan sites and men's magazine articles, Bellucci went on to star as the seductive Queen of the Nile in the comic book adaptation Astérix & Obélisk: Mission Cléopâtre. In 2001, she joined Dracula co-star Keanu Reeves in the cast of the highly anticipated follow-ups to The Matrix (1999), The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and The Matrix Revolutions (2003). Soon after, Bruce Willis personally chose Bellucci to play a humanitarian doctor whom he must save from war-torn Nigeria in Tears of the Sun, director Antoine Fuqua's follow-up to his hit Training Day (2001).
In 2004, Bellucci's momentum continued to build when she starred as Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson's self-produced blockbuster retelling of the final 12 hours of Jesus Christ. In the wake of that film's success, Bellucci teamed with two other renowned directors, Terry Gilliam and Spike Lee, with roles in The Brothers Grimm and She Hate Me, respectively. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
Richard Bean directs this slick, ultra-cool noir thriller about a master pickpocket sucked into the realm of gangland violence. Franck Spadone (Stanislas Mehrar), along with his two sidekicks, swipe the wallet of gorgeous, depressed stripper Laura (Monica Bellucci) while working the Paris Metro. Awestruck by the image of the stripper, Spadone begins hanging out at the club where she works, which is a Mafia den where a band of mobsters are plotting the next battle in a gang war. Soon Spadone finds himself engulfed in the violence surrounding him; he is beaten to a bloody pulp one day and is almost murdered by a bumbling hitman the next. Meanwhile, Laura is forced by her Mafioso boyfriend (Carlo Brandt) to sleep with a wizened, corpulent don. Spadone decides to take matters into his own hands to save his love. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Bellucci, Stanislas Merhar, (more)
- 1999
Italian director Marco Risi directs this ensemble farce about a series of separate mishaps around a luxurious apartment complex. On New Year's Eve, at the edge of Rome, there is a traffic accident, followed by a soccer team crashing a high-brow ball. Three Mafioso rob a trussed up masochist, and a pair of druggies whacked out on low-grade paint throw dynamite in the heating system. All of these events culminate in one gigantic finale. Kaputt Mundi was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Bellucci, Alessandro Haber, (more)
A crime comedy that pays sly tribute to spy films of the 1960s, Comme Un Poisson Hors De L'Eau (aka Like a Fish Out of Water concerns Desire (Michel Muller), the nervous and bookish son of a prominent restaurateur. Desire has been corresponding with a lovely Italian woman, Myrtille (Monica Bellucci), who has accepted his offer of marriage. But when she arrives, Desire is surprised to discover that she's brought along a couple of friends, BB (Tcheky Karyo) and Melvin (Dominique Pinon). It seems Desire is an expert on exotic fish, and Myrtille and her friends are actually con artists who draft him into an elaborate scheme to rip off a Turkish gangster with an interest in rare aquatic species. Comme Un Poisson Hors De L'Eau marks the directorial debut of Herve Hadmar, who previously distinguished himself as a graphic artist; Michel Muller, who plays Desire, also co-wrote the film's screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tchéky Karyo, Monica Bellucci, (more)
- 1998
This $5 million Italian comedy is based on a novella by Nicolo Ammaniti (from his 1996 collection Mud). With a structure reminiscent of Robert Altman, interweaving events transpire in 12 hours on New Year's Eve as the film explores the lives of dwellers in a suburban Rome apartment complex: Just before her dinner guests are due, a hostess learns her lover has been sleeping with her best friend; a gigolo hired for the night is surprised by soccer players from his hometown; thieves interrupt the S&M session of a dominatrix and a lawyer; a family prepares for a fireworks display; the building's doorkeeper entertains the maintenance staff while her son sniffs glue; and a woman attempting suicide wanders the halls. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Bellucci, Alessandro Haber, (more)
- 1998
Set in an unknown time and place during the 18th century, Isabel Coixet's follow-up to her 1996 drama Cosas Que Nunca Te Dije/Things I Never Told You centers on the reminiscences of The Teacher (Julio Nuñez), a 68-year-old man who shows up at the home of young Martin (Gary Piquer) and his ailing wife, with whose sister The Teacher was once romantically involved. The Teacher fell in love with Matilde (Olalla Moreno) sixty years ago when his father, a doctor, took him along on a housecall when she was ill. He meets Matilde again twenty years in the future and finds that though she has married Leon (Christopher Thompson) a French messenger, she still possesses a bewitching childlike innocence. Matilde does not realize that her spouse has fallen into a passionate relationship with the local fencing instructor's seductive daughter Valeria. After another long absence, The Teacher returns to the village. This time Matilde has heard about the ongoing affair. Miserable and eager to learn the truth, she begs The Teacher to take her to the fencing school where Leon and Valeria tryst so she can see for herself. The gallant Teacher refuses, but this doesn't stop the determined Matilde, and tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julio Nunez, Patxi Freitez, (more)
- 1997
