Massimo Ceccherini Movies
- 2006
A young firebrand learns the hard way about the practical problems behind political assassination in this lavish period comedy. In 1814, with his reputation in tatters and his rule of France come to an inglorious end, Napoleon Bonaparte (Daniel Auteuil) flees to the Island of Elba, where his arrival causes no small stir among the citizens. However, not everyone is pleased with his presence; Martino (Elio Germano) is a young and idealistic schoolteacher who believes Napoleon turned his back on the ideals he fought for in the French Revolution, and doesn't hesitate to criticize the former Emperor in front of his students. When Martino isn't busy with his students, he attends to the romantic needs of the beautiful Baroness Emilia (Monica Bellucci), but she's powerless to help him when his controversial opinions about Elba's new arrival cause him to be fired. When Martino learns that Napoleon is in need of a personal secretary and librarian, he has a brainstorm -- if he can get the job, he'll be close enough to the former emperor to win his trust and then kill the despot when no one suspects. Martino is awarded the prestigious position, but once he gets to know Napoleon, the great man's charm and wit make it difficult for Martino to put his deadly plans into motion. N (Napoleon and Me) (aka N (Io E Napoleone) received its North American premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel Auteuil, Elio Germano, (more)
- 2005
Leonardo Pieraccioni's romantic comedy I Love You In Every Language in the World stars the director as Gilberto, a gym teacher who meets Margherita (Marjo Berasategui) when they both become uncomfortable at a sexually charged party. The two spark, but she is the mother of one of his students, a student who has her own designs on the teacher. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo Pieraccioni, Giorgio Panariello, (more)
- 2000
Post-operative paralysis gets played for laughs in this broad comedy starring popular Italian comic Vincenzo Salemme (who also directed and wrote the screenplay). Active and fun-loving Pericle (Salemme) finds himself confined to a wheelchair when an operation on his spine is botched by a careless doctor from France. An angry Pericle decides to sue, but to make his case he knows he'll need the help of his friend Mario (Carlo Buccirosso), a respected surgeon. Mario is not inclined to talk, however, as a major promotion is being dangled before him by the hospital where the surgery was performed as an inducement to keep quiet. Pericle decides to pay Mario an unexpected visit while he's on vacation in the hope he can be persuaded to help, but before long he finds himself travelling with a sizable entourage, including a beautiful physical therapist (Sabrina Ferilli), her close friend (Manuela Arcuri), Pericle's attorney (Maurizio Casagrande), and a pair of maiden aunts (Massimo Ceccherini and Nando Paone). Co-stars Sabrina Ferilli and Manuela Arcuri are best known in Italy as models, appearing in a series of top-selling pin-up calendars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincenzo Salemme, Sabrina Ferilli, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Comic actor Massimo Ceccherini makes his directorial debut in this broad comedy with fantasy elements. Ceccherini plays Lucio, a free-spirited bohemian who is forced into a job at a retirement home, where he soon falls in love with the beautiful head nurse, Fatima (Claudia Gerini). When Fatima proves resistant to Lucio's charm, he hatches a bizarre scheme to seduce her with the help of his best friend Pini (Alessandro Paci). Meanwhile, Lucio keeps having a strange dream where he's put on trial for the crime of self-abuse. Hailed by some critics as a satiric affront to close-minded values and derided by others as simple vulgarity, Lucignolo was a box-office hit in its native Italy, and features a cameo by director Tinto Brass, no stranger himself to extreme reactions from critics. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Massimo Ceccherini, Claudia Gerini, (more)
- 1998
In this Italian road comedy, three pals (Rocco Papaleo, Massimo Ceccherini, Valerio Mastandrea) all are attracted to miniskirted Viola (Asia Argento) and attempt to help her elude both the law and the gangsters out to nab her bag of rare coins. Asia Argento (B Monkey) is the daughter of horror director Dario Argento (Deep Red), and her mother, Daria Nicolodi, also has a role in this film. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Asia Argento, Massimo Ceccherini, (more)
- 1997