The seedy, pscyho characters from author Joel Houssin's popular 1980s series of hip French crime novels come to vivid life in this rip roaring actioner. The directorial debut of French/Dutch video maker Jan Kounen, the film presents a super violent, drug ladened world ruled by ultramacho men and supported by long-legged, wild-haired, gun-toting beauties. Dobermann (Vincent Cassel) is the leader of a large criminal gang. His lover is Nat la Gitane (Monica Belucci), a deaf-mute gypsy girl. The story begins as Dobermann and company boldly pull off a blood-soaked bank robbery in broad daylight. Their confidence comes from the decoys out distracting the police. After the heist, the gang members hightail it to their lair, located in a remote rural junkyard. When news of their crime reaches police officer Christini, he vows to capture them. Dobermann could not find himself a more ruthless adversary for Christini is evil incarnate and devoid of conscience and decency. When Christini and Dobermann finally meet a terrifying and graphically violent confrontation ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, (more)
- 1997
The film's title is a pun, the double meaning referencing both the "wrong genre" and a person with distasteful motives. Insecure novelist Martial Bok (Jacques Gamblin) promotes his new sexy novel La Fille de Dos ("Girl Observed From the Rear") with a round of book-signings and talk-shows. When beautiful hat designer Camille (Monica Bellucci) buys the book, Martial follows her and spies on her as she reads his book and removes her clothing. It's the beginning of his obsession and also an inspiration. After Martial's live-in girlfriend Lucie (Elina Lowensohn) establishes contact with Camille for real, Martial is able to type out another sexy manuscript. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jacques Gamblin, Elina Löwensohn, (more)
- 1996
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
With a plot more tangled than a spider's broken web, this French drama follows the romantic obsession of Max (Vincent Cassel), a young corporate hotshot who leaves his successful new world behind to search for his elusive lost love Lisa (Monica Bellucci). His mad quest begins after he accidentally overhears Lisa's melodic voice speaking in the phone booth next door. But before he knows it she is gone. Still, he is so elated that he abandons his plans, lies to his fiancee, and after leaving his luggage with his pal Lucien (Jean-Philippe Ecoffey), sets off to find her. The hunt leads to a fabulous apartment, where he saves a girl from a suicide thinking that she is Lisa. But this girl, Alice (Romane Bohringer) is as drab and mousy as Max's Lisa is beautifully feline. Max becomes involved with Alice, unaware that she also dates Lucien. Meanwhile the real Lisa attempts to break free from her obsessive rich lover who may have murdered his wife. For this reason, she continues to avoid her apartment, which she has generously loaned to Alice. When these characters collide, the stage is set for a tragic denouement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, (more)
- 1996
A childhood friendship becomes something much more in this Italian outing that begins as an off-beat comedy and ends up an exploration of a rocky romance. The story begins near the Baths of Carcalla in Rome where transvestite streetwalker Desideria hangs around begging for someone to love him/her and only ends up robbed and alone. The baths are a notorious hang-out for hookers and one night the police raid the joint causing Desideria to panic and flee with a cop in hot pursuit. Both end up hanging from a precipice and while waiting to be rescued, discover that they were best friends in school. Later Pasquale, the cop, returns to his provincial home village to consult a priest about what Desideria has become. The well-meaning father suggests that Pasquale help Desideria find redemption and resume life as a heterosexual. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned and Desideria ends up seducing Pasquale. They become lovers but trouble ensues when Pasquale's narrow-minded small-town lover Nellina finds out and tries to fight for his love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
A young boy and an old man team up to free a giant white dolphin from the swimming pool of a ruthless, one-legged millionaire Marcov in this upbeat Italian children's movie. Mischievous Snowball (the dolphin) gets into trouble when escapes into the beautiful Greek sea and playfully ends up swallowing the record of pension payments owed to Billy Bolla, an aged cruise ship entertainer. If the performer cannot quickly catch Snowball and induce him to produce the papers, he will have no retirement. He encounters ingenious Theo, the son of Marcov's maid. Theo adores Snowball and wants to free him. He befriends Billy and together they devise a clever plan involving a bus filled with water. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
This Italian heist-comedy movie is a revision of Mario Monicelli's 1958 film Big Deal on Madonna Street. This version is set in modern Milan. TV technicians Fabio and Enzo have been unable to find decent jobs. They decide to crack a safe at a Tony Milan jewelry store instead. To help them they enlist a beautiful but unsophisticated young woman to get the layout of the store. To help them find underground access to the store, they get help from a sewage worker. Finally to disarm the store alarms, they find an obese trapeze artist. A clever hotelier is also involved. Will they succeed? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Amendola, Monica Bellucci, (more)
Based on Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel, this film from Francis Ford Coppola and screenwriter James Victor Hart offers a full-blooded portrait of the immortal Transylvanian vampire. The major departure from Stoker is one of motivation as Count Dracula (Gary Oldman) is motivated more by romance than by bloodlust. He punctures the necks as a means of avenging the death of his wife in the 15th century, and when he comes to London, it is specifically to meet heroine Mina Harker (Winona Ryder), the living image of his late wife (Ryder plays a dual role, as do several of her costars). Anthony Hopkins is obsessed vampire hunter Van Helsing, while Keanu Reeves takes on the role of Jonathan Harker, and Tom Waits plays bug-eating Renfield. Bram Stoker's Dracula was the winner of three Academy Awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, (more)