Former cabaret performer Leonardo Pieraccioni (The Cyclone) directed, co-scripted (with Giovanni Veronesi), and stars in this popular Italian film, given the widest opening release in Italian film history. Ottone (Pieraccioni) and beautiful Lorenza (Claudia Gerini) are pet-store partners. He loses his lover to a butcher and moves in with his friend Barbara (Barbara Enrichi). At the same time, he courts secretly married Argentine heiress Luna (Vanessa Lorenzo), who is simply toying with the unsuspecting Ottone. Ottone's pal Germano (Massimo Ceccherini), once struck by lightning, survived because of his rubber Spiderman boots. Germano and Ottone both yearn for true love, but problems always arise. In the Maldives, Ottone seeks out a psychoanalyst (Luigi Petrucci) in hopes of gaining some understanding of his confused relationships with the opposite sex. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leonardo Pieraccioni, Vanessa Lorenzo, (more)
- 1997
The journey in this road movie begins in Sicily as Giovanni (Roberto De Francesco) heads for compulsory military service in Bolzano, near the Austrian border, although his cousin (Renato Carpentieri) wants him to skip out on military service so they can go into business together in Australia. Arriving early in Bolzano, Giovanni meets Loredana (Chiara Caselli) and follows her to Cortina where he runs out of money. His odyssey through life, love and friendships continues as he pushes onward through Tuscany, Rome, and Venice, eventually finding a freighter headed for Australia. Shown at the 1997 Venice Film Festival, this film is also known as Five Stormy Days. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roberto De Francesco, Massimo Reale, (more)
- 1996
Four roommates in their 30s hesitate to take the big plunge and take the final exams that would grant them their degrees. This episodic, Italian ensemble comedy explain each of their reasons. The recently divorced Leonardo is still in love with the beautiful sister of Rocco, who nurses a broken heart after his fiancee jilts him. Bruno is just hanging around waiting to inherit his wife's business. Pino dreams of becoming a comedian. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1996
In this gentle Italian comedy, a troupe of flamenco dancers has been stranded in a town in rural Tuscany. When a stolid wine-growing family agrees to give them accommodations, the family members' lives of dull endurance are transformed as they are affected the romance, excitement and sensuality of their guests. The presence of the dancers causes quite a stir among the villagers as well. Levante (Leonardo Pieraccioni) lives with his father and sister in the family vineyard, and is enamored by the exotic charms of flamenco-dancer Caterina (Lorena Forteza). She is interested in him as well. Levante's family, and Caterina's dance troupe join forces in opposing their union, but all turns out well in the end. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Italy's favorite dysfunctional family returns to their small-town home in Tuscany to mourn the passing of Adele, who watches over the mournful festivities as the family pays their respects and prepares for her funeral. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1994
- R
This Italian comedy, set in WW II, follows the road trip of a troupe of traveling boxers upon the roads of Tuscany. The story begins in August 1944 after Italy has been freed by the Allies. Dieci is a boxer living in Florence. He got his name (which means "Ten") because of his proclivity for being easily knocked out. Conditions in Florence are hard; Dieci decides to put together a travelling troupe to help make some money, and find food. Unfortunately no one in his troupe is a boxer. Followed by a lost dog, the group sets off in a broken down, brakeless bus. They are joined by an African-American army deserter and a Shaved Head woman who lost her hair after being caught consorting with a German. They are finally joined by Wilma who seeks revenge upon the partisan who did her wrong. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paolo Villaggio, Massimo Ceccherini, (more)
- 1993
- R
Marco (Claudio Bigagli) is an insurance adjuster who must travel all over Tuscany in order to investigate and settle claims put through by his firm's various branches. This brings in a tidy sum of money, and he has every reason to expect that he will continue to prosper in his work. He manages quite successfully to organize every event in his own life, but he can't manage the lives of others. His tidy and reasonably satisfying world comes unglued when his mother's extramarital affair causes dissension between her and his father. The tidiness of his life is also undone when his former girlfriend actually gets married, and his current girlfriend dumps him. Soon he is irritated even by his work, and then the real hysteria sets in. The only thing he can think to do is to opt out of having such a tidy, predictable, yuppiefied life, and this is what he does. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudio Bigagli, Gigio Alberti, (more)
